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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.
Thur 24 Oct 6.30pm
Fact, fiction, faith: AI in an uncertain world – a conversation with Jocelyn Burnham, and Dr Shauna Concannon.
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. This is a place for everyone who’s wondering about life’s big questions and striving for a better world.
We host a year-round cultural programme encompassing music, visual art and spoken word, drawing on St James’s rich cultural history including artists, writers and musicians Mary Beale, Mary Delany, William Blake, Ottobah Cugoano and Leopold Stokowski.
We try to put our faith into action by educating ourselves and speaking out on issues of injustice, especially concerning refugees, asylum, earth and racial justice, and LGBTQ+ issues.
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.
It costs us £3,500 per day to enable us to keep our doors open to all who need us
Your donation will help us restore our garden in Piccadilly as part of The Wren Project, making it possible for us to welcome over 300,000 people from all faiths and walks of life seeking tranquillity and inspiration each year.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
Directions on Google Maps
Daria, who is a student at Eaton Square School near St James’s, has written an award-winning poem about homelessness at Christmas. The poetry competition was judged by Stephen Fry, and this poem was commissioned as the first in an annual series for the St James’s Christmas for All Gala Concert.
My small cardboard house
never really feels like home.
Not in spring, when the daisies bloom and the birds come home
Not in summer, when the sun shines strong and the children roam
Not in autumn, when the orange invades and the tree leaves fall.
But when I see the glowing lights and choirs and carols,
The mistletoe and the folks sending letters
To people they love, they cherish and care for
My small cardboard house cannot compare.
I try to make friends with the voices in my head
So maybe this Christmas, I won’t feel upset
But people walk by like I don’t even exist
Like I’m just a shameful, sitting disgrace.
My small cardboard house does so little to shield me
From the stares and pitying looks that greet me
My worn out sign, pleading for help
Sits there, ignored.
“Yes sir, sorry, I’ll go somewhere else”.
But this is normality, my daily reality
The Christmas I remember was spent in harmony
Eating lots of food with friends and family.
The Christmas I remember was full of miracles
And every year I pray for one. My dear listeners,
go home and hug your loved ones, appreciate your spouse,
Someday perhaps I will move out of my small cardboard house.
Daria
