Our history

The church community that became St James’ was formed in the early 1950s from a group of committed Christian residents of the newly built Council estate between Cherry Hinton Road and Queen Edith’s Way. The first services were held in 1953 in the Queen Edith Junior School hall, but a small church building was soon erected on Wulfstan Way to house the growing congregation of young families. It was dedicated by Bishop Wynn on 18 June 1955 as St James’ Church; it was the first new church to be built in the Ely Diocese after World War II.

In the early years the Sunday School, with a weekly attendance of over 100 children, provided a safe space for young families on Sunday mornings, and there was a lively youth group on Saturday evenings for older teenagers. Later there were flourishing branches of the Scouts, Cub Scouts, Guides and Brownies, which met at the church and attended regular Sunday Parade Services. As the community matured, clubs were set up for older adults, such as the 1980 Lunch Club, and the Friendship Club, which ran for more than 25 years.

During the 1960s and 1970s land south of Queen Edith’s Way was developed, and the parish population increased. The church buildings were enlarged to cater for the growing congregation, with the addition of meeting rooms, a kitchen and increased toilet facilities. This made possible the use of the church for weekday Art and Yoga classes as well as other meetings and activities.

In 1994 the vicar, Hugh Dawes set up the St James' Community Forum, a group of local Councillors, and representatives of the schools, community Police Officers, and other social groups, to consider local concerns and needs, and ways to meet them. This became the Queen Edith's Community Forum, which was instrumental in initiating the Food Hub (now the Fairbite Food Club), and the “Happy to Help” scheme at the onset of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. The Forum continues to produce a weekly email newsletter and a quarterly magazine.

St James’ Church continues to look for new and imaginative ways to engage with our parish community.

Hello and welcome to St James' Cambridge. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

New to St James'?

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet in the Church building for our Sunday Service starting at 10:00am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10 minutes early to find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by one of our sidespeople who will give you everything you need.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the sidespeople know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer, one of which has baby-changing facilities.

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Our Service

The main service begins at 10am. The service has hymns, readings from the bible, a 10-15 minute sermon, and a celebration of Holy Communion. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. We finish with a final hymn.

What about my children?

Children are very welcome at all services at St James'. There is a mat with toys and books near the altar where young children can play with their parents during the service. We also have activities prepared for children of all ages in a part of the church called the 'transept' - up towards the altar and off to the left. Here children can explore the Bible stories set for the day, and respond by making things, or by playing freely with objects from the stories, using their imagination.

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Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome. Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

We will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Getting more involved

Pilgrim Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our Pilgrim Groups allows you to make new friends, share and reflect together, and pray together. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some during the day and some during the evening. Do contact a member of the clergy team about joining: they can put you in touch with one of the Pilgrim Group leaders, who will be delighted to invite you along to their group.

Serving and volunteering

There are always lots of opportunities to get more involved in church life, from reading or serving in church, to serving coffee afterwards, to volunteering at our Saturday morning social supermarket, or our Holiday Lunch Clubs. Please do chat to one of our team if you'd like to be involved.