The Archbishop of Canterbury is the leader of the Church of England. It is a role that has existed for millennia; longer than the British Crown. 106 people have held the role in the past 1,400 years. Now, for the first time in history, a woman is serving as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Here, btw takes a closer look at Archbishop Sarah Mullally.
Who is Sarah Mullally?
Sarah Mullally is 63 years old and was born in 1962–one of four children. She became a Christian at the age of 16. Before becoming ordained, she was a cancer nurse and midwife. In 1999, she became the youngest person ever to be appointed as Great Britain’s chief nursing officer. (This is a high-ranking medical leadership position in Britain’s National Health Service. In 2005, she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in recognition of her outstanding contribution to nursing. During her time as chief nursing officer, Mullally felt called to ministry. In 2018, she became the Bishop of London–only the fourth female bishop in the church’s history. She has also served in the Church’s National Safeguarding Steering Group and as Lead Bishop for Health and Social Care issues. She is married with two grown children, Liam and Grace. Mullally is also dyslexic–a learning challenge that can make reading and writing difficult.
The job of the Archbishop of Canterbury is, of course, to serve as the organization leader and spiritual head of the Church of England. But Mullally also faces several other challenges. In recent years, the church has come under serious criticism for the way it has handled the publicity of abuse scandals and accusations. This led to the former archbishop, Justin Welby, resigning in disgrace in 2024. So Mullally has a focus on improving the church’s image and raising its declining number of followers. The archbishop also plays a small political role: Mullally will have a seat in Parliament’s upper house, the House of Lords.
The Importance of Her Identity
The appointment of a woman to lead the Church of England is important because the church only recently begun allowing women to take any leadership roles. Women have only been allowed to become priests in the church since 1994, and bishops since 2014.
Mullally’s appointment also has implications far beyond England itself. Much in the same way that the Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church around the world, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the leader of the Anglican Communion, which includes about 85 million followers of the Church of England all over the world.
Becoming the Newest Archbishop
Mullally’s entrance to the role of Archbishop began back in October 2025, when she was elected by the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral and then approved by King Charles. She then walked 87 miles east from London to Canterbury, a traditional journey.
The official installation ceremony was held on March 25, 2026. It was ninety minutes long and began with Mullally knocking three times on the Canterbury Cathedral door, where she was let in by local schoolchildren. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Prince and Princess of Wales all attended the ceremony. To acknowledge the role of the Anglican Church (Church of England) all over the world, parts of the ceremony were held in other languages, including Spanish, Swahili, and Urdu.