Girl ‘bishop’ takes over at Portsmouth church
She is a nine-year-old schoolgirl from Gosport. He is the Lord Bishop of Portsmouth.
But as of yesterday (6 December), Ophelia Wells is the ‘bishop’ of a small patch of Bishop
Kenneth’s diocese.
St John’s Church in Forton is reviving a medieval custom of electing a ‘child bishop’ to take charge of the parish for most of December.
Ophelia will be preaching the sermon today (7 December), making up rules for her congregation to follow and planning the Sunday service to be held on 28 December.
And she visited the Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson at his Bishopsgrove home to present him with a scroll, decreeing that he would have no jurisdiction over the parish of St John’s from 6-28 December.
The vicar of St John’s, the Rev Carrie Thompson, said: “In medieval times, they used to invert the whole organisation of the Church in cathedrals and parish churches from St Nicholas’ Day (6 December) onwards.
“The youngest chorister would became ‘bishop’, the bishop and canons of the cathedral would swap places with them, and the children were allowed to make the rules. It’s the first time we’ve done it at St John’s.”
And Ophelia said: “My mummy will have to do what she’s told when I’m in charge. And I’m going to make a rule that children will get a turn to ring our church bell.”
Child bishops have been elected in recent years in Winchester, Salisbury, Hereford and Wellingborough.
