The Catholic Parish of St Columba and St Theresa, Chester

Serving the Chester Community

  • Facebook

Mass Times
St Columba’s: 

Saturday 6.30pm
Sunday 11.00am
St Theresa’s: 
Saturday 5.00pm
Sunday 9.30am

  • HOME
    • Welcome to our Parish
    • St Columba’s Church
      • Directions and Location
      • History
    • St Theresa’s Church
      • Directions and Location
      • Social Club
  • Our Parish
    • Mass Times
    • Mass Intentions
    • Meet our Team
    • Pastoral Council
    • Parish Development Plan
    • Safeguarding
    • Key Contacts
  • I’m New
    • Parish Welcomers
    • New to our parish
  • SACRAMENTS
    • Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • Eucharist and Holy Communion
    • Marriage
    • Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
    • Reconciliation
    • Anointing of the Sick
  • Giving
    • Online Giving
    • Legacies
  • Pastoral Care
    • Faith Formation
    • Visiting the Sick
    • Care of the Creation
    • Elderly and Isolated
    • Protection of unborn
  • Parish Groups
    • Children’s Liturgy
    • Choir
    • Churches Together in Upton
    • Family Events
    • Justice and Peace
      • Feeding the hungry: Foodbank
      • Refugees
      • SVP
      • Third World Project
    • Ministries in the Parish
    • Needles and Pins
    • Social Group
    • Teams of Our Lady
    • Youth Group
  • Family
    • Altar Servers
    • Children’s Liturgy Resources
  • Hall Bookings
  • News & Events
    • Events coming up
    • Past Parish Events
    • Newsletters
  • SYNOD
    • Journeying Together
    • Weekly Addresses
    • Parish and Diocesan Responses
    • Prayer for the Synod
  • Schools News
You are here: Home / OUR PARISH / St Columba’s Church / History

History

The Foundation Stone of St Columba’s church was laid on 6thSeptember 1964. Building work was completed in December the following year, and the church was officially opened on19th February 1966 by the Bishop of Shrewsbury.

The idea of a new church in this area had been taking shape since the late 1950s when housing clearance in the inner parts of Chester and developments in the suburbs made it clear that a new church would be needed. This was to be the third RC church to be built post-war in the Chester outskirts, following St Theresa’s in Blacon(1959)and St Clare’s in Lache(1960).This site was acquired from the City Council in 1959.

Prior to the opening of the church and setting up of the new parish, this area was served from St Werburgh’s Parish in central Chester, and it was the Parish Priest of St Werburgh’s, Fr (later Canon) Francis Murphy who was a key figure in the fund raising and commissioning processes–also in the dedication of the church to the Celtic saint, Columba. Thoughts about the design of the church coincided with the lead-up to the Second Vatican Council, with its profoundly influences on the church in the modern world, the approach to the liturgy of the Mass, the participation of the laity, etc. Such influences ran alongside new approaches in architecture and building techniques to generate a truly adventurous spirit in church design at that time. So it was in this spirit of adventure that Canon Murphy and the new Bishop of Shrewsbury, William Grasar, met in the summer of 1962 to discuss the design brief with the architect Francis Prichard.

This was the Liverpool firm’s first commission in Shrewsbury Diocese, though they had designed fourteen schools and three churches in the Liverpool area. It was a full 12 months before all the design and preparatory work was completed. The firm of Costains were selected as the main contractors in late autumn 1963.The chosen design has resulted in an impressively airy interior space, in which a congregation of more than 600 people can have a clear view of the altar. In the words of the architects: “Constructionally, the Church building consists of structural laminated timber portal frames on a reinforced concrete foundation, with a light weight  timber folded roof which rises to its maximum height of41ft above the Sanctuary area, surmounted by a pyramidal spire 52ft high. “The whole of this timber work is restrained by a reinforced concrete altar wall in the Sanctuary area, which is ornamentally pierced with small triangular openings glazed in ruby reds, deep blues and purples. ”Laminated cedar wood was used for the four portals, Douglas fir pine linings for the ceilings and Columbian pine boarding for the doors. Considerable care was taken over the choice of fittings and furniture.  

News and Events

  • Newsletter 15 June 2025
  • Newsletter 8 June 2025
  • Newsletter 1 June 2025
  • Newsletter 25 May 2025
  • Newsletter 18 May 2025

Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletters direct to your inbox.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Key Contacts

If  you need to get in touch with someone in the parish this is the place to start. Click this link to see our list of contacts. 

Parish Secretaries can be contacted by email at: stcolumbaschurch2016@outlook.com or st.theresas@btinternet.com

If you need to contact someone about the website, please use this email address. website.stcolumbaandtheresa@gmail.com  Please note that this email is not monitored daily.

Mass times

If you need to find the mass times for any of the churches. You can visit their respective pages. you can find all of our mass times on the services page. You can follow the link to the location you would like to attend.

Newsletters and Bulletins

If you would like to locate the latest newsletter then please navigate to the News and Events Page.

Online Giving

For those Parishioners who normally give in the collection at Mass and wish to help our Parish at this time of restricted opening, the Online Giving page gives you a way to do this.

Copyright © 2025 · The Catholic Parish of St Columba and St Theresa, Chester · Site maintained by the Parish · Staff Log in · Webmail