150 Years of Church History

In the beginning…
One hundred and forty years ago three tenacious sisters Jane, Penelope and Mary decided to honour the memory of their father Bishop Monk by building a church. It was 1859 and the parish of St James was a poor area then, housing about 31,000 people in a collection of slums and tenements. The Monk sisters managed to persuade Westminster Abbey to give them some land and commissioned George Edmund Street as the architect.
The name might not mean much to many of us, but most of us have seen the Law Courts on the Strand and some of us may have seen Bristol Cathedral, both of which he designed. Street was just the first among a number of experts that together created the grade 1 listed building we come to worship in week after week.
Next in line were Clayton and Bell, well-respected glassmakers in the Victorian period, who are responsible for most of the stained-glass windows in the church. One of the most striking pieces they created is in the East window. It portrays both the Old Testament and New Testament versions of several incidents from scripture one above the other.

An eye for style…
Those with a keen artistic eye and frequent visitors to the Tate Gallery might recognise the name and style of G F Watts. He created what’s commonly called ‘The Doom’ mosaic on the Chancel wall. Originally this was a mural of Jesus, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, but it deteriorated over a period of twenty years and was replaced by Watts in the form of the current mosaic, which still retains the glory of its early years now. Pictures can be seen here.

The touch of genius…
Sculptors and history of art enthusiasts may well know the name of Thomas Earp, whose skills were employed in the design of the pulpit. This is perhaps the most easily identifiable object of note within the church and that may account for its slightly less than pristine condition. Years of hands on appreciation have lead to there being considerably less of it than there originally was!

With hymn to the end…
In addition to these artistic contributions there are two interesting wall plaques. The first commemorates the Monk sisters who instructed and funded the building of St James and another pays homage to a recent vicar. Back in 1917, Canon Thorndike was the vicar at St James the Less. He had a daughter who was a famous screen actress, Dame Sybill Thorndike, not that this should ensure his name was engraved in stone, but you could say that drama played a part in it! One night in October 1917, Canon Thorndike announced the opening hymn to the congregation gathered before him and then dropped down dead beside the font. Unfortunately he was not the only vicar to end his days before a seated audience at St James. Geoffrey Pollard also died in September 1986 after conducting an evening service. But we’d like to mention we’re confident it’s not an ongoing trend!

Praise and the poet…
Originally in 1861, when the church was consecrated, SJTL favoured the Anglo-Catholic, high-church style of worship and praise. It had developed into a ‘broad’ church by 1960, shortly before proposals were made for its closure due to a decline in attendance. The last name of fame and notoriety, to date, connected with St James steps into the picture here. It is the late Sir John Betjeman we have to thank, amongst others, for the series of appeals and protestations which ensured our church was formally united with the neighbouring St Saviour’s church and not shut down altogether.

SJTL is born again…
By 1991, St Michaels, Chester Square, in Pimlico, which had a vibrant Church of England congregation, was embarking on a building project installing heating under the floor of their church. Their three congregations had to find alternative places to worship and congregation ‘C’ found a nearly disused church on Vauxhall Bridge Road. Jeremy Crossley was a curate at St Michael’s and he led congregation ‘C’ as it started to flourish at St James the Less. Eventually the bishop gave him licence to become the vicar at St James. Under Jeremy’s pastoral care the congregation grew rapidly, frequently reaching over five hundred amongst the four services on Sundays. Several more pastoral staff have been welcomed in along the way each with a crucial role to play in the maintenance, development and growth of the body of SJTL. The worship and praise that has filled SJTL for 150 years is now firmly rooted in the evangelical stream of the Church of England, where, God-willing, it will continue to grow; perhaps creating a plant itself one day too. In Autumn 2001 Richard Dormandy, formerly Vicar of Holy Trinity, Sydenham, came to SJTL. Over the next eight years, the church was marked by a significant growth in maturity and depth. Served by a dedicated and creative staff team, SJTL also became more rooted in the local community and better established for on-going sustainable mission. After about eight years Richard moved on to a new south London Parish and we entered another period of interregnum. In Autumn 2010 The Reverend Lis Goddard became the new vicar and our congregation continues on the journey of discipleship, seeking to serve Christ daily wherever we are.