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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.
Come and celebrate the hope and light that Christmas brings each winter
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. This is a place for everyone who’s wondering about life’s big questions and striving for a better world.
We host a year-round creative programme encompassing music, visual art and spoken word, drawing on St James’s rich cultural history including artists, writers and musicians Mary Beale, Mary Delany, William Blake, Ottobah Cugoano and Leopold Stokowski.
We try to put our faith into action by educating ourselves and speaking out on issues of injustice, especially concerning refugees, asylum, earth and racial justice, and LGBTQ+ issues.
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.
It costs us £3,500 per day to enable us to keep our doors open to all who need us
Your donation will help us restore our garden in Piccadilly as part of The Wren Project, making it possible for us to welcome over 300,000 people from all faiths and walks of life seeking tranquillity and inspiration each year.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
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On the 14th October 1940 high explosive and incendiary bombs fell on St James’s Church, Piccadilly, destroying most of the roof and the rectory.
Both the verger and his wife lost their lives. 2020 marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of St James’s Church, Piccadilly during the Second World War. On the evening of 14th October 1940 a high explosive bomb landed in the courtyard, destroying the rectory, and incendiary bombs hit the church setting fire to the roof. Mary Lambert, whose father was rector at the time, recounts the events of that night and her own memories of St James’s Church through the remainder of the war, as well as its eventual rebuilding and reopening.
Amid the devastation and the tragedy, one amazing thing occurred: willowherb seeds that had lain dormant under the church floor since it was built in 1684 came to life and flourished. They were joined by camomile, vetch, bracken, fool’s parsley, wild tomatoes and thistles which covered the floor of the church.
In this way, nature took the church both back in time to its moment of creation and forward through its own version of resurrection.
