St. James's Episcopal Church is the third oldest Episcopal congregation in Richmond, Virginia. Only the older St. John's Episcopal Church on Church Hill also remains an active congregation. The parish takes as its motto, emblazoned above the altar: "Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only," ascribed to early Christian bishop James the Just, James 1:22. However, its seal includes three scallop shells, traditional symbols of the pilgrim St. James the Greater. Other symbols on the parish's seal include: a star symbolizing Epiphany and the collect for the First Sunday after Epiphany ("Grant (O Lord) that we may both perceive and know what things (we) ought to do, and may also have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same"), a pelican pecking its breast (to symbolize Christ's sacrifi