Directory of activities
Here you will find a lists of and information about our parish groups from social and fundraising to office administration.
The list on the right provides a link to each of them. Many groups are still to provide up to date information, so in the meantime please contact the office using the ‘Get in touch’ button if you wish to learn more, apply for support from a group or volunteer to get involved.
Sacraments
Baptism
Please contact Fr Gerald to arrange the baptism of your child. You can use the Get in Touch link to send an enquiry.
Hospital Chaplaincy at DGRI
Fr William McFadden is the Chaplain to DGRI Hospital, Fr Willie carries out the routine visiting and pastoral care to inpatients. If you or a relative are in DGRI please let Fr Willie know, he can be contacted on 01557 330687. Alternatively you can let Fr Gerald know and he will pass on details to Fr Willie. It is helpful to state ward and room number when giving details (e.g. C4 25). In case of emergency please feel free to contact Fr Gerald directly.
If you or a relative are in another hospital, eg Lochmaben, Annan etc. Please contact Fr Gerald directly to let him know so that pastoral care can be arranged. You can do in person, by calling the parish house or by using the Request a Chaplaincy visit button below button below to send an email via the parish office.
Funerals
Awaiting copy for this section.
RCIA
Any adult wishing to learn more about the church or wishing to become a Catholic can receive instruction and be led through the process of reception into the church by the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.
Please speak to Fr Gerald if you are interested. Use the Get in touch link to send your enquiry.
Confirmation and First Holy Communion and Ninian Club
Preparation for the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion is given in the primary four year at the three Catholic schools, St Andrew’s and St Teresa’s and St Columba’s.
The Ninian Club provides sacramental preparation for any children wishing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation and Holy Communion in the parish of St Andrew’s and St Columba’s but who are not currently attending a Catholic primary school.
Ministries
Readers
Please consider helping by becoming a minister of the Word. Readers are required at all Masses and this is a great opportunity to contribute to the work of the parish. We would welcome help and involvement from younger parishioners. At the weekend Masses the bidding prayers are often read by younger parishioners. This is very much appreciated and is a great way to start getting involved. You can use the Get in touch link to send your request to get involved.
Eucharistic Ministers
Lay Eucharistic ministers help to distribute Communion at Masses in the parish. We would always welcome new volunteers to undertake this essential ministry.
If you would like to contribute to parish life by being reader or a Eucharistic minister, please contact Fr Gerald, Mrs Crosbie or Mrs Buckley.
There is now a sheet on the noticeboard at the back of the church where you can leave your name and number or use the Get in touch button below to send an email with your expression of interest.
Music
Music is an important part of the celebration of Mass. We have a very good organ and also an electric piano. We have an organist for the Saturday Vigil at the moment but none for Sunday morning. If you can play and would like to contribute, please contact Fr Gerald.
Children's Liturgy
Children’s liturgy will resume in due course. To sign your child up for For more information or to volunteer to join the team please use the Get in Touch button.
St Vincent de Paul
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is an international charity that helps people in need. Most of its work is done by parishioners in Conferences i.e. groups of regulated volunteers. Conference members work alone and in pairs: e.g. by visiting housebound and/or lonely people, shopping for food banks, and giving money or vouchers to people in urgent need. Anyone requiring help, for themselves or other people, should speak to Fr Gerald or an SSVP member. You can also use the Get in Touch button below to request assistance or express an interest in becoming a member.
Holy Communion to the housebound
If you know of someone who would like to receive Holy Communion at home, please let Fr Gerald know. You can use the Get in Touch button to request a visit. This will send your message via email to the parish office.
Family Prayer Ministry
St Andrew’s has a family prayer ministry where you are asked to pray for intentions asked for by parishioners anonymously with the names of those to be prayed for known only to God. Every month the prayer requests are placed in an envelope on the Lady altar. Prayer cards and request sheets are on the table at the back of the church – just taking a prayer card and saying the prayer every day will ensure your participation.
Prayer is a powerful tool – let us make sure our prayers are heard and make sure our prayers can help those in need.
If you have someone in need of prayer—or if there is something happening in your life that you are worried about, fill in a prayer request slip and direct the power of prayer to it.
Flower Arrangers
Floral displays enhance the appearance our church and reflect the changing liturgical seasons. We have teams of volunteers who undertake this vital task working in the background throughout the year. We are extremely grateful for their hard work and creativity.
Gardening Team
The church garden is a beautiful space which enhances the life of the parish in various ways.
Anyone who would like to help with maintaining the garden would be most welcome. An informal group meets outside the church on Monday mornings at 10.30am so please come along. There is no pressure to attend regularly – just come when you can.
Thank you to all who are working away already.
Cleaning Teams
The church is cleaned fortnightly with the odd ‘big clean’ for special occasions. There are two teams of volunteers alternating the fortnightly clean so each team only cleans once a month. If you would like to get involved contact the parish secretary. You can use the Get in touch link to send your enquiry.
Social and Fundraising
Our Sunday Coffee sessions after mass are a good way to get together with other parishoners who you may not otherwise see throughout the week. There are four teams who provide this service each having their own style of fare on offer, from cake to bacon butties and even Carol’s famous meringues.
Church Shop
The shop is open before and after the weekend Masses offering cards, gifts and books.
Jars of Hope
The Jars of Hope group gathers together additional funds to support various charities and emergency appeals. Parishioners are invited to collect loose change in an empty jam jar and hand this in at Mass when it is full. The group count and bank this money, building a reserve fund which can be drawn upon in times of need, for example for emergency appeals due to war or natural disasters.
200 Club - St Andrews's and 100 Club St Columba's
These popular Clubs raise additional funds for the parishes. Proceeds from the 200 club [St Andrew’s] were originally intended to pay for the Senior Parishioners’ Christmas party as well as contributing to other needs in the parishes. St Columba’s goes towards various parish activities.
To support these funds, all members pay a yearly subscription. £12 per year [St Andrew’s 200club] or £24 per year [St Columba’s] paid in advance before 31st March. A draw is made monthly with cash prizes on offer. Winners are announced in the bulletins.
To sign up and join the club use the button below to be taken to the club forms. Post your completed entry to the parish office. The year begins 1st April each year.
Office and Administration
Parish Office
The Parish Office is manned by a volunteer secretary on Fridays from 9am to around 4pm. You are welcome to e-mail or to call during those hours if you have any queries about the parish. E-mails to the office will be dealt with a this time. Notices for the weekly bulletin are collated by 10am, after which the bulletin is compiled and distributed via print copies, e-mail (by request), parish website and parish Facebook pages. The office and Parish Priest can be contacted by email using the Get in Touch button below.
Bulletin Announcements
A weekly bulletin is compiled by the parish secretary. Please pick up a copy when you come to Mass to get all up to date announcements and arrangements or any occasional changes to the normal Mass time.
If you have something you would like to put in the bulletin, please get it to the parish secretary before Friday 10am.
You can use the Get in Touch button below which will send an email to the parish office.
Donations and Gift Aid
If you are a tax payer, you can help maximise your contribution by filling in a gift aid form. Gift aid is a government scheme where they contribute a further 25% of the value of your contribution. A form to apply your contributions to the gift aid scheme is available via the button below.
Parish Pastoral Council
The Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) consists of parishioners whose concern is the pastoral life of the parish community. It overlaps with other aspects of parish life, namely the Fabric and Finance Committee and the Liturgy Group which are sub committees of the PPC. The overall remit of the PPC is how we live out our life as a Community of Faith. It covers the worshipping life of the Parish, the social life of the parish community, the administrative life of the parish, also the Mission life of the parish, how we welcome those into the parish, informally, as Welcomers and Passkeepers and formally through the Sacraments of Initiation, Reconciliation and Marriage. Membership of the PPC is via proposal and acceptance of candidates at the PPC AGM. The PPC meets regularly throughout the year. The PPC is also concerned with the wider Church, how we as parishes relate to the Deanery, Diocese and Church in the world.
Fabric and Fianance
This committee handles the repair and maintenance of the church buildings. If you have a query or wish to alert us to an issue please use the Get in touch button to send your message to the parish office.
Fundraising
Alongside the many regular fundraising initiatives at work in the parish we also have a fundraising committee who organise parish events to raise funds to provide for ongoing maintenance and repair of the parish buildings. The group have recently organized a very successful Quiz night and a Race Night. Members also deal with accessing any grant funding that may be available. Any parishioner is welcome to join this committee or come to any of the meetings with suggestions and input.
New to the Parish
If you are new to the parish of St Andrew’s or St Columba’s, we invite you to provide your name and contact details so we can keep parish records up to date and ensure you are included in the parish community.
By giving this information you are agreeing to your details being held on a computerised register and used inline with current GDPR regulations.
Safeguarding
Our safeguarding culture:
Everyone in the Catholic Church in Scotland – especially those in positions of leadership and responsibility – values the lives, wholeness, safety and well-being of each individual person within God’s purpose for everyone.
We seek to uphold the highest safeguarding standards in our relationships with people of all ages who are involved with the Church and its organisations.
As a Church community, we accept that it is the responsibility of all of us – ordained, professed, employed and volunteer lay people – to work together to uphold these safeguarding standards that have been designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse or harm.
In God’s Image – v2, page 3
This piece of text has been taken from https://www.gallowaydiocese.org.uk/website You can find our more from Diocesan level by going to their website.
The link below will take you to the up to date newsletter on Safeguarding.
If you have an queries or concerns please get in touch with the parish office
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s
- Sunday Coffee
- Church Shop
- Jars of Hope
- 200 Club – St Andrew’s
- 100Club – St Columba’s