Victoria Ordinariate Altar Servers
Updated: 21 OCT2025
Cui Servire Regnare Est | To Serve is to Reign
THE GUILD OF SAINT STEPHEN
The Guild of Saint Stephen is a global organization for altar servers, established in England in 1904 by Father Hamilton McDonald, who created a society of altar servers at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in London. In 1905, Pope Pius X approved the canonical establishment of the Guild at Westminster Cathedral, and in 1906, the Sacred Congregation of Rites elevated it to an archconfraternity prima primaria, connecting all parish branches. The Guild expanded, and in 1934, Pope Pius XI allowed all altar server guilds across the British Commonwealth to affiliate with the Archconfraternity at Westminster.
The Guild is an archconfraternity of the Catholic Church, granted special status by the Holy See. This status allows the creation of altar serving groups (confraternities) in local Catholic parishes and schools, linking them to the original Guild of St. Stephen at Westminster Cathedral in London, where it was founded around 1901 and still resides today. It is the only altar serving organization globally recognized by Rome, with connections to parishes and schools worldwide.
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.
