On behalf of our congregation and as the Priest in Charge of St. James, it is my privilege to welcome you to our webpage and extend an invitation to visit us on Sunday. St. James is a diverse and inclusive community ministering to English and Italian speakers from around Tuscany and the world over for over 100 years. No matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, you have a home in Florence with us. – The Reverend Richard B. Easterling
Worship at Saint James – Sundays at 11:00
St. James is a congregation of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. Our local organizational structure is called the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe. It is comprised of twenty worshiping communities from all over Europe as well as the Republic of Georgia.
As is most common in the Episcopal Church, our principal service on Sunday is the Holy Eucharist (Mass). The words of our liturgy come from The Book of Common Prayer 1979, and both English and Italian are used in our worship. Our hymns draw from The Hymnal 1982 and Lift Every Voice and Sing 2.
St. James is a multi-cultural community. Our members come from all over the Anglican Communion and beyond. That being the case, one will observe a variety of individual practices on a given Sunday, some being more catholic and others more protestant. All are welcome at St. James and we aim to make our worship accessible, inclusive, and engaging.
Whether you live in Florence or are just visiting, we hope that you will join us this Sunday at 11:00 for Holy Eucharist and stay for the rinfresco (coffee hour) that follows. Can’t make it this Sunday? You can always tune into our Sunday Livestream by visiting the church’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe there for timely updates and notifications.
Clergy
In December of 2020, The Reverend Richard Brooks Easterling arrived in Florence with his husband, David, and their dog, Bear, to begin his ministry with St. James.
We are delighted to announce that in December 2022, Richard was promoted to rector of St. James. This important milestone will be celebrated with and marked a special service on Sunday, April 16, with our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mark. D.W. Edington. Please make plans to join us for this festive day!
Prior to accepting the position of Priest in Charge, Fr. Richard served as Rector of St. George’s Church in New Orleans and Rural Dean of the Uptown Consistory of Episcopal Churches. He was ordained to the Priesthood in the Diocese of Louisiana by the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins in July of 2003.
Fr. Richard currently serves on the Commission on the Ministry of the Baptized, the Bishop’s Council of Advice, and the Liturgical Committee of the Convocation.
Photo courtesy of The Florentine
About Us
The city of Florence was closed to non-Roman Catholic churches until the Grand Duke of Tuscany was exiled in 1849. The Tuscan parliament passed legislation permitting churches of other denominations at that time. Around 1850, a few Americans began organizing a church. Our parish was officially recognized in 1867.
The beautiful building we now occupy was designed as the last work of an English architect who was prominent in the Gothic Revival movement of the late 19th century. The land was purchased in 1907 for $12,822. Church construction, the organ, and other furnishings totaled $66,556. More than half of the total funds were contributed by Edward Francis Searles. A crucial $10,000 came from J. Pierpont Morgan, who was approached by church representatives following his generosity to the Episcopal Church in Rome, in facilitating the purchase of land for St. Paul’s Within the Walls. Upon examination of the architect’s drawings, J.P. Morgan declared the building plans “inadequate” and requested more elaborate plans. When these were produced, so was his gift.
The church closed during World War II, but escaped heavy damage. It reopened in 1947, during a time when the American community in Florence included Bernard Berenson, Sinclair Lewis, and the M.I.T. inventor Philip Baldwin.
The church’s most dramatic moment came on November 3 and 4, 1966, when the Arno River flooded and rose to a height of twelve feet in and around many of Florence’s most important museums and monuments, doing devastating damage. Water and fuel oil flooded the parish hall under the church, reaching the windowsills of the rectory. St. James parishioners wrote to their friends in America for help. Within the next 3 months, the parish raised $425,000 to ease the suffering of the city. The vestry, in cooperation with the British government, created a relief agency to investigate and document each request, providing a maximum weekly grant of $35 per family.
Although in the past our purpose focused on providing a place of worship and community for English-speaking people, today we are a proudly multilingual and multicultural congregation.
You can learn much more about our church’s history by reading St. James Church in Florence by the Rev. Canon Clement W. Welsh. The book can be ordered from the Church Office and shipped worldwide.
GET IN TOUCH
We would love to hear from you!
"We rejoice in a diverse and international parish family, and serve Italian and English speakers from many denominations, backgrounds and cultures."
Office Hours
Monday – Friday
9:00am – 1:00 pm
Tel: (+39) 055 29 44 17
email: info@stjames.it
N.B. Office closes for the month of August and from December 25th through Epiphany.
Codice Fiscale: 800 357 50480 *
*Note: we do NOT have a partita IVA
Address
Via B. Rucellai, 9
50123 Florence, Italy