St. James's Church (1991 Massachusetts Avenue) in Cambridge invites the diocesan community's prayers, good wishes and presence at the official groundbreaking ceremony for its new parish house on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m.  The group will gather in front of the church, between the church's west door and the neighboring car wash building on Massachusetts Avenue.  Bishop Bud Cederholm will offer the blessing, and Ruy Costa of Episcopal City Mission, which funded the parish's 2008 feasibility study, will be the keynote speaker.  Oaktree Design Development's principals, Gwen Noyes and Arthur Klipfel, also will join the ceremony.

In October, the old parish house will be demolished to make way for a 46-unit residential and mixed-use condominium development, being built in partnership with Oaktree Design Development, that will include the new parish house for St. James's Church.  Thirty-five percent of the profit from condo sales will support the reconstruction and endowment of the church's sanctuary.