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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
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Mary Stewart reports on this year’s ‘Lifelines’ hedgerow planting experience at Hilfield Friary in Dorset.
A group of us from St James’s has just returned from an amazing weekend in north Dorset as part of the Lifelines project – an enterprise that was set up three years ago by St Ethelburga’s, a London-based charity that works to guard the climate while promoting peace. The purpose of Lifelines is to bring together faith and community groups with farmers, to plant hedgerows. Here are just a few highlights and reflections on a memorable and remarkable weekend …
We worked alongside an eco-feminist community group, ‘What’s Feeding Me?’, based in London that’s committed to social justice and environmental activism, as well as two people from St Ethelburga’s where it all began – 20 of us in total – with a wonderfully wide range of background, life experience and age including two incredibly cheerful and hard-working 10 years olds, some group members in their sixties and seventies and every decade in between.
We were lucky enough to stay at Hilfield Friary, an intentional community that includes four Brothers who are part of the Society of St Francis (SSF), lay members, staff and two families who all work together to offer generous, warm and kind hospitality, whilst tending 50 acres of land. On Saturday morning some of us joined the Brothers for their daily shared silence – 30 minutes of quiet reflection in the early dawn, in their beautiful prayer-filled chapel lit only by a few candles.
The way in which everyone came together to plant the hedgerows was amazing. For most of us this was our first experience of a Lifelines weekend, and within an hour or so on Saturday morning we were all working together in a spirit of cheerful and enthusiastic teamwork. There were marker points to be placed, holes to be dug, young plants (known as whips) to be tucked gently into those holes (a wonderful mix of hazel, blackthorn, honeysuckle, dogrose, hawthorn and more besides), and mulch to be spread around all the whips to give them the best chance of getting established before some of the more tenacious weeds take hold. It was hard but deeply satisfying work.
The weather on Saturday was absolutely gorgeous – bright, sunny, and with a bit of gentle, early spring warmth. It could not have been more different on Sunday with horizontal rain (literally) and gusty wind, and though we all got very cold, soaked to the skin, and covered in mud it was totally exhilarating. We finished our work with a rousing rendition of ‘Sing John Ball’ led by Bryony in the still-pouring rain, with lots of enthusiastic foot-stomping plus dancing from Sarah (though I’ve no idea where she found the energy!).
On Saturday afternoon Richard, the farm manager, took us on a tour. It was very moving to hear his quiet passion for, and dedication to the land. He explained the vital importance of hedgerows as a source of food and shelter for innumerable species of birds, animals and insects including some, such as the Duke of Burgundy butterfly and Bechstein’s bat, which are endangered nationally but are thriving on the farm thanks, in part, to the way the land is tended and protected. Richard really helped us to understand the rich life of the soil and the global web of connectedness that exists under our feet.
The name Lifelines, that is given to the overall project, could not be more appropriate. The hedgerow that we planted will, hopefully, live, grow and thrive for many, many years. It felt like an extra blessing having the children in our group – not just because of their energy and humour, but also because they represent the future and are part of the reason why hedgerows are so important. Most of all, the weekend was also deeply life-giving for all of us who were involved.
Finally, the weekend was a powerful reminder of the rich glory and diversity of God’s creation, and the need for each of us to do all we can to guard and celebrate its beauty. On Sunday morning Brother Hugh, one of the Hilfield community, gave a sermon reflecting on the need for creating hedges rather than walls. He ended his sermon with an additional verse he had written for the hymn ‘God’s spirit is in my heart’. Enormous thanks to Hugh for allowing me to quote the verse here:
God’s Spirit is in my heart
He has called me and set me apart
This is what I have to do
What I have to do
She sent me to give the Good News to the ground
Tell wildlife to flourish and be safe and sound
Give space to the hedgerow and tree,
each dormouse and bird to be free,
And go tell life on earth
That all human beings now see its worth
That each of us values its worth