SHE is a nine-year-old schoolgirl from Gosport. He is the Lord Bishop of Portsmouth.

'Bishop Ophelia' with Bishop Kenneth in his chapel at Bishopsgrove

But from December 6, Ophelia Wells is the ‘bishop’ of a small patch of Bishop Kenneth’s diocese.

St John’s Church in Forton has revived a medieval custom of electing a ‘child bishop’ to take charge of the parish for most of December.

Ophelia preached the sermon on December 7, made up rules for her congregation to follow and will be planning the Sunday service to be held on December 28.

And she visited the bishop 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 December 6-28.

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 (December 6) onwards.

“The youngest chorister would became ‘bishop’, the bishop and canons of the cathedral would swop 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.”

Her robes, cope and mitre were made for her by her grandmother, Freda Wells. And she even has her own crozier – the staff that bishops carry with them when visiting parish churches.

The tradition for child bishops has been revived recently in some English cathedrals and churches, and it echoes the Christian teaching about hierarchies – Jesus taught that children were the most important people in the Kingdom of God. Child bishops have been elected in recent years in Winchester, Salisbury, Hereford and Wellingborough.

‘Bishop Ophelia’ will preach on Sunday (December 7) from a passage in Isaiah that prophesies that the smallest and the humblest will become the most important in God’s kingdom.

And on December 28, she and the other children at St John’s Church will be in charge of the whole service and choose the hymns.