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We offer daily services and a cultural programme of talks, events and concerts. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate
From Sun 6 to 27 April
Breastplate will be displayed behind the altar of the Side Chapel and lit from below so that it glows from within, thereby revealing its feather-filled fragility and the talismanic contents of its pockets.
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.
A reimagined St James’s realised. A redesigned garden, courtyard and new building capacity—all fully accessible— will provide beautiful spaces for all as well as improving our environmental performance.
Whether shooting a blockbuster TV series or creating a unique corporate event, every hire at St James’s helps our works within the community.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
Directions on Google Maps
‘Breastplate’ was commissioned with a ‘poetic instruction’ sent unannounced to artist/seamstress Kim Thornton in the summer of 2023. The pattern is based on a flak-jacket; body-armour designed to protect against flying fragments of shrapnel and other projectiles.
Art in the Side Chapel
Step into the Side Chapel and immerse yourself in a thought-provoking collection of art curated by the Revd Dr Ayla Lepine. These temporary exhibitions invite visitors to reflect on the transformative power of creativity and faith through the lens of intersectionality.
In April it will be displayed behind the altar of the Side Chapel and lit from below so that it glows from within, thereby revealing its feather-filled fragility and the talismanic contents of its pockets.
Sara Mark
“My work attempts to discover the soulfulness of things and places. It investigates whether inanimate material could be imbued with ‘presence’ through the processes of ritual, time or innate material transformations.The outcomes include installations, objects, videos and collaborations. Perhaps there is a therapeutic intention to the work. Poetry is integral to my practice; I write what Richard Sennett calls ‘expressive instructions’ to engage craftspeople by poetic invitation to co-make ‘objects’. Blacksmiths, glass-blowers, potters, dancers, poets and seamstresses are invited to practice their unique ‘metis’ – the gift of ‘craftiness’ to craftspeople.”
Sara studied at Camberwell College of Arts and gained her MFA at Bath College of Art and Design. She is based in London and Valencia.
Amethyst
Carried for spiritual healing, protection, clarity, serenity and wisdom. Amethyst is the birthstone of Aquarius the ‘water’ carrier. Early Greek mythology associated amethyst with Bacchus, the god of wine and the stone was carried as a remedy for drunkenness. Here it is carried for sobriety and freedom from addiction in all its forms.
Oil and phial
A glass bottle filled with cold-pressed Spanish olive oil, blessed for anointing. Christen-ing objects as well as people, and more-than-human be-ings invokes divine presence and consecrates the World. Jim Perkinson reminds us that anointing “ritually re-makes as Christ.”
Coin
A bronze French ten Centime piece dated 1917. Minted during the penultimate year of World War I. I have no idea how it came into my possession. In ancient Greece a coin was placed on the eyes of the deceased to pay Charon, the ferryman of souls to the Under-world. The practice has persisted into the modern era, primarily for military graves.
Crux
A confirmation-cross that belonged to my paternal grandmother Constance Charlotte Bailward; her names means “standing firm”. An honouring of our ancestors who witness and accompany us through life’s journey. Gold is a symbol of divine intelligence and supreme illumination. Carried for protection and healing.
Lens
A magnifying lens to aid clear-sightedness; revealing the texture and fine detail of our encounters.
Seeds
Grains of St James’s wheat grown during the COVID Pandemic of 2020. Proto-bread for the journey and a symbol of death, resurrection, hope and spiritual growth.
Compass
Trusting the compasses’ faithfulness to magnetic North to guide onward. Orientation (Orient/East) and wayfinding for the journey, recognising the lessons of each cardinal direction.
Benediction
Ephesians Chapter 6 v.14
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…” and the Breastplate poem printed on paper carried as a blessing.
Lamp and Cell
Light bulb, copper wire and a piece of copper-sheet (battery-cell) to conduct energy and emit light. Worn inside the vest over the heart, to keep it warm and true.
Breastplate
Seamstress.
Make me armour, a breastplate to protect the heart. Something a warrior might wear, but tender like swaddling or shroud.
White linen, worn at the threshold, protection for the journey. Absorbing fragmental fear, fastened with clips and web-strap, secure against lanced despair, a joyful nesting. Down-filled.
The pockets are important: one for amethyst, oil and phial, others a crux, lens, seeds and compass, inside benediction, lamp and cell.
Perhaps the lining is silk, soft against the flying dark, the gnawing night. All that would fell. Mother-hand quilted with kin-care love no machine can surpass.
No need for steel or camouflage. Worn body-close in full sight, only trust the rising of steadfast hope. The Holy Spirit singing forth life from a Christ anointed soul.
Sara Mark 2023
