The St James’ Institute is a community exploring faith, spirituality, and other matters of concern to the parish of St James,’ the city, and the broader church.
Part of St James’ King Street, the oldest church in the City of Sydney, the Institute is a place of safety, diversity and dialogue in the heart of the city.
Subscribe to the St James’ Institute to get free access to all Institute events across the year. Subscriptions cost $195 ($175 concession), while individual tickets cost $25.
Half-year subscriptions are now available at $120 ($100 concession), giving free entry to Institute events for the remainder of 2026.
Institute Events
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History of the St James’ Institute
The Institute was established in 2007, arising out of the spirituality centre founded by St James’ Church in 1989. The Institute’s current programme builds on a foundation established by inaugural director, Christopher Roper and later directors including Aaron Ghiloni and Christopher Waterhouse.
The St James’ Ethics Centre was established by the Church late last century. Since 1996 it has been an independent organisation and is now known as The Ethics Centre.
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Trinity in Sydney
Trinity in Sydney is a partnership between the St James’ Institute and Trinity College Theological School Melbourne. Offering a regular programme of intensives and lectures at St James’ Hall, the partnership begins to address the desire for a classical Anglican education in Sydney. An Anglican College within the University of Melbourne, Trinity has been offering theological education since 1877. It teaches degrees from undergraduate through to doctoral level that are accredited through the University of Divinity.
St James’ Institute subscribers are invited to audit Trinity courses at the special rate of $400 (normally $550).
In Semester 2, 2026, the Institute will host the unit Forming the Faith, which is taught remotely by Rev’d Prof Mark Lindsay, with an in-person tutorial in Sydney led by Rev’d Dr Mark Harding for those auditing or enrolled in the course. All welcome. Enquiries: insitute@sjks.org.au
Dr Jamie Dunk | Director of the St James’ Institute
Dr Jamie Dunk was appointed Director of the Institute in October 2025. He has an honours degree in Modern History, English and Government, with a thesis on the history of Australian beach mission, and a PhD in Australian History, both from the University of Sydney. He was a researcher, lecturer and administrator at Sydney from 2013–25, teaching, writing, and giving talks on different aspects of environmental history and the history of health and medicine, with a particular focus on the psychological and emotional impacts of rapid planetary change.
Jamie reads eclectically across fiction genres and non-fiction disciplines, and writes reviews and essays for a range of literary journals in addition to his academic writing, which has been published in historical, medical, and psychological journals. His book Bedlam at Botany Bay was awarded the New South Wales Premier’s Australian History Prize and shortlisted for other major awards.
Jamie is a University Scholar of the University of Divinity and a Research Affiliate with the School of Humanities at the University of Sydney, where he occasionally lectures and supervises research projects.
St James’ Hall | e: jamie.dunk@sjks.org.au | t: (02) 8227 1300