Worship (style)

Worship is an honorific prefix for mayors, justices of the peace, peace commissioners, and magistrates in present or former Commonwealth realms. In spoken address, these officials are addressed as Your Worship or referred to as His Worship, Her Worship, or Their Worship. In Australia, all states now use Your Honour as the form of address for magistrates (the same as has always been used for judges in higher courts).^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

The term worship implies that citizens give or attribute special worth or esteem (worthship) to their first-citizen or mayor.^[1][2]

The Right Worshipful

The Right Worshipful (The Rt Wpful., Rt. W or RW)^[3][4] is an honorific style of address for all lord mayors and mayors of specific cities including the original Cinque Ports (Sandwich, Hythe, Dover, Romney and Hastings). Some historic boroughs, such as Shrewsbury and Atcham^[5] in Shropshire, also address their mayors by this prefix. In India, the mayors of cities such as Bengaluru,^[6] Mysore^[7] and Chennai^[8][9] are addressed as Worshipful Mayor with robes and attire as for the Lord Mayor of the City of London. The style was done away with by the Government of Kerala and the mayors in Kerala are now referred to as Respected Mayor.^[10]

The style is also traditionally used for the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.^[11] In Australia, the lord mayors of Darwin, Northern Territory; Parramatta, New South Wales; Newcastle, New South Wales; and Wollongong, New South Wales are also styled thus.

The Worshipful

The Worshipful is an honorific style of address for all Chancellors of Dioceses. A Chancellor's role as a judge, presiding over any consistory or ecclesiastical court, determines that the individual should be styled in this manner.^[12][13]

Worshipful Master

Main article: Masonic lodge officer § Worshipful Master

In Freemasonry, Worshipful Master is the traditional style of address for the chairman of a lodge.

See also

• Style (manner of address)
• Excellency
• The Honourable
• The Right Honourable
• Forms of address in the United Kingdom
• Livery company (Worshipful Company of...)

References

1. Ralph P. Martin (1974). Worship in the early church. ISBN 9780802816139.
2. Lawrence R. Dicksee, M.Com., F.C.A (1922). The True Basis of Efficiency.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. Crabb, George (1823). "The Universal Technological Dictionary (Volume 1)".
4. Davidson, Thomas. "List of Abbreviations". Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908.
5. "New Mayor of Shrewsbury and Atcham". 19 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
6. "COUNCILLORS". BBMP. Archived from the original on 2017-08-13.
7. "University of Mysore invitation" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-09-07.
8. "HON'BLE RAILWAY MINISTER'S INSPECTION AT ROYAPURAM RAILWAY STATION". 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07.
9. "Courtesy call on the Worshipful Mayor Thiru Saidai Duraisamy, Corporation of Chennai". Archived from the original on 2018-04-06.
10. "The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to do away with the practice of addressing city mayors as 'Worshipful Mayor'. They will be addressed as 'Respected Mayor' instead. City corporations will now be known as municipal corporations". The Times of India. April 17, 2013. Archived from the original on 2017-11-05.
11. "Executive Head of a University, including Vice-Chancellor". Debretts. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04.
12. "Contact – Guildford Diocesan Registry". Retrieved 2021-03-31.
13. "New Chancellor appointed for the Diocese of London". Diocese of London. 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-03-31.