Music/Choir

The St. James Chancel Choir is a joyous band of singers composed of parish volunteers and supplemented by professional musicians. The Chancel Choir offers special music during the Sunday liturgy every six weeks from September through June, and for special occasions.

Visiting choirs and musicians from Europe and around the world often sing on Sundays. The Chancel choir is open to new membership and welcomes anyone who wishes to sing. Please contact Elizabeth Chard, Director, at elizabethchard@hotmail.com

The tracker pipe organ, installed in 2009, was built by the Willis Company in Liverpool, England.

Thrift Shop

The first Wednesday of every month (October through June) there is a Thrift Shop sale in the St. James Undercroft from 9:30 – 11:30.

Proceeds go to the St. James Food Bank, the Missionarie di Carita’ (Mother Theresa Nuns) and St. James Church.

Items sold are all donations which the Shop relies on in order to thrive. People bring clothing, toys, homewares and much more.

Donations* may be dropped off Monday to Friday 9:00 – 13:00.

* Please refrain from bringing items that are difficult to transport or move. No donations will be accepted during the months of July and August.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous meets at the following times:

A.A. (English)

Monday 7 – 8 pm

Tuesday 1:30 – 2:30 pm

Wednesday 7 – 8 pm

Thursday 1:30 – 2:30 pm

Friday 7 – 8 pm

Saturday 5 – 6 pm

Contact the Church office for more information 055-294417

Children’s Lending Library

The Children’s Lending Library offers an extensive collection of children’s and young adult books. For a modest annual subscription fee (per family), parents can check out books for their little ones. The Children’s Lending Library is hosted by St. James Church as an outreach ministry to the Florentine community and it is an independent, volunteer-run, non-denominational community service. They sponsor Halloween, Christmas and Easter parties and are often looking for volunteers to help keep the books in order, it’s a true old fashioned library! For further information visit their blog: childrenslendinglibrary

Weddings

Getting Married in Florence

Congratulations on your engagement!

St. James Episcopal Church in Florence, Italy offers religious ceremonies for couples of all denominations and backgrounds.

If you would like to book a wedding at St. James Church, please take a look at our requirements and important details and contact the Parish Office for any further questions and booking information.

About Us

The city of Florence was closed to non-Roman Catholic churches until after the Grand Duke of Tuscany was exiled in 1849 and the Tuscan parliament passed legislation permitting churches of other denominations. About 1850 a few Americans began organizing a church, and the parish was officially recognized in 1867.

The beautiful building we now occupy was designed as the last work of an English architect, prominent in the Gothic Revival movement of the late 19th Century. The land was purchased in 1907 for $ 12,822; church construction, organ and other furnishings totalled $ 66,556. More than half of the total was 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 purchasing a piece of land inside the walls of the old city. Upon examination of the architect’s drawings, he declared the building inadequate and requested more elaborate plans. When these were produced, his gift was forthcoming.

The church was closed during World War II, but was not heavily damaged. It was reopened in 1947, 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 – 4, 1966, when the Arno River flooded, rising to a height of 12 feet in some of Florence’s museums and monuments, doing devastating damage. The water and fuel oil flooded the parish hall under the church and reached the window sills of the rectory. St. James parishioners wrote their friends in America and within the next 3 months raised $ 425,000 to help the needy. The vestry, in cooperation with the British, set up a relief agency to investigate each case and to provide a maximum grant of $35 weekly per family.

Having come from a past when the purpose of the church was to provide a place of worship and community for English – speaking people, we are a multilingual international congregation.