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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.
Sunday 6 April 6.30pm St Pancras Church
Join the music scholars of St James’s, Piccadilly as they celebrate women composers throughout the ages.
Wednesday 16 April 6:30pm
In this special collaboration for Holy Week, St James’s Piccadilly brings together the music of composer Rachel Chaplin and spoken word presented by The Revd Lucy Winkett.
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
Directions on Google Maps
Monica Bashade, a member of the congregation, reflects on Lent as a time to fast, to pray, and to build community together.
Ayla: As we make our way into Lent, and look ahead to Holy Week, what makes this time of year important for you?
Monica: We start reflecting on our lives in Lent by fasting. I grew up Roman Catholic, and we fast for 40 days. And in those 40 days, you choose whatever you want for a fast. I choose to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays – no food – every week in Lent. Sometimes I will also not eat meat during Lent, or drink alcohol. Sometimes it’s hard to decide, but whatever it is, it’s important to find something in my life that will remind me – through my body – that this is a time for a cleansing experience, and refreshment, so that we can be nearer to God. It can help a lot, so that my mind and body are more connected to my prayers.
Ayla: In the choices that you make during Lent, and the way that it transforms your life, what does being connected with God feel like for you? How might you describe that?
Monica: When you connect with God more, you feel like somebody who is somehow different. Even if you have a headache, or if there are struggles, you might not feel it so much, and you feel like God is reminding you that you are someone who is special. You manage in life knowing that you and God are together.
Ayla: Being together with God is such a deep way to be close to the story of Jesus in this season. We remember the Last Supper, the foot washing, the meal, and the moment when Jesus tells his disciples that they are his friends – they are, somehow, together with him in an unbreakable and loving relationship.
Monica: This story of the Last Supper and foot-washing reminds me how we have to be connected to the people around us, and to care for each other in a community. During Lent, when we fast and when we pray, we want to use this time to connect more. When we are alone, fasting and focusing on prayer can be harder. I’m part of a WhatsApp group with four friends. We support each other in prayer and our relationships grow closer. We know that our lives are busy and we are not all the same. We all plan to meet online together at 8am, but sometimes someone is busy, or we need to wait and be patient with each other. If someone can’t make it, we’ll share videos, recordings and prayers to inspire each other to keep going. The connection with prayer and friendship gets deeper because we want to support each other to be with God in our own way, together. We pray the Stations of the Cross together, and each of us will share a prayer about the moments leading up to the Crucifixion.
Ayla: The Stations of the Cross is a powerful tradition. It takes our imagination into the heart of Jesus’ walk through Jerusalem, carrying the cross’ heavy weight. He meets people along the way: his mother, a group of women, a man named Simon who carries his cross for him, and he falls multiple times too. People watch him struggle with this terrible pain. Is there a particular station – a moment in the story – that is especially important for you?
Monica: Yes, it’s the times that Jesus falls with the cross. It helps me a lot, because sometimes you have challenges in life, and you don’t realise that you feel so broken, or that the path you are following feels lost and painful. But in that process, if you follow Jesus’ journey with the cross. When he falls, you can see that your pain is something that he shared too. You reflect, and you see. And Jesus did have help. People followed him, and he managed to get up and keep going, and it makes me say to myself, ‘You can do this.’ That moment in the Stations of the Cross lifts me up too.
Ayla: You have been in the congregation at St James’s for a long time now, and your prayers, presence, and support for so many people are a big part of this community’s life. You first arrived at St James’s because of the Pride Parade. You experienced St James’s welcome and belonging for LGBTQ+ people. How do your love of God, connection with the church, and celebration of yourself and Pride connect with your faith here?
Monica: I feel like St James’s is many different things for me. It makes me move. When I’m feeling down, I can experience St James’s as such an important place and community in my life. But I’m also learning to say no! St James’s can be a very busy place. I was seeing a therapist and she noticed how much I talked about St James’s, and she encouraged me to learn how to say no, because of how active I have been in the church. I feel so happy at St James’s, and so sometimes it’s hard to say no to things because I want to serve. I want to give back to the church. And so, developing this new mentality – saying no – is a part of my journey at St James’s too!
Ayla: I think this is so powerful – and Jesus teaches us about healthy boundaries. Even Jesus said no, and made sure that he took time to rest and to be with God in many different ways. Your approach to faith and church life – and this commitment to your boundaries as a part of celebrating and looking after yourself – can be an inspiration for us, especially in Lent. We can make time to be with God by noticing where and how God is meeting us. Making space for God can mean being more attentive to what we do, and what we decide not to do. When we really listen to God in our hearts, we can really notice where our energy is.
Monica: Lent is a time to be patient, and to strengthen our connections with God by connecting with each other in ways that feel good. We can do that together.
