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 We are so looking forward to welcoming you back into the church building over the coming weeks, as we begin to celebrate the Eucharist in-person and online. If you plan to attend in person, we have some important information for you to read and watch on our website here. We have a small number of places left for this Sunday (12 July), and you can also sign up now for 19 July, or for the Patronal Festival on 26 July.
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Living into a hope-filled tomorrow - Wed 22 July 2020 at 7.30pm - St James’s Church YouTube channel9/7/2020  A dialogue between Dr Jane Goodall DBE and Rev'd Lucy Winkett reflecting on hope and making the future.
- ‘If you want to change people's minds you have first to change their hearts.' - Jane Goodall - ‘Our resolute and resilient hope is that things do not have to be as they are, and that change in the spirit is possible’ - Lucy Winkett Donations via Eventbrite here (shared equally between St James's Church and the Jane Goodall Institute). Click here for flyer. St James’s is opening again on Sundays!
We will hold our first public service at 11am on Sunday 12 July In line with government guidance, this will be a simple service with no communal singing. You will be able to receive communion if you wish, but not receive the wine. We will meet prayerfully, quietly, and socially distanced. In order for us to plan well, and to provide the welcome that we would like, please email pcc@sjp.org.uk if you think you might come along. With no obligation to attend, it would be really helpful to see what kind of numbers we might expect. We are so looking forward to being together again, and more guidance will be given in next week’s update. We will open the Piccadilly gates at 10:30am for the 11am service. The Jermyn Street entrance won’t be open and a one-way system will operate (entrance via Piccadilly door and exit by the west doors). Update: Join the Rector for Q&A about this after the 11am Eucharist live stream on 5 July.
Eco-contemplative liturgy on Zoom at 9.45am on Sunday 28 June
Please bring a glass of water for this liturgy. If you are in the fortunate position of having some outside space, please do Zoom from outside, or from a window/door with a view. Alternatively, you might like to collect a leaf, flower, twig or stone before the liturgy. Participants will be invited to speak about their garden or view or object or experience of the natural world during lockdown if they would like to.
 Our weekly news can be downloaded here (PDF).
This week -
Pentecost Film Project 2.0 ANOTHER CHANCE to record a short video on your phone We've had a great response to our first collection of Pentecost videos and the Holy Spirit is still pouring out upon the people of St James's! We are offering you another 2 WEEKS to submit a 2-minute video for a second edition of our stories of lockdown. Please email your film to pcc@sjp.org.uk by Wed 10 June and we will upload as many as we can to our YouTube channel. (The videos won't be listed for public access and a link to view will be sent to everyone registered for church emails.)
 SUNDAY 17TH MAY IS ROGATION SUNDAY This is the Sunday when traditionally the bounds of the parish are beaten. Last year, a group walked the boundaries of the parish in person. This year, online, we have no boundaries! Join us at 11am on YouTube for the Parish Eucharist, which will include contemplative film for meditation and prayer by Sara Mark, and a reflection from the Eco Church group. Please join for coffee on Zoom afterwards, with thanks to Michelle for hosting.
Ascension Day 6pm Thursday 21st May Join us on Zoom for a service for Ascension Day focussing on the spiritual wisdom of the mystics. Please bring along anything you’d like to contribute; a poem, a prayer, a reading, or just come along! The mystics such as Mother Julian of Norwich, the unknown author of the Cloud of Unknowing, Hildegard of Bingen, Richard Rolle, Margery Kempe, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Traherne, Thomas Merton speak of the oneness of God, the divine spark in all of us. Holistic spirituality, and a deep connection with the natural world feature strongly. A simple Eucharist service of prayer and contemplation with silence, music, Scripture, and the mystics. Everyone welcome. Please email pcc@sjp.org.uk for a zoom invitation. Eco-contemplative liturgy on Zoom at 9.45am on Sunday 24 May If you are in the fortunate position of having some outside space, please do Zoom from outside, or from a window /door with a view. Alternatively, you might like to collect a leaf, flower, twig or stone before the liturgy. Participants will be invited to speak about their garden or view or object or experience of the natural world during lockdown if they would like. There will be a service sheet available on the website in due course.
Pentecost Sunday 31st May 2020 Pentecost Film Project: Get involved and make a short film! The Pentecost story is told in the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2. Do read it if you can: it’s a great moment when the mystery of the Holy Spirit caused people to connect with each other and with God in a new way after the death and resurrection of Jesus. This was a moment when people heard each other in a new way, and the Spirit was somehow giving them a deeper understanding and empathy for each other, and a deeper mystical, empowering connection with God. While we are separated physically from each other, the festival of Pentecost, with its focus on spiritual connection and empathy for each other, seems more relevant than ever. Do you have a short story or reflection you could send us? We’d like to ask you, if you’d like to, to make a short film, up to 2 minutes, on your phone, telling a story of your experience of lockdown. We would like to put them together and upload to our YouTube channel as part of our marking of Pentecost. There are so many different experiences of this pandemic amongst our own congregation and community; some have been working throughout, in care homes, in the NHS, working from home. Some have been furloughed, others have been shielded or at home staying safe. Some of us have been ill, some bereaved. After these weeks of lockdown, some are finding this situation very hard; some are struggling with fragile mental or physical health. Some have found new meaning in the natural world or relief at a less hectic life. We are very fortunate to have a professional filmmaker in our congregation, Carolyn, who has made a short ‘how-to’ film to help all of us who will be trying this for the first time. This ‘how-to’ film will be on our Youtube channel from Saturday 16th May. Please email your film, by 6pm on Thursday 28th May, to pcc@sjp.org.uk and we will put as many as we can together to upload to our Youtube channel, telling the story of this Pentecost in our own way. Online liturgies, prayers, opportunities to meet and support one another The cluster groups help us keep in touch and support one another. It’s never too late to join in if you would like to connect with a smaller group of St James’s people. Different groups are operating differently; some are on WhatsApp, or Zoom, email, or phone. Please email Joan at community@sjp.org.uk to join one. Your clergy John, Daniel, Ivan and Lucy are here to help you too – please get in touch through the website. New Assistant Churchwardens The Churchwardens, Deborah and Trevor, write… We are delighted to welcome Claire Wright and Ben Bloom as Assistant Churchwardens to help support the life of our congregation along with us.
Regular services
One of the important roles for John, our new Associate Rector, is to help maximise the emotional and spiritual well-being of our congregation and he’s jumping straight in by hosting a 20-minute online relaxation session on Zoom at 9am every day for 20 days (excluding Sundays) starting on Tuesday 19th May. Each morning, John will lead you through some gentle stretches, breath-work and mindfulness exercises that will help calm your mind, reset your stress system and set a positive intention for the coming day. If you’re theologically-minded, you might call it ‘an inclusive fresh expression of participative embodied liturgy in virtual space during an pandemic’ but that’s a bit of a mouthful, so we’re just calling it The 9am Reboot! You only need a very modest amount of physical agility and it’s suitable for people whenever they are on their spiritual journey. Try it once. See if you like it. Come back as much or as little as you want but you will get the deepest benefit if you can join every day. You don't need any special equipment. Ideally, you'll sit on the floor, maybe on a mat or a cushion. (You can sit in a chair but you won't have enough room to fully do all of the movements.) And wear loose comfortable clothing you can move around in.On Tuesday 19 May at 9am when you are ready to join the session please click on this link (please join a few minutes early if you need to check your audio/video):
If you have any queries at all about The 9am Reboot, just drop John an email at associate.rector@sjp.org.uk. Call for suggestions, feedback and ideas As we continue to develop our online support, connections, liturgy, events, we would like to hear from you what would be most helpful for you as we go along in these strange times. Thank you so much to you, our volunteers and also to our skeleton staff who are, along with you, learning about what is helpful and what isn’t and how to do it! Some ideas suggested so far are that we might run a series on the Psalms, as a continuation of our Gospel Conversation series, to discuss the amazing variety of lament, rejoicing, distress, anger and praise that is found there. And to write our own psalm in the process. We could run more discussion or theological conversation and reflection if that is something that would be helpful. Or run an online version of our Camino course, an introduction to the Christian faith for beginners and experienced alike. We are looking into a way to make prayer requests more widely shared too. We have been delighted to be joined by people from all over the world and value our visitors hugely. All feedback is welcome so please do be in touch with your thoughts and ideas about what would help and support you and what you would like to see. A resource to support mental health Our refugee and asylum support worker, Jo Gowers, has put together some material to aid all of us in these times. Please find a guide to ‘Looking after your mental health during Covid 19’ here, with thanks to Jo. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MPv_1ab2pdkqG_LmHLGT7cHRoSTDZQ3JZRC2W3VNse4/edit?usp=sharing Our Caravan Counsellors are continuing to offer listening support 7 days a week The Caravan Listening and Counselling drop in service normally operates in St James’s garden 7 days a week, in partnership with CCPE. The Caravan coordinator, Ian, writes "The caravan phone counselling service is growing consistently. Some are being referred on by many NHS services and centres, and it is good to have capacity to help support the NHS and all the people who call for support. There is also the opportunity for people to move to zoom if they find a therapist they want to continue working with. We have also been doubling up some of the shifts as the service has grown." Please let others know, or call yourself, if you need them. And finally… in aid of Christian Aid (Christian Aid Week is 10-16 May) The St James's Pub Quiz Thursday 21 May, 7.30pm-8.30pm Email pastoralassistant@sjp.org.uk to receive details including the Zoom link Come and join us for an evening of fun, thanks to the Circus Spirit group and our pastoral assistant Elijah Kinne. Everyone more than welcome with the opportunity to donate during the quiz if you wish!    Saturday 9 May 2020
Welcome to the weekly update during lock-down from St James’s Piccadilly (Click Read More)  See here for the eNews from the Rector and Churchwardens. Main items:
 Over 90% of our income disappeared overnight with the closure of the market in the courtyard, the closure of the church building, cessation of services and the stopping of the concerts and events programme. St James's has a dedicated and close-knit staff team. We have had to furlough, cut hours, change contracts and limit work for all our staff, who are facing a very uncertain future, as are many of you, at the moment. Read message from the Rector and Churchwardens here
 Death Cafés for St James’s Church Piccadilly
Come join us, over (virtual) coffee and cake, to chat about death. Death Café is an international movement that offers safe places for people to explore their thoughts about death, and to discuss them with others. For the St James’s community, we will hold a series of facilitated, small group discussions using the online platform Zoom. New dates
On the advice of the Archbishops we have suspended all public worship for the forseeable future. This means there won't be any Communion services or other services on Sundays or during the week. Prayers will still be said by the clergy and vergers each day in church, but no public services will be held. We shall shortly update this, with additional news about other events that take place at St James's.
Lucy Winkett Rector NB Our Lent Contemplative Space programme is also suspended with immediate effect |
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The PCC news page is here Sermon texts & audio here |
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