13th December 2024
Keeping up a medieval tradition
On Sunday we celebrated a long-standing tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, where one of our choristers was chosen to be ‘Chorister Bishop’. Senior Chorister Emmie delivered a sermon during Sunday’s Evensong service, wearing replica robes and borrowing the Right Revd Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury’s staff and mitre for the ceremony.
The tradition behind the ceremony is based on raising the lowest in society to the highest, in order to practice humility and Jesus’ gospel. The ceremony ceased after the Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII, but the practice was revived in its present form in the 1980s.