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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
17 Feb – 5 April | Free
Joke Amusan’s powerful altarpiece and altar covering for Lent express a story of sacred love, prayer and hope in God’s steadfast presence.
Friday 13 March 7pm
Join us for an evening exploring the future of the Church of England through the lens of Young, Queer, Priests.
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.
It costs £5,000 each day to keep the doors of St James’s open to all who already 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
Directions on Google Maps
Volunteering as Kitchen Lead at the Feast meal each Monday at St James’s Piccadilly, Oscar Fricke shares how cooking donated food into abundant meals for those experiencing hardship has become a grounding expression of faith, healing, and belonging within an inclusive church community.
Volunteering at the Feast meal at St James’s on a Monday has become one of the most grounding and joyful parts of my life. I serve as Kitchen Lead, and when I arrive at church at 2:30 pm, I step into the unknown. I never quite know what I’ll be cooking until I get there, as the donated food arrives earlier that morning. It’s a bit like Ready Steady Cook — opening crates and bags to see what ingredients we’ve been blessed with, then building a meal from whatever is before us.
By 6pm, through a genuine team effort, we serve around 50 portions to our weekly guests experiencing homelessness or hardship and volunteers. I always try to cook extra so there are second helpings. There’s something significant about offering abundance where life has so often provided scarcity.
Cooking has always been a passion of mine. I find it relaxing, almost meditative. I’m not one for following recipes unless I’m baking — I prefer to trust instinct, taste, and experience. That love of food began in childhood, watching my father cook. He was a butcher by trade and a great cook by nature. I learned so much from him — about cuts of meat, cooking, and the importance of sharp knives; we never had a blunt knife in the home. To this day, a blunt knife is my most tremendous kitchen pet hate!
I think my own life experiences also shape my commitment to life’s work. I have lived through challenging times when I needed to rely on services like the meal St James’s provides. Because of that, volunteering isn’t just something I do — it’s something I feel deeply called to. I feel blessed to be able to give back to a community I was once part of. There is humility in serving, and healing, too.
I moved to St James Piccadilly around 8 months ago, seeking my tribe within the LGBTQIA+ Christian community. What I found here was an inclusive church where I can truly be myself — openly gay and thoroughly welcomed. Sadly, we still live in a time where LGBTQIA+ people face discrimination, including within faith spaces. That makes places like St James even more vital.
I’m reminded of the passage in Matthew 25:35-40, where Jesus says: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” To me, Fest embodies this Gospel teaching. It is faith in action — feeding, welcoming, and dignifying.
I hold immense gratitude for St James’s Piccadilly — for the opportunity to worship in an inclusive church, and to volunteer to serve the vulnerable community through a passion I love.
May God bless our weekly guests, our volunteers, and the whole St James’s community.
