THE PARISH OF Ballarat North

Our Parish

Welcome to St Columba's Parish. Our church is located on the corner of Lydiard & Gregory Street, Ballarat North.

Office
Street Address: 306 Gregory Street, Ballarat North (behind the Church follow the yellow footprints)

Phone:53311012
Email: ballaratnorth@ballarat.catholic.org.au 

Office Hours
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am - 1pm

School
St Columba’s Primary School

History

• On 31st January, 1911, St. Columba’s School was opened for students and was staffed by Sisters of Mercy who travelled each day from Ballarat East. Because the Bishop was away at the time, the official blessing and opening took place later that year.
• Ballarat North community had its own church in 1919 when a wooden church, which had been built about 1892 as the original chapel of the Redemptorist Monastery in Wendouree, was moved to the site on Gregory Street, alongside the existing primary school.
• The present church was built in its original form in 1940, and the former wooden church became part of the primary school, originally used as classrooms and later as an assembly hall. There it stayed until 2007 when the school’s needs demanded not only the space but a more up-to-date area for school assemblies and other functions.
• The 1940 church underwent extensive refurbishment in the years after Vatican II, allowing a more open and simple arrangement while respecting the intrinsic beauty of the original building.
• Later still, an entrance foyer was added, not only to serve as a gathering (and de-briefing!) space, but also to allow for the various parish meetings.
• The stained glass windows in the church are neither spectacular nor lavish, but they are rich in symbols from both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.
• Although the parish community had a distinct identity of its own from 1911, Ballarat North did not officially become a parish until 1971. The presbytery at the rear of the church was actually built before then (1958), and served as a residence for a number of priests who were engaged in various ministries in Ballarat and beyond. 
• Many of the parishioners who have lived in the area for many years have fond memories of the pastors who served as their parish priests: Fathers Boylan, Martin, van de Camp and Brophy. In 2002 when Fr. Brophy was moved to Mildura, the parish lost the ministry of a resident priest, was then administered from St. Patrick’s Cathedral until it came under the care of Father Gerard Prunty, Administrator of both OLHC Wendouree and St Columba's. The community has retained a strong identity of its own.
• Mass is celebrated at 6pm on Saturday evenings, and 10am on Sunday mornings.  A regular group of parishioners warmly welcomes you on Wednesday mornings at 9.30am for Mass in the Church foyer.