Since its dedication and completion in 1871, St. Columba's Parish has served the people of the Lincoln Park/South Broad Street area in Newark, NJ. The first parishioners of the new church were Irish immigrants. Today St. Columba is a culturally diverse parish that still serves the new immigrant population of the area. The small, original building was replaced in 1899 with the beautiful building standing today on Thomas Street, Newark. In 1880, the Sisters of Charity came to the parish to provide education for the parish's children. As there was no convent on site, the Sisters traveled by horse and buggy each day from St. Patrick's Church on Bleeker Street. In 1908, both the school and the convent were completed. The school continued to educate the parish and the neighborhood children until 2000 when, unfortunately, the school closed.
We are a community that celebrates and serves as a testimony of the event of Pentecost. We pray, celebrate, work, and suffer together. Within our diversity we serve Christ and we live according to the Gospel in unity and tolerance. The priests of the Archdiocese have served the parish faithfully through the years. From the first pastor, Father Reilly, to its current pastor, the diocesan missionary priest, Father Andres Codoner-Contell, and the Vicar, Drazen Hosi. All the volunteer teachers in the religious education program, the choir members, lectors, the advisory board, and many others give their time and talent to keep St. Columba a strong symbol of the beautiful people it serves. May God's work continue to be carried on as faithfully in the future as it has been in the past and present.