Our faith

St James was one of the first followers of Jesus.

The Gospels recount how he was working with his brother John, along with Peter and Andrew – all fishermen on the Sea of Galilee – when Jesus passed by and called upon them to ‘Follow me’.

St James Garlickhythe is a community of people from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life who have also heard that call of Jesus and who seek to respond with lives of faithful witness and service.

As a Christian community, we are the Body of Christ, the People of God, and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, called to faith and witness in this place, and to work for the coming of his Kingdom.

St James is a parish in the Church of England, which is part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, worshipping the one Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, once remarked, it has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.

As such, it professes the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds.

We uphold catholic order and the catholic doctrine of the sacraments, and in particular the threefold ministry in historic succession, which the Church of England shares with the Church throughout the world and across the ages. 

For these reasons, the parish has voted, in accordance with the Resolution contained in House of Bishops' Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests, to receive the pastoral ministry of the Bishop of Fulham.

The parish fully supports the Five Guiding Principles contained in the Declaration. 

All our services are drawn from The Book of Common Prayer and we are a parish affiliated to the Prayer Book Society.