12 YEAR OLD WILLIAM MCDONALD TO BE BOY BISHOP IN SALISBURY CATHEDRAL IN CELEBRATION OF AN ANCIENT TRADITION

Twelve year old William McDonald, Bishop’s Chorister (head chorister) of Salisbury Cathedral Choir, assumes the role of Boy Bishop during Evensong in the Cathedral on Sunday 6 December at 3.00pm, in celebration of an ancient tradition.

In this special ceremony the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Dr David Stancliffe, gives his staff and ring to William, who is dressed in replica Bishop’s regalia, and installs him on his throne. As Boy Bishop, William leads the prayers, blesses the congregation and receives the collection, as well as writing and delivering the sermon.

The service is also an acknowledgement of the important part the boy choristers play in the Cathedral’s musical life. David Halls, Director of Music, says “This is always a special occasion as it throws into the limelight the superb job the choristers do for Salisbury Cathedral day by day.”

The Boy Bishop Ceremony
This Boy Bishop ceremony is a reconstruction of a medieval ceremony. Around the time of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the Church hierarchy was reversed: the chorister ascended the Bishop’s throne and the Bishop took a lower place. This happened during the singing of the Magnificat with its revolutionary proclamation ‘God has put down the mighty from their throne and has exalted the humble and meek’. The ceremony is a lesson in humility and recognition of the wisdom of youthful innocence. In medieval times the Boy Bishop would have taken office from the Feast of St Nicolas (6 December) to the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December).