Each year, St. Columba Church commemorates Oakland’s victims of homicide by placing a cross with the victim’s name in the front garden of the Church. We then come together each New Year’s Eve to remember those who have died and to remove the crosses.

Please join us in prayer for those who tragically lost their lives as a result of violence during this past year and to show our love and support fo the family and friends who have experienced the grief of losing one to homicide. The Service can also be watched online via Zoom:

Join the Ceremony
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We gather in the Church for some prayer and comments. We then proceed to the front garden for the Ceremony of the Crosses where the victims’ names will be read aloud and the crosses removed. When all the crosses have been removed, we proceed back into the church and lay the crosses at the foot of the altar. Family members of the deceased who have received crosses may keep them as a remembrance of their loved one.

The ceremony concludes with a prayer.