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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
A Global Youth Storytelling Exhibition
Changemaker Lens is the storytelling strand of the St James’s Youth Changemaker Programme. It invites young people from the UK, US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and South Africa to tell the truth of their lived experience through photography, film, art and creative expression. Launching in London in May 2026, it forms the heart of an emerging global ecosystem of youth leadership. It is not a finished exhibition. It is an invitation to enter a shared human story.
When will applications open?
Applications are now open for up to 12 young people from the UK, aged 18-30, to exhibit their work at Changemaker Lens.
When will applications close?
Monday 23rd March 3pm
What are the requirements? Applicants must:
What will it involve?
Once selected, young Changemakers will receive a grant of up to £1000 to support their practice, and will be invited into a reflective creative process using a peer-support framework. This will include:
Changemakers will be encouraged to document:
They may choose photography, short video, painting, audio reflection, graffiti art, illustration, digital collage or other accessible forms. What matters is honesty, dignity and connection rather than polish.
The Exhibition
Changemakers will be chosen to exhibit their work at an exhibition in London in May 2026, with cultural institutions, funders, and practitioners in attendance. The exhibition will later be shown in New York in September.
Who are our Global Partners?
Alongside our St James’s cohort, we are working in partnership with brilliant organisations whose young voices will be woven through Changemaker Lens:
Why Storytelling?
Young people everywhere face shifting grounds. The future of work is unstable and unpredictable. Many will move between multiple careers and identities. Others live through conflict, displacement, or environmental upheaval. Storytelling provides an anchor in this landscape.
Globally, art, photography, and creative expression have been used in the face of systemic oppression to resist, to survive, and to build community.
We want young people to:
A photograph of a quiet morning in Gaza, a spoken word piece from Washington, or a video diary from a young person in London does not simply show a moment. It reveals the inner life of a generation who are trying to make sense of a rapidly changing world.
Changemaker Lens is a visual storytelling platform that brings together young changemakers whose worlds may differ but whose questions often echo one another. It carries the central inquiry of the Youth Changemaker Programme:
What if leadership is something we live together, rather than something we hold alone?
