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Our former Associate Rector, Lindsay Meader, is to be licensed to her new role as Lead Theatre Chaplain for the Diocese by Bishop Sarah on Wednesday 30th September at 6.30pm. This will take place at the Actors’ Church (St Paul’s, Covent Garden) as part of Theatre Chaplaincy UK’s annual TGI* Theatre Celebration.

Lindsay says: "It seems almost impossible that it's just over a year since my last Sunday at SJP, and goodness, what a bizarre year it's been. I am (finally!) to be licensed to my new role as Lead Theatre Chaplain for the Diocese on Wednesday 30th September at St Paul's Covent Garden. You won't be surprised to know that we've had to make a number of adaptations due to Covid restrictions and yesterday had to halve the number of people present for the second time, to only 15! Nonetheless, you are warmly invited to join via the live-stream and it would mean a great deal to have your support. As soon as the live-stream details are available, they will be posted to here. I'll also post them on  @TheatreChaplain and @TCUKchaplains and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TCUKchaplains) or you can email me at: theatrechaplain@gmail.com. As you doubtless realise, this is a pretty desperate time for the theatre industry, so please do hold us in your prayers."
 
*TGI = Thank God It’s Theatre
​

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​We pray for everyone being ordained this Michaelmas, especially Georgina Elsey and our new curate Mariama who are both being ordained at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday 26th September at 2.30pm. Lucy will be attending the special socially-distanced service to represent St James’s and everyone can watch via the St Paul’s YouTube channel here. 
 
Our dear friend Susy Brouard is also being ordained at Christ Church Oxford on Sunday 27th September at 3.00pm. Susy writes:
Dear all, I would appreciate your prayers in the run up to my ordination to the Diaconate on Sunday 27th of September at 3.00pm. It will take place in Christ Church, Oxford, and will be live-streamed. The stream link is: here but to play it safe you might just want to go to the Christ Church Oxford YouTube channel. If you can't watch it live don't worry as it should be up there for a couple of weeks. I have now been in Kidlington and Hampton Poyle (five miles north of Oxford) for a couple of months and really enjoying my time as curate. Thank you for your ongoing love, prayers and support, Susy

At our 11am Eucharist in the courtyard this Sunday, we welcome Julie Cunningham, who will dance as part of the service. Julie is a longstanding member of St James’s congregation and founder of Julie Cunningham and Company.

The dance is part of a piece called m/e and is offered as part of our liturgy. 

Julie says:
​"I made m/e  using a collection of images of people who felt like part of my herstory. I was looking for queer gesture - that is, something we can’t recognise, that is not obviously something. I tried to embody that, see how it felt and find ways to move between them. So it’s sort of a time travel between the lives of the people that mean something/have affected me but then also a time travel through my own self and life, a way of sorting through things, looking at them and noticing what they feel like. It’s layers, and knowing that every moment of experience of one life is lived in every moment. In that way you can’t possibly feel alone." 

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For the next four Saturdays, John our Associate Rector is leading a 60-minute yoga class online at 9.30am, using postures and breath-work to help calm your mind, reset your stress system & set a positive intention for the coming week. The classes are suitable for people of all faiths and beliefs, and we’re advertising them within and beyond the St James’s community and inviting everyone for a suggested donation to the church of £5 per class (plus the cost of one standard rate text message) by texting YOGA 5 to 70450 (or you can vary the donation to whatever you can afford simply by changing the digit). Email John via our website for a Zoom invite.

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Either pre-record or perform live a 2-minute story – 
• something original, 
• an excerpt from your favourite book, 
• a poem, 
• or anything entertaining. 
For more info email Elijah at pastoralassistant@sjp.org.uk

JRS UK is looking for new volunteer hosts to join their ‘At Home’ hosting scheme which facilitates short-term hosting placements in London for refugees at high risk of street homelessness. Hosts with a spare room in London welcome refugees for a period of three months, with support and assistance provided by JRS. Opening your home to a refugee in need is an incredible way of helping someone in need, which has a transformative effect on both the guest and host alike. Understandably, people often have many questions they would like to have answered before joining up as a hosts. Join us from 18:30-19:15 on Tuesday 11th August on Zoom for a discussion with Naomi, At Home’s coordinator. Click here for more info and to register.

As a Londoner, Mariama is thrilled to be joining the community at St. James’s Piccadilly, having worshipped and served for the past six and a half years as Queen’s Almsman at Westminster Abbey. She works as Head of Outreach Solutions at the University of Oxford and will combine employment with a part-time curacy. Prior to this, Mariama has worked in secondary and tertiary education, university admissions and community outreach.  
 
Mariama is a modern linguist, having completed her undergraduate degree in French and Spanish at the University of St Andrews. Her MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge focused on European Literature and History. In 2009, she was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship to New York University, where she also volunteered at an elementary school and the New York City Rescue Mission. Mariama completed an MA in Careers Education and Coaching at the University of Derby in 2018.
 
An avid Arsenal fan, Mariama longs for the return of the glory days for her beloved team. She believes in the power to transform local and national life through collaborative conversation and creative solutions. She is committed to working to enable young people, women and girls to fully flourish and thrive. Mariama is married to Oliver, who is a priest in the Church of England. 

Please pray for Mariama as she prepares to be ordained at St Paul’s Cathedral on Sat 26th September and joins us on Sunday 27th. She will also be preaching at St James's on Sunday 16th August, and in the meantime you can watch an online conversation between Lucy and Mariama on our website here.  

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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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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.