Victoria Ordinariate Altar Servers
Updated: 10 OCT2025
Guild of Saint Stephen
Cui Servire Regnare Est
To Serve is to Reign
The GUILD OF SAINT STEPHEN is an international organization of altar servers founded in England in 1904 by Father Hamilton McDonald when he formed a society of altar servers at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in London. In 1905, Pope Pius X gave his approbation to the canonical establishment of The Guild at Westminster Cathedral and in 1906, the Sacred Congregation of Rites made The Guild an archconfraternity prima primaria enabling all the parish branches to be linked with it. The Guild spread, and in 1934, Pope Pius XI enabled all guilds of altar servers throughout the British Commonwealth to be affiliated with the Archconfraternity at Westminster.
President Paul Briers, KCHS
The Central Council
The Guild is an archconfraternity of the Catholic Church. This is a special status awarded by the Holy See, which allows the establishment of altar serving groups (confraternities) in local Catholic parishes, schools etc., to be connected to the original Guild of St Stephen of Westminster Cathedral in London, where the Guild was originally established in about 1901 and is still the home of the Guild today. It is the only altar serving organization in the world recognized by Rome. We are connected to parishes and schools all over the world.
National Director, Central Council and Diocesan Directors
The Archbishop of Westminster is the Superior General of the Archconfraternity and he appoints a priest to be the National Director of the Guild. A lay Central Council consisting of a Lay President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and other members assist him in the running of the Guild together with a lay or ordained minister in each diocese to co-ordinate local activities who is appointed by the local bishop.
The Guild has three aims as set out in its constitution:
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To encourage, positively and practically, the highest standards of serving at the Church’s liturgy and so contribute to the whole community’s participation in a more fruitful worship of God.
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To provide altar servers with greater understanding of what they are doing so that they may serve with increasing reverence and prayerfulness and thereby be led to a deepening response to their vocation in life.
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To unite servers of different parishes and dioceses for their mutual support and encouragement.