St. James the Apostle was established shortly after World War II in response to a population boom in the City of Brampton. There was an increase in post war housing development in both Bramalea and Peel Village, which attracted a significant number of people to the area and prompted the expansion of the Anglican Church in Brampton. Arthur Hand and Fred McIntosh, of Christ Church Brampton, on behalf of Bishop Fred Wilkinson announced the expansion of the church and the development of two new parishes, St. James the Apostle in Peel Village and St. Joseph of Nazareth in Bramalea.
The first services of St. James were held in Gordon Graydon School, now known as Cardinal Leger Roman Catholic School, located on Guest Street, and a rectory was purchased from Rice Construction at 133 Cornwall Heights. A very generous gift of 2.257 acres of land was received from Bartley A and John Bull who were very prominent dairy farmers in the area.
With the land now available for construction, the Church Extension Committee of the Diocese of Toronto authorized the formation of plans for a three building complex to be erected. The plans were to be executed by Dunlop Wardell Matsui and Aitken Architectural Consultants, and the first of the three buildings was erected in 1960 at a cost of $80,000. This would be the only one of the three buildings to be built and was the St. James Worship area until 1989 when the new building was operational.It is now known as the “Upper Hall”. Bishop George B Snell dedicated this building, the Christian Education Wing, on June 22, 1961 with Reverend Lewis Garnsworthy in attendance. The church was then consecrated, May 2nd 1982, by Bishop Lewis Garnsworthy, who was in attendance at the original dedication as Reverend in 1961. The Dedication, by Bishop Joachim Fricker, of the furnishings for the church took place at a later date, December 3rd 1989.
The church as it presently stands was constructed in 1988/1989 by Caledon Home Improvement with plans being developed by Dunlop Farrow Architect Chris Klempt. The new church was consecrated on December 29, 1996 by the first female bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada, Bishop Victoria Matthews.
Over the years St. James has been served by the following incumbents/ Priest in Charge and has encouraged many to ordination. They are:
Incumbent/Priest in Charge:
- Reverend Arthur MacCrae, 1960 –1963
- Reverend Bernard Lambsdorff, 1963 –1969
- Reverend Bill Warnica, 1969 –1973
- Reverend Canon Bryon Nash, 1973 –2008
- Reverend Ron Duncan, 2008 –2014
- Reverend Fran Kovar, 2014–2016
- Bro. Reginald Crenshaw OHC
- Reverend Ron Duncan, 2016 –2018
- Reverend Dr. Monique Taylor, 2018 – present
Encouraged to Ordination:
- Douglas Graydon, Priest
- Richard Beaudoin, Deacon
- Catherine Clarke, Priest
- Claire Wade, Priest
- Ellen Curtis, Priest