From the Church's website:
St. James' Church is named for St. James' the Greater, the first of the twelve apostles to be martyred. Like his brother, St. John, he was a fisherman and he is often represented in art as a pilgrim with a cockleshell. St. James' observes his feast day on July 25 and the cockleshell motif is the church's identifying symbol.
Becoming a great metropolitan parish was probably not foremost in the mind of The Reverend Noel Porter when he became the first rector of St. James' Church in 1911. With a monthly parish income of $12 and a total of 16 parishioners, Fr. Porter surely looked upon mere survival of the church (then located at Ardmore and Pico Blvd.) as his most pressing concern. By 1915 the parish had grown to 250 members and in 1916 St. James' found new and larger quarters at the corner of Western and Monette. By 1920, St. James' ministry had again outgrown its space and the current site at Wilshire and St. Andrews Place was purchased. The present church building was completed in 1926.
By 1947, when The Reverend George Barrett was called as rector, the congregation had grown to more than 1,500 communicants, with strong Sunday school attendance. During Fr. Barrett's tenure, extensive renovations were made to the chapel and Parish Hall. During the 1950s the parish expanded so rapidly and drew attendance from such a wide area that St. James' established Christ Church Mission in the Leimert Park district of Los Angeles. The mission merged with the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd in 1958.
The 1950s also marked the beginning of a transition. For a generation, the church had ministered to the spiritual needs of one of Los Angeles' most prestigious neighborhoods, Hancock Park. This church was home to some of the city's most prominent citizens. By the late 1950s, desegregation was remaking the city - and St. James'. Some parishioners left, but many stayed. Immigrants from around the world moved into the surrounding areas, many from nations with an Anglican heritage. During the 1960s a commitment to helping the poor and homeless in the surrounding community became a major focus of parish outreach.
In September 1968, the parish opened St. James' School in an apartment building a block from the church. In 1981 the school moved into DeBell Hall, a 14-classroom structure directly north of the church.
In the years that followed, the parish developed a number of community outreach programs, including the construction of a 65-unit senior citizens housing complex, St. James Manor, St. James Infant Toddler Care Center, St. James' Preschool, and a Soup Kitchen Ministry. During this time, the church also acquired several commercial buildings to the north of the school which were demolished, making way for the expansion of St. James' School, ultimately, north to Sixth Street, Also at this time, a new Parish Hall was built, designed by renowned architect Johannes Van Tilburg; the Murray Harris organ, originally housed in St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, was restored within St. James' Church, and a columbarium was built in the chapel.
Also during the 1990s the church was featured in the films "Death Becomes Her" and "End of Days," as well as in the TV series "Six Feet Under," and an episode of "The West Wing." It was also featured in programs on the History Channel, and in 2006, the church was used as a wedding location for an episode of "Desperate Housewives."
Today, St. James finds itself in a time of great opportunity as well as challenge. Under its current leadership, in this new millennium, St James' in the City, strives to maintain its roots in the ancient, while developing innovative ways to engage the culture and be God's people in a large, diverse urban center." (
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