I am very pleased that the Church of England, with the assistance of five voting Communion members, including the Reverend Isaac Beach of our church, has come to a decision, agreed to by the British PM and the King himself, that the Right Reverend Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, will be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
The role is important in the C of E itself and [in my view, argued elsewhere on this blog] for the Anglican Communion also. At this time, Bishop Sarah is well-positioned to be the (dare I say, "our"?) new archiepiscopal leader: a leader in the secular world, former Chief Nurse of the UK, prior to ordination, then Bishop of London, these past seven years - a complex and challenging role in a major world city.
Challenges facing the C of E have been fairly well canvassed in media articles and even on this blog - declining numbers and influence, divisions over sexuality and over missional strategy ("Save the Parish" v new initiatives in church planting etc), hurt and pain over sexual and spiritual abuse and experiences of survivors that the institutional response of the CofE has been far from adequate - I write such things not in judgement/evaluation but in reflection of what any reader of secular and ecclesiastical media in recent years would have been reading. Initial responses to Bishop Sarah's appointment are, thankfully, mostly positive, about her ability to contribute good, and kind leadership into this complex set of challenges.
Of course, there are other responses to Bishop Sarah's appointment, so that from the wider Communion, sadly, even tragically, the GAFCON and related responses are of the "this hastens the end of things" type. All very predictable. You can read the good, bad and ugly responses via links Thinking Anglicans, as always, helpfully supplies, here.
One not so predictable is that of Ian Paul at Psephizo. Potentially he could have marked her harder. He finds a lot of good in her appointment. His post is also useful for the citations he makes within it - helping readers to get a fuller sense of response to +Sarah's appointment. (Of course I don't care for what he has to say about our church in the course of his reflections (and I don't see that whatever state our church may or may not be in has anything to do with the presence of our church in the discernment and voting process - the five Communion members were chosen according to a Communion determination of how it would be best represented!).)
On a personal note, I met +Sarah at the Lambeth Conference 2022 and had a lovely conversation with her. And also with Eamonn her husband. They are are very straightforward couple to engage with and it would be lovely to think they might visit our blessed isle one day ... perhaps to re-open a cathedral????
It is absolutely worth noting that it is a good, right and proper thing that we have our first female Archbishop of Canterbury in prospect. Some comments here and there (by which, of course, I include Facebook) are derogatory about having a woman in such a role. End of the church. I am leaving the church. Etc. But, here's the thing: God loves all humanity, male and female. God in Christ died for all humanity, male and female. God through the Spirit gifts all humanity, female and male, with the gifts and the vocations the church needs to do God's work. It is a strange view of God that if the church decides to choose a leader from 100% of its membership rather than 50% of its membership that God is going to have a sulk about it. Neither should we!
So, what can we do to support Bishop Sarah in the next months, while she remains Bishop of London, but, no doubt, has many Cantabrian thoughts to think, and so will be in transition, and as she and others prepare for her official start in late January 2026 and formal, ceremonial beginning in March 2026?
Let us pray for her. We can all do that.
