The parish of St. James was established in 1917. Daniel Muri was hired to design a new church for the new parish. The church was built from 1917 until 1921. It was consecrated on 5 May 1921. The church was a parish church for St. James's parish in central Bergen from 1921 until 2002. In 2002, several urban parishes in central Bergen were merged to form Bergen Cathedral parish. At the same time, St. James's Church ceased to be a regular parish church. From 2002 until 2007, the building was leased to Normisjon, a Norwegian missionary organization, to be a special mission church called "Norkirken Bergen". In 2013, the church was re-opened as a special parish church focusing on younger people. This is a special collaboration between the diocese, the parish, and the local YMCA and YWCA.[3][4][5]