Our Mission is to be a faithful and inclusive Anglican community in the heart of Sydney, which proclaims Jesus Christ, grows in the Holy Spirit, and shares God’s gracious love with all.
Everyone is welcome at St James’ King Street. Our parish family is made up of a wide range of people with a variety of life experiences and from diverse backgrounds. We seek to love and serve one another with kindness and dignity, and to encourage one another in our journey of faith.
If you would like to become more involved in parish life, please speak to the clergy or lay ministers in the parish about the things that interest you and the aspects of our shared life here that you may be able to contribute to with your time and skills. We rely on a dedicated team of volunteers to serve in many ways to ensure the smooth running of all our many activities. Click the buttons below for more information about Bell Ringing, the Sister Freda Mission, and the ways you can get more involved in Parish life at St James’ in 2025.
Parish Roll
If you would like to add your name to the Parish Roll, or update your details, please click here.
The Sr Freda Mission
The Sr Freda Mission has been running for 125 years and is named after Sister Freda of the who died in 1936. At that time the mission was adopted by St James’ King Street and runs out of the crypt kitchen.
Every Sunday a hot lunch is provided from between 60-100 people. It is distributed by volunteers on a 6 week roster. Many of our volunteers come from outside our congregation and all are welcomed to help.
If you are interested in learning more, donating items, or supporting the Sr Freda Mission by volunteering- please contact the parish office at 8227 1300 or email the coordinator at Julia@fn.com.au.
If you’d like to make a monetary donation to the Sr Freda Mission, you can make a deposit into Sr Freda a/c BSB 032 007.
St Laurence House
St James’ is proud to help support St Laurence House Youth Services: a medium-term residential service giving at risk and homeless young people support, time and space to get their lives back on track.
They are currently one of only two medium-term accommodation services located in Sydney that provide a home to young people between 13 and 18 years giving them long-term care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Find out more about St Laurence House at: https://stlaurencehouse.org.au/ Email: info@stlaurencehouse.org.au
Phone: (02) 9349 6438
Bell Ringing at St James’
The bells of St James’s King St can be heard ringing on Sunday mornings calling people to worship.At these times, in the tower above King St, the St James’ Queen’s Square Guild of Ringers can be found in the ringing chamber practicing their art.
The ringing chamber at St James’ is located upstairs behind the gallery. Visitors are most welcome, both experienced ringers looking for a ‘ringing fix’ and those simply interested in coming to have a listen and finding out more about what we do.The bells are rung for services on Sunday mornings and by arrangement for funerals and weddings and other special services held at St James’. Feel free to come along and hear us ring before the services on Sunday.
Can I learn to ring?
Ringing can be learnt at any age and does not require huge muscles, prodigious brain-power or special musical talent. If you can tap your foot in time to music and bounce a ball you have what it takes to learn to ring.
Service Ringing
The St James’ Guild of Ringers rings for 30 minutes before the Sunday services. The Guild also rings by arrangement for funerals and weddings and other special services held at St James’.
Practice 6pm–8 pm Tuesday
We meet Tuesday evenings between 6pm and 8pm for call changes and methods practice. We aim to practice something at an appropriate level for each member present. Visitors are most welcome. Please contact the Tower Captain to arrange a visit.
We also have simulator practice where learners can practice their ringing individually with the aid of a computer on more complicated methods and greater bells stages without requiring extra ringers. These sessions are by arrangement.
One Saturday a month we attempt a quarter peal: a session of about 45 minutes where we attempt to ring at least 1260 permutations of bells in sequence!
Learning
Learning to ring a bell safely requires a substantial commitment to learning the correct handling techniques and safe practices. Weekly one-on-one sessions prepare the ringer to join the sessions with other ringers. If you are interested in learning to ring please contact our Tower Captain or Ringing Master or call the St James’ Office using the contact details below.
About the Bells at St James’
The current ring of eight bells was dedicated and first rung on 27 July 2003 for St James’ Day. The bells are tuned in G with the treble (the lightest bell) weighing in at just over 3cwt (174kg) and the tenor (the heaviest bell) being 10cwt (513kg). Bells 1–7 were cast in 2002 and the tenor was cast in 1795 and previously hung in St Paul’s Church, Bristol, England. Bristol is notably the former home of St James’ architect, Francis Greenway.
See the ANZAB website and Dove’s Guide for more details about the guild and the bells. To Inquire about ringing please call the Parish office at 8227 1300