Sunday 1st September at the 11.00am Parish Eucharist
Our Eucharist, on Sunday 1st September, will be enhanced by the presence and participation of Mädchenkantorei St Johannes Bad Saulgau, a girls choir from the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany.

21 July 2019
Some news from Lindsay

After very nearly 14 years serving on the clergy team here at St James’s, the time has finally come for me to move on. Many will know that during my time in London, theatre chaplaincy has become a real passion of mine. Beginning in October, as a 3-year pilot project with London Diocese, I will be pursuing theatre chaplaincy full-time. My final Sunday at St James’s will be mid-September – date to be confirmed. For most of the last 14 years, I’ve found it very hard to imagine leaving St James’s, or what on earth you go on to do after being on the clergy team here, so amidst the inevitable sadness of leaving, I feel extremely blessed and a real surge of joy at being called to -  and given -  such an exciting new opportunity.

I’m also excited and delighted that St James's can look forward – in time – to welcoming a new, enthusiastic and energetic Associate Rector to do great things. The successful candidate will be one of the luckiest priests in the Church of England!

UPDATE: Lindsay's last St James's Sunday will be 15 September. Please join us, after the 11am service, for a party to thank her for her enormous contribution to the life of St James’s.
UPDATE 2: If you wish to make a contribution to a leaving gift  please (1) give it to any of the clergy, church wardens, vergers or to David, Parish Secretary, (2) send it via your bank to the parish bank account quoting as reference LINDSAY: Account Name: St James's Church Piccadilly PCC, Sort Code: 08-02-28, Account Number: 65645484, or (3) send a cheque to the Parish Office, St James's, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL. We know that many will wish to contribute in thankfulness for Lindsay's work at St James's over nearly 14 years.   

Wednesday 28 August 6.30pm
An Evening with Michael Leunig at St James’s Church Piccadilly
Tickets £3.50-£5 - book online here

Michael Leunig is an Australian cartoonist, writer, painter, philosopher and poet. His commentary on political, cultural and emotional life spans more than fifty years and has often explored the idea of an innocent and sacred personal world. The fragile ecosystem of human nature and its relationship to the wider natural world is a related and recurrent theme. We are delighted to welcome Michael to St James’s whilst he is visiting London.

HARVEST CELEBRATION Sunday 6 October at 11.00am
At our Harvest service on Sunday 6 October we will celebrate our ASWA accreditation as an animal friendly church, and are delighted to welcome our friends from the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals and guest preacher, The Revd Jeremy Fletcher.

Once again, we welcome donations of non-perishable food items which will be passed on to Westminster Food Bank.

SJP Quiet Day Saturday 21 September 2019 at St Saviour's Priory, Haggerston, London
A day for contemplation led by The Revd Daniel Norris and Trevor Lines. Please sign up with Trevor or email churchwardens@sjp.org.uk. The cost for the day is £10 payable in advance.

St James's is seeking an Honorary Treasurer!
This is a critcial, voluntary, role with the capacity to make a tremendous contribution to a West End parish with a significant history and exciting future.

We are developing a scheme to restore and redecorate our Wren church and develop the surrounding site. With a thriving congregation, and busy programme of services, projects, concerts and events, we are seeking an Honorary Treasurer to oversee the finances of the church and its related businesses. More

A Discussion and Lunch with Larry Rasmussen
(Reinhold Niebuhr Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, New York City)
1 September, 1pm, St James’s Piccadilly

We will be discussing 'A Love Letter from One Geological Epoch to the Next'. It is a letter to his grandson, Eduardo, about our time and his and what he faces in the long, hard transition from industrial to ecological civilisation. His recent book, Earth Honoring Faith: Religious Ethics in a New Key was the Grand Prize Winner and Gold Prize Winner in Ecology/Environment of the 2014 Nautilus Book Awards. He is also the Director of Earth-Honoring Faith Decade Project of Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, USA. To get numbers for lunch, please RSVP by 28 August to Joan Ishibashi.

Hosted by Eco Church at St James’s Church Piccadilly

Our many church community events often involve preparing and serving food and in a bid to make this run even more smoothly, we are developing a pool of volunteers. Would this interest you?

Your level of commitment is entirely up to you - from twice a year to once a month, from chopping carrots to overseeing the catering for an event … it's entirely up to you - we welcome anyone who would like to serve our community in this way.

Training opportunities will be provided for those who want to get more involved.
Please contact kitchen@sjp.org.uk to express an interest

The Southwood Garden at St James’s has, once again, been recognised by the Green Flag Award Scheme as one of the best in the world. This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.

Congratulations to our gardener, Catherine Tidnam, and to all involved with the upkeep of our beautiful and sustainable garden. The Green Flag Awards Scheme is run by the Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Department of Communities and Local Government

How can we help? We have a group of pastoral visitors who are happy to visit people in hospital or at home, or to telephone those who may be some distance away or appreciate a chat from time to time.
If you, or someone you know in the congregation, would appreciate a visit or phone call, then please
contact Joan Ishibashi by email or speak to her at church.

We are currently recruiting volunteers to join our Sunday morning hospitality team. If you’d like to join the ‘Intentional Coffee’ rota, please speak to Fiona Notman after the morning service.

Ilse Boas was an active member of St James's for many years before moving into residential care in North London. She was serious minded in many ways, and often raised serious questions. She was fun, too, and gentle. Her mother had suffered from dementia; Ilse had cared for her and went on to establish the Barnet Alzheimers Society.  As a child, she had arrived in Britain from Germany on the Kindertransport. Later she worked as an administrator at the LSE.

Below are some pictures I had taken of her over the years, including one where she appeared unexpectedly from behind the St James' font when I was trying to photograph it. It rather captures, delightfully in my view, Ilse's curious, serious yet always detached engagement with Christianity. She had reason to view all ideologies with a degree of scepticism. Hugh Valentine

• Committal Monday 3 June 2019 at 4pm: Enfield Crematorium, North Chapel
  
• Thanksgiving Thursday 6 June 2019 at 12.30pm, St James's Church 197 Piccadilly
  Script of eulogy here
  

Our WALKING BOOTS GROUP walked THE DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL recently:  A steep climb up to Hindhead along the Greensand Way was followed by a gentle circuit of the Punchbowl’s rim, over Gibbet Hill to the Temple of the Four Winds. Then down, steeply at first, to lunch with David Cox in the company of horses.  After that we ambled across fields and through woods to Witley station.

‘Mundus’
(Wood-ash, Thames water, honey, cotton) Sara Mark, 2019

Sara writes: “I made the first version of Mundus (Latin: World) in 2006 after attending a climate change conference at the RSA in London. After three days of talks by eminent scientists and activists I was so shocked that it triggered a period of bewilderment and grief; so began a series of installations using melting ice, linen bandaging and wood-ash. The altar cloth is the ‘shroud’ installed at St James’s last Easter, part of which was frozen into a block of ice which melted during the course of Holy Week before being hung on the cross on Easter Sunday.”  Click 'Read More' for further details.

General Synod asked the House of Bishops to consider a liturgical means for trans people to mark their transition. In response, the Bishops issued guidance suggesting the use of an existing affirmation of baptismal faith. However, a group has been formed to oppose this from an evangelical and biblical position, calling on the bishops to withdraw their suggestion. In an open letter, the group have said that they do not believe that the Bishops’ Guidance is the right way forward since it raises some significant issues for the church’s belief and practice. The letter and signatories can be reviewed at www.responsetohob.co.uk.  This letter will, undoubtedly, be hurtful to trans Anglicans who were encouraged by the Bishops’ Guidance. Indeed, the Revd Dr Tina Beardsley has responded with A Trans Priest’s Response to the “Harmful” Open Letter which can be reviewed by going to the following link:
https://viamedia.news/2019/01/31/a-trans-priests-response-to-the-harmful-open-letter/

"Capital Vision 2020 started us down a journey to becoming more confident, compassionate and creative in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our communities, and to show the love of our Creator. There is much to celebrate and build on – from the 56 new worshipping communities that have started, to the 40,000 Ambassadors commissioned and encouraged to live and proclaim the good news of Jesus.

Now, as we begin to look forward towards 2030, we are getting on our knees once again to pray and listen to what God has in store for the Diocese of London". Please take the Diocese of London's 2030 Vision survey

Affordable room hire at St James's Church. Ideal for training sessions, rehearsals, meetings, seminars, presentations, workshops and press launches.  Please re-tweet!

This slideshow was shown at the annual church meeting on 28 April 2019

See here for a report on the annual church meeting

Church Warden and Sustainability Champion Deborah Colvin appears in the Salvation Army's War Cry  to spread the word. Whatever next? Download the page here

St James's newly baptised and confirmed, with supporters, at St Paul's Cathedral London on Easter Eve 2019

Printed packs are available in church and may also be downloaded here as a PDF.

Equal, the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England, is campaigning for a change in the teaching and practice of the Church of England to allow all couples to marry in church, regardless of their gender, sex or sexuality. This principle of equality already applies in English law and in some other churches.  Consider signing their Open Letter to the House of Bishops External website

The performance of Bach’s St John Passion in Holy Week, with the audience joining in singing the hymn-like chorales that punctuate the piece, made a great impression. Thank you to all who contributed and especially to Michael Haslam for organising it.