St James Church, Gerrards Cross


St James is an evangelical Church of England parish church in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The Parish of St. James, within the Deanery of Amersham in the Diocese of Oxford, is the result of the amalgamation of St James Gerrards Cross and St James Fulmer, which began sharing a single parochial church council in 1984 and were formally merged in 1986.
The current rector is the Rev. Matt Beeby. One of the previous incumbents, Paul Gavin Williams, is currently the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.
The church is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.

Services and activities

Regular services are conducted at St James each Sunday at 9:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. There are children's and youth activities alongside the 10:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. services, and youth activities after the evening service.
Talks and sermons from most Sunday services can be downloaded through the St James podcast service.
There are other activities throughout the week, including a monthly prayer gathering on the first Tuesday of each month.
An Alpha course is run three times a year.

History

The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Oxford on 30 August 1859. It was erected at the sole cost of the sisters of the late General George Alexander Reid, who was MP for Windsor.
The St James Centre, a modern multifunction building to the rear of the site, was opened in March 2006 by George Carey.
The church celebrated its 150th anniversary on 31 August 2009.

Organ

The pipe organ may be by Henry Jones from around the time the church was opened. It has been modified in 1910 by S.F. Dalladay and 1970 by Cedric Arnold, Williamson & Hyatt Ltd. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.