Parish Life - Bringing Us Together

We have a Supper Group that meets monthly at area restaurants and organizes other activities such as baseball games, picnics and occasional theatre and field trips. We also have a Book Club that meets monthly and a Writers Group  that comes together online twice a month. The parish volunteers for spring and fall campus clean-ups and a summer tag sale. We have supported a music ministry for the community, known as “Music on Whale Oil Row,” offering concerts and classic movies each year. For dates and times of these events, click on our calendar site here.

The St. James Supper Group is a gathering of parishioners who dine together on a Friday evening, usually once a month to break bread and enjoy one another's company. We choose a different restaurant in the New London area each time, so that we are able to support many of the local restaurants in the nearby community. The Supper Group is also a way of getting to know our parishioners who attend either the 8:00 am service or the 10:00 am service who we do not normally see on a regular basis. Twelve to fifteen people normally come for our Supper Group outings and the numbers continue to grow each month! Rides are available and encouraged for those who do not have transportation.

The St. James Book Group usually gathers on the third Wednesday of each month to discuss the "Book of the Month" and enjoy food and fellowship at a local restaurant or at a member's home. It is another way to get to know your fellow parishioners a little bit better!

Our online presence continues to be a powerful way for us to connect with parishioners, the community and Episcopalians near and far. Currently, Sunday 8:00 am services are celebrated solely in person, while the 10:00 am services are offered on Zoom and YouTube as well as in-person. These services are also recorded on YouTube and posted on the St. James YouTube website for later viewing, usually by 20-30 viewers a week. Our Saturday "reminder" emails go out to about 195 parishioners and friends and are also posted on the St. James Facebook page. The regular Tuesday church emails go out to those same parishioners and friends, plus our SE Region contacts, for a total of 220 weekly. The website is in the process of a serious update this year, and it received 364 visits a week last year, an increase of 70 over prior year. We continue to be well-represented on social media on Facebook and Instagram. Our Facebook page has 933 followers and 835 friends. Our Instagram page continues to grow; currently with 962 followers.

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With the 300th anniversary of St. James' founding coming in 2025, our Tercentennial Committee  has been planning meaningful activities and commemorations to celebrate the history and accomplishments that are the story of our church in New London. The work of the committee includes generating subcommittees to spread the work among more parishioners. We already have earned a grant to join the Witness Stones Project, (see below) which "seeks to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities." We had a celebratory choral Evensong service in November commemorating the 240th anniversary of the consecration of Samuel Seabury as our country's first American Episcopal Bishop in 1784. While serving as bishop, Seabury was also the pastor of St. James from 1785 until his death in 1796. Singing for the service was the St. James Choir, the Anglican Singers and additional choir members from St. John's Episcopal Church in Niantic and Calvary Church in Stonington. A celebratory Eucharist and dinner event will be held on June 5th.

Witness Stones Project: Student presentations and dedication of memorial tablets at St. James Monday, May 5 at 10 AM

This event honors the lives and of the two slaves recorded in Bishop Samuel Seabury's 1796 estate inventory: Nell, 38, and her daughter Rose, 9.

The event is the capstone of a history class project at the Williams School in New London. Students have studied archival documents newly researched by the Witness Stones Project staff and will give their presentations at this event. The 60-voice Killingly High School choir will also perform.

All parishioners and the general public are invited to attend the presentations and tablet dedications, followed by a light reception in the parish hall.

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The Garde Arts Center will hold a book launch for parishioner Judy Benson's book, written with her late husband Tom, The Book of Todd, on Wednesday, May 7, from 6 to 8 PM. The novella "is a tender story of love, loss and forgiveness . . . a story within a story about a childhood friendship." All proceeds from book sales will be donated to the two organizations to which Tom devoted much of his energy and talents - the Homeless Hospitality Center and the New London Community Orchestra and its Music City Strings youth education program.

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Live in Concert: "Made in Italy" - The Anglican Singers present Peppino D'Agostino - "one of 50 transcendent heroes of the acoustic guitar" according to Guitar Player Magazine - in concert at St. James on Thursday, May 22nd at 7 PM. For more information and tickets, click here.