About THE Society of St columba
The Society of St Columba is a chartered ministry of the international Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch. It was established in 2016 to offer Monthly chapel services in the Celtic Christian and Mystical Christian Traditions. In our services and ceremonies we attempt to attune to nature in order to celebrate the cycles of life, the seasons of the earth, and integrate our spirituality into our lives.
Our eucharist services are open to people of all denominations (or none) and we aim to provide a place of peace and spiritual comfort for those who attend the chapel. We aim to be welcoming and supportive so that people may experience a sense of community and support as they travel their spiritual pilgrimage through life.
Ceremonies for the Equinoxes and Solstices are conducted four times per year (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer). Additionally, a lending library is available for members with books from the Celtic, Mystical Christian, and Contemplative traditions, as well as an annual weekend retreat for members (either held in July or December) .
About The Guardian of the Society
Father Cian, the Guardian of the Society coordinates and leads the Chapel eucharist services, seasonal ceremonies, and contemplative meditation sessions. He is an ordained priest in the Liberal Catholic tradition (through the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch). Professionally, he works as a Psychological Therapist in both public and private practice.
While a Pakeha New Zealander by birth, Father Cian is of English/Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. He lives in Titirangi with his wife and two children, and has been involved with Celtic Spirituality, Druidry, and Christian Mysticism for over 25 years. Over the years Cian has led personal development and Christian Meditation groups, and conducted Celtic rites of passage (baby blessings, weddings/hand-fasting ceremonies, and funerals) as a celebrant.
ABOUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ANTIOCH
The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch was founded in 1958 by Herman Adrian Spruit, who moved from Germany to America when he was 17 years old. Spruit served as a Methodist Minister for over 20 years but longed for the traditions of the Old Catholic Church from his childhood. He resigned from the Methodist Church and began several years of study in the spiritual and mystical traditions.
Spruit was later ordained, then eventually consecrated a bishop on 22nd June 1957 by Charles Hampton, the Regionary Bishop for the Liberal Catholic Church in America. He later exchanged consecrations with other Bishops receiving other lineages. The current Presiding Bishop of the Church is Mark Elliot Newman, who resides in the USA.
Old Catholic/Liberal Catholic Apostolic SucCesSion
(Primary Succession - Click here for full details)
The primary succession of the Church is via Herman Spruit's principal consecrating Bishop Charles Hampton who was the Regionary Bishop for the Liberal Catholic Church in the USA. The succession of the Liberal Catholic Church is from the Roman Catholic Church via the Dutch/German Old Catholic Church:
Gerardus Gul, 17th Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht on 28 April 1908 consecrated: Arnold Harris Mathew, 4th Earl of Landoff, Regionary Old Catholic Bishop for Great Britain and Ireland, who on 28 October 1914 consecrated: Frederick Samuel Willoughby, who on 23 February 1916 consecrated: James Ingall Wedgwood (1883-1951) as the Regionary Bishop for the Old Catholic Church in England (later Presiding Bishop, Liberal Catholic Church), who on 13 July 1919, assisted by Bishop Charles W. Leadbeater and Jonkheer Julian Adriaan Mazel, consecrated Irving Steiger Cooper (1882-1935), as First Regionary Bishop, Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the United States, who assisted by Ray Marshall Wardell and George Sydney Arundale, on 13th of July 1931 consecrated: Charles Hampton, Second Regionary Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the USA.
Bishop Hampton, thereafter, on 22 June 1957 consecrated: Herman Adrian Spruit, who later became the Presiding Bishop (Primate) of The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch. The current Presiding Bishop of the Church of Antioch is Mark Elliot Newman who ordained Father Cian as a Priest.
ANGLICAN/Episcopal Succession
Through Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle, Bishop Herman Spruit also received Anglican/British lines of succession. One of the primary lines goes back to the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of England. Please click link here for a detailed ANGLICAN SUCCESSION .
THE ORTHODOX CELTIC CHURCH
The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch also holds apostolic succession through Orthodox lines of succession, including going back to Jules Ferrette (1828-1904). Ferrette (Mar Julius), was a French ex Roman Catholic Dominican priest who founded the Catholic Apostolic Church (later renamed the Ancient British Church and Orthodox Celtic Church) after being consecrated in 1866 in Syria by Ignatius Peter IV, Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syrian Orthodox Church.
The consecration was witnessed by the British Consul at Damascus. Returning to England Ferrette received Rev. Richard Williams Morgan, an Anglican priest and Druid, into the tradition. Fr. Morgan, a Welsh nationalist and renowned folklorist, took the name Mar Morien I ( Welsh for Pelagius) on the 22nd June 1879 and set about re-establishing an Ancient British (Celtic) Church, while also continuing his duties as an Anglican Priest. Ferrette and Williams attempted to restore a form of ‘Neo-Celtic Christianity’ in Britain, which they claimed existed in a syncretistic, Druidic form prior to Augustine of Canterbury and the Synod of Whitby.
The progression of Bishops is: Ferrette - Morgan - Stevens - Chechemian - Martin - Harris - Saul -Maxey - Wadle - Spruit - Spruit/Gundrey - Newman
