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We offer daily services and a cultural programme of talks, events and concerts. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate
Wednesday 20 August 1.10pm
Yang Yang (b. 1998) began her piano studies at the age of five with Noor Relijk and later continued her education under the tutelage of renowned professor Jan Wijn.
St James’s hosts inclusive services and a cultural programme. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate.
St James’s is a place to explore, reflect, pray, and support all who are in need. We are a Church of England parish in the Anglican Communion.
We host a year-round creative programme encompassing music, visual art and spoken word.
We offer hospitality to people going through homelessness and speak out on issues of injustice, especially concerning refugees, asylum, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ issues.
St James’s strives to advocate for earth justice and to develop deeper connections with nature.
We aim to be a place where you can belong. We have a unique history, and the beauty of our building is widely known. Our community commits to faith in action: social and environmental justice; creativity. and the arts
We strive to be a Eucharist-centred, diverse and inclusive Christian community promoting life in abundance, wellbeing and dignity for all.
St James’s Piccadilly has been at the heart of its community since 1684. We invite you to play your part in securing this historic place for generations to come.
The work of St James’s, it costs us £5,000 per day to enable us to keep our doors open to all who need us.
A reimagined St James’s realised. A redesigned garden, courtyard and new building capacity—all fully accessible— will provide beautiful spaces for all as well as improving our environmental performance.
Whether shooting a blockbuster TV series or creating a unique corporate event, every hire at St James’s helps our works within the community.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
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Sarah reflects on what she gets out of tennis, along with parallels she has found with returning to church after a long absence, and serving on the PCC.
Why do I play tennis is a question I have frequently asked myself. I love outdoor exercise, but didn’t show much athletic prowess in my formative years. I only played sport at school because it was compulsory.
Years later I was living in Brasilia – a purpose-built capital city where leisure options were different from anything I had experienced previously. I needed to adapt, and this included taking up tennis. There happened to be a court a few paces from the social club bar – “The Parrots’ Perch”.
To my surprise, I discovered several appealing aspects of tennis. The game isn’t time limited so, in theory, it is always possible to turn a match around without the pressure of a final whistle. Between stints of exertion there are opportunities to reflect and re-set. The mental and physical demands, are somehow simultaneously humbling and exhilarating.
The appeal endured, and I continued to play through the chapters of my life which followed Brazil. In one busy job, with many evening commitments, my colleagues learned that asking me to do anything on a Monday evening, when I had a regular tennis game, would be a hard ask.
I worked with a talented tennis coach who improved my serve. But we differed over style and motivation. I didn’t relate well to “aggression”, and so I never became a trophy-winning player. I responded better to a mantra he suggested as an alternative “If it is to be, it’s up to me”. This ignited my endeavouring, but didn’t turn me into a female Federer.
My chief realisation through playing tennis has been that competition isn’t necessarily just about winning. It is about handling challenge, being ready for opportunities, learning from mistakes, trying new approaches, and not giving up. Overall, I have probably gained more insights from matches lost, although I much prefer the feeling of matches won.
At the beginning of this decade a tennis injury (minor), then COVID lockdowns, then surgery (less minor) meant no tennis for months. I contemplated hanging up my racquet. However lockdowns ended, I recovered, and my racquet came back into use. Happiness was restored, if not my level of play.
Returning to tennis happened in roughly the same period that I came to St James’s Piccadilly after a long absence from church. Coincidence? Only God knows the answer to that. What I found is that drawing on my tennis experiences helps me with spiritual repair work, which I summarise as “keep trying”.
My personal faith restoration project is full of challenges, and requires endeavour that regularly seems inadequate. But I don’t feel under time pressure, which keeps me hopeful about turning my spiritual life around. There is something indefinable which keeps me coming to church, not unlike the something that lures me to the tennis club.
Something also attracted me to serving on our Parochial Church Council. PCC meetings are of course nothing like tennis matches. There is no point-scoring. I haven’t had to run yet. Proceedings are time-limited. Most significantly, we are all on the same side, wanting the best for the church.
However, I see parallels between my enjoyment of tennis, and my appreciation of being a PCC member. The church faces big challenges (such as the Wren Project and resources), endeavour is at the heart of how the PCC works to serve God and the congregation, and strategic decisions are taken on the basis of much learning and reflection.
I am one of the newest members of the PCC, and still have a lot to learn. My strongest, and lasting, impression from when I attended my first away-day just over a year ago, was that I had joined a group with a “keep trying, whatever the challenge” spirit. That resonates.
A final thought on another feature of tennis which I like. In English, the score-line for every match starts with “Love All”. Guess what that calls to mind as I lace up my tennis shoes.
