St James’ Church — Attraction in Sydney

I noticed once again a bronze cast of Homeless Jesus, by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz. This time I found it outside of St James Church Sydney NSW. So I had to take another look to see if it was the same model as the one I saw in Tampa Florida, and it is. Schmalz centres his work towards provocative situations where he places Jesus in modern urban settings. After seeing this I wanted to step inside the church.

St James Church was consecrated in 1824 and stands as one of the oldest buildings in Sydney. The building has had several renovations, restorations and structures to fortify this house of worship built by convicts. In one restoration of the spire interior they found iron splice plates marked with the convict arrow marking in the early 1820’s building materials. They kept that part of the structure as part of the church heritage.

Take a look inside and look at the magnificent stain glass windows. They may not be the original work, but it still is impressive.

I believe that it doesn’t matter what religious beliefs you may have, I believe at heart the world would be better if there was more kindness and love all...

As a convent educated Christian, I have come to be "a happy, little Anglican", without any need for a conversion. The Anglican baptismal rites use the words "and the wider Christian community" as part of what the child is being initiated into. Ergo... St JamesChurch in Sydney's cbd is High Anglican, so much of the liturgy is similar to Catholicism. This makes for a wonderful experience when attending services there. A shared culture.The Australia Day service is especially of note. Both opening hymns, liturgy and the the hominy are written specifically to name and include 'the first peoples of this land' , not just to give them token reference. I am extremely moved and proud to participate in this wonderful ritual on this day every year. Each year, a set of three choral/orchestral masses are held in three consecutive weeks in January. E.g. Heyden, Biber, Mozart, to name some of them. Australia Day falls within this time of the liturgical year. It was the Beethoven Mass...

St. James' Anglican Church; St James' Church ( they were toning the organs for some upcoming event)

The church remains historically, socially and architecturally significant. The building is the oldest one extant in Sydney's inner city region. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 3 September 2004 and was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.

The church has maintained its special role in the city's religious, civic and musical life as well as its close associations with the city's legal and medical professions through its proximity to the law courts and Sydney Hospital. Its original ministry was to the convict population of Sydney and it has continued to serve the city's poor and needy in succeeding centuries.

Worship at St James' is in a style commonly found in the High Church and moderate Anglo-Catholic traditions of...