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We offer daily services and a creative programme of talks, events and concerts. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate.
We are delighted to announce that from 6 Jan until early Apr 2025, work will take place to reinstate the church’s South Door onto Jermyn Street, part of Sir Christopher Wren’s original design.
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 aspire to be a home where everyone can belong. We’re known locally and globally for our unique history and beauty, as well as faith in action, creativity and the arts, and a commitment to social and environmental justice.
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.
New walkways, a restored courtyard and re-landscaped gardens will provide fully accessible, beautiful spaces for everyone to enjoy as well as improving our environmental performance.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
Directions on Google Maps
As Home for Good comes to an end (Julia, Dee, Freda, Peter, Claire) reflect on their experience as volunteers and consider what we can do to make a difference.
A Shakespearean Sonnet About Doors by Ian McMillan (First published in Big Issue in 2021)
It’s not much to ask. Just a door to lock. A door that won’t break when someone kicks it. Door with a keyhole. Respond to that knock Or not. My choice. It’s broke so let’s fix it: The world, I mean. Not the door. That’s ok. It’s my door, to my room. Look: here’s the key. The world, though. That’s different. Somewhere to stay Is what we all need. Somewhere to be me And not just someone you blithely ignore When you see me sleeping on the street. Let’s begin with this. A door. Just a door To start with. A door. Food. Then light and heat. The world must respond to this simple truth: Let’s all have a door. Let’s all have a roof
SJP has delivered Home for Good in Partnership with the Passage for three years. As part of the scheme volunteers have met with someone who has experienced homelessness but is now in more permanent accommodation, regularly for up to a year, with a view to helping them find their feet in their local community. Whilst it has never been a large scheme at SJP, it has been a valuable experience for the small group of us who have participated. In the words of one of our volunteers:
‘ I think a big part of my role is to see if I can find what people are naturally good at and discover how to nurture that. In doing that together, we find a way to give power and motivation back to the people we are working with, which is lovely.’
If we ever doubted the value of what we were doing, we only had to listen to the moving tributes paid at the farewell party held at the Passage on the 22nd March. What to us volunteers was an hour or so of our time in our busy week, had had more of an impact than we appreciated, and as we have said our final goodbye’s, the sadness has been on both sides. The scheme has come to an end after 10 years, as funding is redirected towards the needs of the ever-growing number of people beginning their experience of homelessness. However, getting the key to the front door is only the first step in making a home, and Home for Good was part of the safety net, preventing people from ending up back on the streets again.
What have we learnt?
How can you help?
Desmond Tutu said ’Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Some suggestions: