Although St James' was founded during a period of evangelical protestantism, Bishop William Grant Broughton, who had made the church his pro-cathedral, supported Tractarian churchmanship.

All these changes, and the Anglo-Catholic style of worship adopted at St James', were in direct conflict with the Evangelical ideals and Low Church practices that were increasingly prevalent in the Sydney Diocese.

[3] People came from the Sydney's suburbs "by tram and ferry" to enjoy the style of worship provided by St James' King Street.

On Sunday afternoons he preached in the open air to the crowd in the Sydney's Domain, which lay within the boundaries of the parish.

[7] Beyond preaching and community work, he gave popular lectures on secular subjects such as "Egypt, Palestine, Russia, and Constantinople".

[8] Carr Smith took leave of absence in 1906 and returned to England with his sister, making the journey via Japan and the United States.

[10] However, his socialist views were in opposition to most of Sydney's right-wing Anglicans, including members of his own congregation and he himself was discouraged by "the prevalence of the non-religious spirit".

[12] In England Carr Smith accepted the parish of St Wulfram's Church, Grantham in Lincolnshire, where he became a canon of Lincoln Cathedral.

[2] On the eve of his final 1924 departure for England, a presentation by the Australian Industrial Christian Fellowship was made to him in the Sydney Domain where he had often preached.