Young people set to honour new Bishop of Portsmouth during installation service at the cathedral

The students from Charter Academy will lead the Rt Rev Jonathan Frost into Portsmouth Cathedral at the start of his service on March 12.

Head boy Oren Campbell and head girl Christina Barnard will hand Bishop Jonathan with his robes and mitre.

Ms Barnard said: ‘We were thrilled to be with Bishop Jonathan when his appointment was announced, and are now excited to be part of his very special service.’

Rt Rev Frost legally became the tenth Bishop of Portsmouth in a ceremony with the Archbishop of Canterbury in January.

Hundreds of dignitaries, churchgoers, community leaders and church school representatives have been invited to the service, which starts at 3.30pm.

Bishop Jonathan wants young people to play a major role in the ceremony.

He said: ‘One of my priorities is to enable the Church to share the good news of Jesus Christ with this emerging generation. Young people are not the Church of tomorrow, they are the Church of today.

‘I want to encourage the churches in our diocese to prioritise those things that I know young people and so many of us are passionately concerned about – the scandal of poverty, the epidemic in mental health issues, and the importance of combatting climate change.’

Three groups will sing throughout the service.

Choristers from Portsmouth Cathedral Choir will join forces with children from Choir Church, based at St James’ Church, Milton, and Cathedral Sing, which is the cathedral’s project to provide singing workshops in schools around the diocese.

Bishop Jonathan will head through the west door in a white robe, before he is formally ‘presented’ to the congregation.

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He will swear allegiance to the Queen and the Church of England’s interpretation of the Christian faith, and then be anointed by senior staff at Portsmouth diocese, before being presenting with his robes and insignia from the students at Charter Academy.

A fanfare of trumpets by a team from HM Royal Marines Band Service will be played as he leaves the cathedral.

At the end of the service, Bishop Jonathan will then invite the entire congregation to join him outside, before blessing the city and diocese.

The service will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube, and tickets can be accessed here.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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