St James Episcopal Church

What St James Episcopal Church does

St. James Episcopal Church is a private, nonprofit religious organization headquartered at 205 N 4th Street in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, founded in 1844 as the first Episcopal church in the city. The parish congregation of more than 1,500 members is served through three Sunday worship services (8 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I, 10:30 a.m. Rite II, 5 p.m. Rite II), a Wednesday noon Holy Eucharist with healing prayer, and online streaming of the 10:30 a.m. service via YouTube. Governance rests with an elected Vestry and a Rector (the 24th since 2018) under the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana; no parent company or external investor ownership is indicated.

The organization operates three wholly-owned ministry extensions: the St. James Episcopal Day School (founded 1948, ~300 students, Pre-K through 8th grade, 7-to-1 faculty-student ratio, three-time U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School recipient), the Early Childhood Development Center, and St. James Place, a continuing-care retirement community established in 1983 that extends reach to an additional ~300 individuals. The portfolio of services beyond worship and education encompasses pastoral care, outreach ministries (Community Connections Sunday, We Care Bags, Food Pantry, Christmas Feast), fellowship programs, music ministry with three choirs, family ministries, adult education, sacraments, and a quarterly newsletter (The Messenger) plus weekly e-newsletter (The Herald).

Revenue is generated through four primary streams: annual Stewardship pledges (the 2026 campaign raised $1,160,685 across 220 pledges, a 9.64% year-over-year increase), weekly tithes and offerings (including online giving via the Realm and Vanco platforms), Day School tuition, and legacy/planned gifts channeled through the 1844 Society (29 member families as of source date) and a 1957 endowment. Ancillary fundraising comes from special events such as the Gumbo dinner (operating since 2003), Crawfish Boil, Feast of St. James, and the Growing Our Legacy capital campaign. Customer concentration is structurally low across more than 1,500 households, with a fully domestic, single-campus operating footprint and no proprietary technology, patents, or AI/ML capabilities indicated.

Name

St James Episcopal Church

Legal name

St. James Episcopal Church

Website

https://stjamesbr.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1844

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

St. James Episcopal Church is a private, nonprofit Episcopal parish in downtown Baton Rouge, LA serving 1,500+ members through weekly worship, a 300-student Day School, pastoral care, outreach, fellowship, and music ministries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious and Faith-Based Community Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (813110), Educational Services (611)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

Keywords

• Religious worship services
• Episcopal parish ministries
• Faith-based education
• Community outreach programs
• Pastoral care services

Headquarters

HQ city

Baton Rouge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Tithes and Offerings: Voluntary contributions from congregation members during weekly worship services and through online giving platforms. Members can give one-time or recurring gifts, set up automatic payments through bank bill pay, or use the Realm platform for electronic donations.
2. Annual Stewardship Pledges: Annual pledge campaign where members commit to giving levels for the operating budget. The 2026 campaign raised $1,160,685 from 220 pledges with an average pledge of $5,159.
3. Day School Tuition: St. James Episcopal Day School provides educational services for children from kindergarten through grade 8. Founded 1948, the school serves approximately 300 students with a 7-to-1 faculty-to-student ratio.
4. Legacy/Planned Giving: Endowment established in 1957 supports ongoing ministries. Legacy gifts and bequests are channeled through the 1844 Society, with 29 families currently recognized as members.
5. Special Events and Campaigns: Fundraising through events like the annual Gumbo dinner, Crawfish Boil, Feast of St. James, and commemorative brick campaigns ($300 per brick for Day School playground).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

St. James Episcopal Church is a historic downtown Baton Rouge Episcopal parish providing weekly Holy Eucharist worship services, faith-based K-8 education through its affiliated Day School, pastoral care, outreach ministries, and fellowship programs. Founded in 1844, it serves a parish community of over 1,500 members plus approximately 300 Day School students, supported by tithes, pledges, tuition, and legacy giving.

Product overview

St. James Episcopal Church offers a comprehensive portfolio of worship, educational, pastoral, and community service programs. The church provides multiple weekly Holy Eucharist worship services (Rite I and Rite II) with online streaming via YouTube. The St. James Episcopal Day School is a separate, award-winning educational institution serving approximately 300 students from early childhood through grade 8. Music Ministry includes three choirs with choral services throughout the year. The church operates extensive pastoral care, outreach (including food pantry and Community Connections Sunday), fellowship, adult education, and family ministries programs. Online giving is facilitated through Realm and Vanco payment processing. The Messenger quarterly newsletter and various sacraments round out the service offerings. These programs collectively serve a parish community of over 1,500 members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Worship Services
• St. James Episcopal Day School
• Music Ministry
• Pastoral Care Ministries
• Outreach Ministries
• Fellowship Ministries
• Adult Education
• Family Ministries
• Online Giving Platform
• Sacraments

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Greater BR Food BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Community Connections Sunday monthly food distribution. Food bank provides pantry staples that are distributed to downtown neighbors in need. St. James serves as distribution hub.
• EBR Library SystemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerApproximately 100 We Care Bags per week are delivered to the Main Library and distributed through the library courier system to branches where basic food would be most helpful for younger library patrons.
• Front Yard BikesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner organization supported through Outreach Committee's semi-regular financial assistance and stand-alone workdays.
• Line4LineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner organization working to acknowledge and celebrate the God-given dignity of every human being.
• Rebuilding Together Baton RougeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner organization supported through Outreach Committee partnerships for neighborhood revitalization efforts.
• Baton Rouge Early Childhood Education CollaborativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner collaborating on early childhood development initiatives in the Baton Rouge area.
• ACS TechnologiescoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party data management provider for parishioner/donor/payor data. Handles church database, sacramental records, and member information management through secure platform.
• VancocoreTechnology or IntegrationPCI-DSS compliant payment processor handling online donations and transactions. Ensures secure handling of payment information.
• Solomon Episcopal Conference CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDiocesan ministry where Rev. Robert Beazley serves as Executive Director. St. James hosts presentations about updates, renovations, and new programs at the center.
• St. James PlacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTotal life-care retirement community established 1983 with founding and continuing connection to St. James Church. Extends parish reach to approximately 300 additional individuals.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• All Saints' Episcopal Church, Atlanta: Large historic Episcopal parish with a parallel profile: multi-service worship, parish school, music program, outreach ministries, and stewardship/legacy giving infrastructure. A leading analog for a large Southern Episcopal parish of comparable scope.
• Trinity Episcopal School, Charlotte NC: K-8 Episcopal day school attached to a parish, directly comparable to St. James Episcopal Day School in grade span, faith-based curriculum, faculty-student ratio norms and tuition-based revenue model.
• Church of the Holy Trinity, New York: Historic Manhattan Episcopal parish with comparable liturgical, music and outreach programming and a similar downtown-anchor operating model. Comparable in scale of ministries and stewardship-driven funding.
• St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Richmond VA: Large historic Episcopal parish that, like St. James, operates its own parish day school and stewardship/legacy giving programs. Closely analogous in scale, school + parish structure, and capital-campaign activity.
• Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, New Orleans: The cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana (the same diocese as St. James) and a large historic downtown Episcopal congregation offering comparable worship, formation, music and outreach programs. Closest regional peer in terms of denomination, governance and operating model.
• Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans: Historic Episcopal parish also within the Diocese of Louisiana with comparable liturgical, music, education and outreach ministries. Directly comparable as a fellow historic downtown congregation under the same diocesan governance.
• Trinity Episcopal Church, Boston (Copley Square): Historic downtown Episcopal congregation with comparable worship, music, education and outreach ministries and a major historic building asset. Comparable as a large historic urban Episcopal parish with multi-stream programming.
• St. Paul's Episcopal School, New Orleans: Parish-affiliated Episcopal day school in the same region and diocese, serving a comparable K-8 population with faith-based formation. Directly comparable to the Day School component of St. James.

Others

• Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana: The governing diocesan body to which St. James belongs. Not a peer in the competitive sense but the canonical and administrative umbrella relevant for governance, compliance and partnership context.

Regional players

• St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, Jackson MS: Regional Episcopal cathedral serving the Diocese of Mississippi with a comparable worship, formation and outreach footprint. Comparable in Southern regional Episcopal context and scale of programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/StJamesBR
• Facebookfacebook.com/stjamesbr
• Instagraminstagram.com/stjamesbr
• Xx.com/stjamesbr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/st-james-episcopal-church-of-baton-rouge

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about St James Episcopal Church