Easter is a church season lasting 50 days, ending with the Feast of Pentecost. It is a festive time of great rejoicing. In celebration of Easter, St. James Church announces the following schedule:

Thursdays in Easter  

May 26 - Popcorn Theology - 7:30 PM

Movie and discussion at the rectory.

June 9 - Popcorn Theology - 7:30 PM

Movie and discussion at the rectory.

Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday - June 12

9:00 AM Eucharist in Chapel

11:00 AM - Festive Eucharist

This Thursday, join us in the Rectory for a movie, discussion, and refreshments. In particular, this will be a nice evening for parents and their teenagers.

The Church is hosting an exhibit by local artist Don Sutphin. Sutphin is an American painter and graphic artist. Originally from New England, he has worked in Florence in the Via Erta Canina for 50 years.

The Exhibition will be on view during normal office hours from May 7 through May 31. All are welcome.

St. James is pleased to host a concert by  Maestro Terrence Gaus-Woollen on Friday May 27, at 8 PM. The recital will be followed by refreshments in the Undercroft. 

Gaus-Woollen is currently the Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Parish in Wilmington, Delaware.  He is an organist, pianist, composer, and conductor, as well as an accompanist, especially for his wife, Kathie.  From 1973-1977, Terry was Director of Music here at St. James, and is thrilled to play once again at his "first church."

Sunday, June 5, St. James' own resident historian, Horace Gibson will present "The History of the Church Community of St. James in Florence."  

This will be the final Adult Forum before the summer break.  

Grab a cappuccino and join us in the meeting room. 

The severe storms and tornadoes that have overwhelmed five Southern states continue to batter the region.  A new wave of storms came shortly after an earlier cluster that barreled through the Southeast over the weekend of April 16.  Over 300 people have died throughout the South and Southeast and widespread damage to homes and civic infrastructure has been reported.

Please make checks payable to:  

Episcopal Relief & Development/USA Disaster Response Fund

Mail to: PO Box 7058 Merrifield, VA 22116-7058

To make a credit card donation, please call 800-334-7626, ext. 5129 or visit our website at 

www.er-d.org  

Donations may be also be at the Church office.

Support the Food Bank and other outreach programs by requesting that the 5 X 1000 on your Italian tax return be donated to "Amici di St. James in Florence." Simply sign the relevant box on your taxreturn form and indicate the 'codice fiscale' (tax ID number) for Amici di St. James in Florence:

94138720480

There is no financial implication to you for doing this; funds fromthe "5 x 1000" that are not specifically allocated for non-profit associations are left to the government.

Please share this information with anyone who is interested in supporting the charitable activities of St. James.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

The Tecress Company will be cleaning and repairing the facade of the Church. The work will begin on April 11 and is scheduled to run for two months. There will be some scaffolding around the exterior of the building. Pardon our progress.  

St. James' Town House, in the heart of Florence, is the perfect place to stay with friends or family. We are centrally located near the train station, the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, and many other favorite places to visit. We accept reservations for a minimum of 1 week and a maximum of 3 months. Your stay with us is considered a donation to St. James Church. Contact us for availability and further information. Everyone is Welcome at St. James' Town House!

St. James' Town House is a three story apartment with its own entrance on via Bernardo Rucellai, next to the church rectory and part of the parish complex. It is a spacious 3-bedroom, 3-bath apartment, furnished with antiques, including a beautiful 1826 John Broadwood fortepiano, and overlooking the church and the rectory garden. It is fully equipped with linens for both bed and bath, along with kitchen supplies. There is satellite television that includes many English language programs, a washing machine, microwave oven, and iron. The bedrooms and living room are air conditioned. Off- street parking within the grounds of the church for one car.

On Tuesday, May 24, at 6:30 PM at the Paperback Exchange, St. James own resident historian, Horace Gibson, will sign copies of his  biography and memoirs of his years as the Headmaster of the International School of Florence.  

"The headmaster throughout these years was Horace Gibson, slight, immaculate, trim-bearded, and always firmly, quietly in control.  Gibson was North Carolina born and Florida-bred, and retained a fine, soft spoken southern civility. It was his habit every afternoon, to shake hands with, and address by name, each member of the entire school, each child chanting or mumbling, 'Good afternoon, Mr. Gibson', in response. No few of these former students have been encountered in later years and on different continents by their one-time headmaster, and they spontaneously utter the exact same response."

R.W.B. Lewis, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The City of Florence.

The annual Prayer for Christian Unity gathering will take place on Sunday, June 12, at St. Mark's Anglican Church at 6 PM. Everyone is invited to attend.

There will be an ecumenical choir. If anyone wishes to sing choir, please contact Michele Spike: mkspike@johntspike.com.

This occasion is also the Florentine Christian Community's opportunity to bid farewell to Fr. Lawrence McClean and his wife, Jacqueline, who are leaving for England at the end of July.

Palazzo Strozzi is currently hosting an exhibitiondedicated to the early work of Picasso, Miró and Dalí, which played a decisive role in the beginning of modern art in Spain. The exhibition concentrates on Picasso's pre-cubist period 1900 - 1905, whilst Juan Miró's works of 1915-1920 are presented along with Salvador Dali's from 1920-1925, both artists painting in the period before the discovery of surrealism. Each artist will be represented by 25 - 30 masterpieces selected to show aspects of the three artists in their earliest periods, works that are rarely shown in mainstream catalogues and exhibitions.

Tickets (full price) are €10. 

For information call: 055 264 5155

http://www.palazzostrozzi.org/SezionePicasso.jsp?idSezione=907