St. James Church (Sydney)

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St James Church seen from above with St Mary's Cathedral in the background

The St. James Church is an Anglican church in King Street in Sydney , Australia . The street is also known as St. James King Street among local residents. The church is the oldest church building in Sydney and has been in constant use since its consecration on February 11, 1824. The building was originally planned as a courthouse. The building was later converted into a church by adding a church tower on the west side .

history

The church was designed by prisoner and architect Francis Greenway in the old colonial Regency style and consecrated in 1824. Other changes were made in 1894 and from 1904 to 1907. Although not the first Anglican church in the colony, St. James is now the oldest church in central Sydney and plays a special role in the city's religious and social life. For example, the beginning of the calendar year is marked by a service, which the judges of the Supreme Court attend in solemn costume.

Dan Cruickshank described it as one of the world's 80 greatest man-made treasures in his TV series Around the World in 80 Treasures .

The building is now registered in the register of national cultural monuments.

Lithograph of St. James Church from 1836 by Robert Russell

Location

St. James Church is on King Street, in the heart of Sydney's judicial and business district. The church is bordered clockwise from the west by the old Supreme Court House, Sydney Law School, the New South Wales Supreme Court House and the Supreme Court of Australian Institutions in Sydney, Queen's Square and Hyde Park . In the south-east of the church is the underground St. James train station that gives it its name. The area around the church is sometimes called “St. James "called.

Belief

St. James Church, seen from the Hyde Park Barracks (1817–1819), where the path was laid out in line of sight to St. James Church

The St. James Church exercises the High Anglican or Anglo-Catholic faith, in contrast to the Low Church (reformed, Puritan part of the Anglican Church) usual in the diocese of Sydney . The altar server guild is present at all important church services and ensures the standard of the worship ceremonies. St. James is also known to take a more liberal and spiritually different attitude from other churches in the diocese on certain issues, particularly sexual ones and the ordination of women. The rector is Andrew Sempell in the church. The acting rector is Rev. Br. John Stewart.

music

Organ player Alistair Nelson (2014)

Festival services are often held in St. James. Easter, the Advent songs , the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christmas Eve midnight mass and the orchestral masses in January are the highlights of the church year.

St. James is also known for the performance of its music field. The church has an excellent organ with three manuals (keyboards) and offers various concerts and rubrics all year round. The adult choir sings the Eucharistic chorale every week at 11 a.m., the choir for evening mass on the last Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. every month and on some midweek festivities throughout the year. Organ player David Drury was director of the music department from 1997 to 2007. Warren Trevelyan-Jones is currently director and Alistair Nelson is organ player.

tourism

As one of the most historic churches in Sydney, St. James attracts many tourists who want to see the special features of the church, from the contemporary stained glass of the chapel of the Holy Spirit Chapel to the decorations in the children's chapel.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heritage NSW , Statement of Significance, updated November 1997.
  2. ↑ St James' website: Retrieved 20th December 2008
  3. ^ A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Apperly (Angus and Robertson) 1994, p.28
  4. ^ The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, pp. 2/96
  5. ^ The Heritage of Australia, pp. 2/95
  6. ^ The Heritage of Australia, pp. 2/95
  7. ↑ St James' website: Retrieved 25th August 2009  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sjks.org.au  

Web links

Commons : St. James Church (Sydney)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 33 ° 52 ′ 10 ″  S , 151 ° 12 ′ 40 ″  E