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Sarah Mullally

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The Right Reverend and Right Honourable

Dame Sarah Mullally

DBE
Bishop of London
Official portrait, 2019
ChurchChurch of England
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseLondon
Elected25 January 2018
Installed12 May 2018
PredecessorRichard Chartres
Other posts
Orders
Ordination2001 (deacon)
2002 (priest)
Consecration22 July 2015
by Justin Welby
Personal details
BornSarah Elisabeth Bowser
(1962-03-26) 26 March 1962 (age 63)
Woking, Surrey, England
DenominationAnglican
ResidenceCity of London
Spouse
Eamonn Mullally
​
(m. 1987)​
Children2
Education
SignatureDame Sarah Mullally's signature
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Spiritual
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 April 2018

Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally DBE (née Bowser; born 26 March 1962) is an English Anglican prelate and former nurse. She has been the Bishop of London since 2018, and is the first woman to hold this office. By virtue of her office she is also a Lord Spiritual, one of the 26 Church of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. On 3 October 2025, it was announced that Mullally would become the 106th archbishop of Canterbury on 28 January 2026.[1] She will be the first woman to hold the office.

From 1999 to 2004, Mullally was Chief Nursing Officer for England and the National Health Service's director of patient experience for England. She was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 2002, and served in various London churches and as a canon of Salisbury Cathedral until 2015, when she was consecrated as bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop in the diocese of Exeter.

Early life and education

Sarah Elisabeth Bowser was born on 26 March 1962,[2] in Woking, Surrey, and has two sisters and one brother.[3] She was educated at Winston Churchill Comprehensive School, then at Woking Sixth Form College.[4]

While studying for A-levels she decided to become a nurse rather than a doctor because she wanted to apply a holistic approach to patient care.[5] Her choice of career was also motivated by her Christian faith, which she has held since the age of 16.[5] In 1980, she started reading for a nursing degree at South Bank Polytechnic,[6] with clinical placements at St Thomas' Hospital, and was awarded joint Registered General Nurse (RGN) status and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1984.[2] In 1992, she completed a Master of Science (MSc) degree in inter-professional health and welfare studies at London South Bank University.[2]

Nursing career

Mullally held clinical nursing posts at St Thomas' Hospital and The Royal Marsden Hospital.[7] She held several nursing leadership roles, firstly at the former Westminster Hospital (where she was a Ward Sister and head of practice development) and then as director of nursing at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.[3]

In 1999, she was appointed as Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Patient Experience for England: she was the youngest person to hold these positions.[8] She was a non-executive director of the English Board of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting.[9][10]

Mullally served as an independent Governor for London South Bank University between 2005 and 2015, where she became Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Governors and Chairwoman of the Policy and Resources Committee.[11] She was a non-executive director of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust from 2005 to 2012,[5][12] and held a non-executive role at Salisbury NHS Foundation between 2012 and 2016.[13] Mullally became a lay member of the Council of King's College London in 2016.[14]

Ordained ministry

From 1998 to 2001, Mullally trained for ordained ministry on a part-time basis at the South East Institute of Theological Education (now St Augustine's College of Theology).[15][16] During this time, she also studied theology at the University of Kent, receiving a Diploma in Theology (DipTh) in 2001.[2] She was ordained in the Church of England; made a deacon at Michaelmas 2001 (30 September) at Southwark Cathedral[17]; and ordained a priest the following Michaelmas (5 October 2002) at Holy Trinity, Clapham – both times by Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark.[18] From 2001 to 2004, she served her curacy as a non-stipendiary minister at the Parish of Battersea Fields in the Diocese of Southwark.[2][15]

In 2004, Mullally left her position as Chief Nursing Officer to pursue full-time Church of England ministry.[19] She then served as an assistant curate at St Saviour's Church, Battersea Fields from 2004 to 2006.[2][20] She graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in pastoral theology from Heythrop College, University of London in 2006.[2] In 2006, she became the team rector of Sutton team ministry at St Nicholas Church, Sutton, London.[15] In addition to her parish work, she taught ethics in the Diocese of Southwark, was involved in an Anglican clergy leadership programme and sat on the Church of England's dioceses commission. From 2012 to 2015, she served as Canon Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral in the diocese of Salisbury.[15][21]

Episcopal ministry

In June 2015, it was announced that Mullally would be the next Bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop in the diocese of Exeter.[22] On 22 July 2015, she was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Justin Welby at Canterbury Cathedral.[23] She and Rachel Treweek were the first women to be consecrated as bishops at Canterbury Cathedral.[24] In September 2015, she became the first woman in the Church of England to lead an ordination service, ordaining two deacons, Leisa McGovern and Sheila Walker, as priests in St Mary's Church, Ottery St Mary, Devon.[25]

On 18 December 2017, it was announced that Mullally would be the next Bishop of London, succeeding Richard Chartres who had retired in February 2017.[26] As Bishop of London, she became the third most senior bishop in the Church of England, after the archbishops of Canterbury and York.[27] Between her confirmation and her installation, she was licensed as an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Exeter so that she was able to carry out engagements related to her former see.[28] She was duly elected to the see by the college of canons of St Paul's Cathedral on 25 January 2018, becoming bishop-elect.[29] She was translated and took full legal possession of the see at the confirmation of her election—on 8 March at St Mary-le-Bow – and assumed full duties upon her installation at St Paul's on 12 May.[30] On 15 July 2020, she acted as principal consecrator at the consecration of Hugh Nelson and Ruth Bushyager to the episcopate: this was a break in tradition, the Archbishop of Canterbury usually taking this role, and was the first time a female bishop had led a consecration service in the Church of England.[31]

Sworn of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 14 March 2018,[32] Mullally was introduced to the House of Lords to sit on the Lords Spiritual benches.[33] on 24 May 2018.[34] She succeeded Richard (by now Lord) Chartres and became the first female Dean of the Chapel Royal on 12 July 2019.[35][36] Bishop Mullally played a leading role in the 2023 coronation, one of three female prelates involved in the proceedings.[37]

Archbishop of Canterbury

On 3 October 2025, the Church of England announced that Mullally would become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, in succession to Justin Welby. As such, she will be Primate of All England and the Metropolitan Bishop of the Province of Canterbury.[38] She will be the first woman to hold the post,[39] and only the second since the middle ages to not have a degree from Oxford or Cambridge universities.[40] Her election by the College of Canons is expected before Christmas, with legal confirmation at St Paul's Cathedral on 28 January 2026 (at this point she legally becomes Archbishop of Canterbury and ceases to be Bishop of London); she will then be formally installed at Canterbury Cathedral in March, marking the beginning of her public ministry in the role.[1]

Mullally's appointment was controversial. Within the Church of England, the conservative evangelical Church Society stated that her election "creates additional problems of disunity in the Church in England and around the world" and voiced concern relating to her views on same-sex relationships,[41] while the traditionalist Anglo-Catholic Forward in Faith which rejects the ordination of women as priests and bishops recognised her as the "true and lawful holder of that office".[42] Anglican churches, particularly in Africa, opposed her due to their opposition to the ordination of women and to Mullally's views on the blessing of same-sex couples. The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Gafcon), a conservative Anglican group, expressed its "sorrow" at Mullally's appointment, saying that it proved that the Church of England "has relinquished its authority to lead".[43][44] While some were opposed to the appointee being a woman, the Church of Uganda's Stephen Kaziimba stated his opposition to Sarah Mullally' appointment was based on her views, not her gender.[45][46]

Views

Mullally is a self-described feminist and has ordained both men and women.[47] According to the Financial Times, Mullally "is seen as a theological liberal".[48] However, she also supports the inclusion in the Church of England of those who reject the ordination of women, stating upon her announcement as the next bishop of London; "I am very respectful of those who, for theological reasons, cannot accept my role as a priest or a bishop. My belief is that Church diversity throughout London should flourish and grow; everybody should be able to find a spiritual home".[49]

In September 2016, she became one of ten bishops to make up the church's "Bishops' reflection group on sexuality".[50] In relation to same-sex relationships, she stated in 2017 that "It is a time for us to reflect on our tradition and scripture, and together say how we can offer a response that is about it being inclusive love."[49] When asked about LGBT people in the church, she further said that "What we have to remember is this is about people, and the church seeks to demonstrate love to all, because it reflects the God of love, who loves everybody".[51]

In 2018 Mullally stated that she supported the Church of England's teaching on marriage; that is between one man and one woman for life.[49]

In 2022, Mullally supported the observance of LGBT+ History Month and the launch of an Advisory Group aimed at advising the diocese on "pastoral care and inclusion of LGBT+ people in the life of our church communities".[52]

Mullally has described her views on abortion as favouring abortion rights although she would lean against abortion faced with her own decision. She has said that "I would suspect that I would describe my approach to this issue as pro-choice rather than pro-life although if it were a continuum I would be somewhere along it moving towards pro-life when it relates to my choice and then enabling choice when it related to others".[53]

Personal life

In 1987, she married Eamonn Mullally, an IT and enterprise architect;[54] the couple have a daughter and a son and live in the City of London.[55][56][57]

Following her appointment as Bishop of London, Mullally moved into the Old Deanery of St Paul's, making alterations to the property, including the construction of an oratory in a former laundry in which she presided at daily eucharistic adorations.[58]

Mullally has said that she has dyslexia, and finds it difficult to read out biblical genealogies.[5]

Honours

In the 2005 New Year Honours, Mullally was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition for her contribution to nursing and midwifery.[59][60] However, it is her choice as to whether she is referred to as "Dame Sarah" and the honorific was often omitted when announcing her as the next bishop of London in 2017.[26][33][61][62][63][64]

The academic honours that Mullally has received include election as a Fellow of London South Bank University in 2001,[65] and a Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University in 2006.[66] She has received honorary doctorates from Bournemouth University (2004), the University of Wolverhampton (2004), the University of Hertfordshire (2005)[67], the University of Exeter (2019)[68] and the University of Plymouth (2021).

References

  1. ^ a b "Sarah Mullally to become 106th Archbishop of Canterbury". Archbishop of Canterbury. Church of England. 3 October 2025. Archived from the original on 3 October 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Anon (2018). "Mullally, Sarah Elisabeth". Who's Who. A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.41740. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b "Sarah Mullallly". www.archbishopofcanterbury.org. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  4. ^ Leggett, Neal (3 October 2019). "Woking College | Surrey | Bishop of London Visits Woking College". Woking College | Surrey. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d "Interview: Sarah Mullally, Team rector, former Chief Nursing Officer". Church Times. 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Board of Governors". South Bank University. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  7. ^ "First female Bishop of London appointed". BBC News. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  8. ^ Bertrand, Ezekiel (3 October 2025). "Sarah Mullally: South London links to first woman Archbishop". MSN. PA Media. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  9. ^ "The Government's Expenditure Plans 2001–2002 to 2003–2004 and Main Estimates 2001–2002" (PDF). Department of Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  10. ^ "Dame Sarah Mullally: Ex-chief nursing officer who always knew she had vocation". Bury Times. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  11. ^ "About Us". London South Bank University. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Current Board Members". Royal Marsden NHS Trust. Archived from the original on 2 June 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  13. ^ The Revd. Dame Sarah Mullally – Non Executive Director Biography, archived from the original on 18 May 2015
  14. ^ "The Right Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of Crediton joins Kings College Council". Archived from the original on 27 May 2017.
  15. ^ a b c d "Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  16. ^ Davies, Madeleine (3 October 2025). "Profile: Who is Sarah Mullally, the next Archbishop of Canterbury?". Church Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  17. ^ "Ordinations". Church Times. No. 7235. 19 October 2001. p. 10. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 3 September 2018 – via UK Press Online archives.
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  28. ^ [1] (Accessed 22 March 2018)
  29. ^ St Paul's Cathedral — Notice of Episcopal Election Archived 26 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 26 January 2018)
  30. ^ Diocese of London — Mullally's installation as Bishop of London Archived 26 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 26 January 2018)
  31. ^ Wilkinson, Paul (16 July 2020). "Archbishops delegate consecrations in line with Five Guiding Principles". Church Times. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
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  35. ^ @RoyalFamily (11 July 2019). "Upon her appointment in May this year, Bishop Sarah said; "It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed as Dean..." (Tweet). Retrieved 22 August 2019 – via Twitter.
  36. ^ "Queen appoints first woman as Dean of Chapels in 707 years". Finance.yahoo.com. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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  40. ^ Michael, Mark (3 October 2025). "First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury". The Living Church. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
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  42. ^ "The next Archbishop of Canterbury". www.forwardinfaith.com. Forward in Faith. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  43. ^ Diseko, Libo (3 October 2025). "Sarah Mullally: Choice of new Archbishop of Canterbury met "with sorrow" by conservative group Gafcon". BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  44. ^ Burgess, Kaya (3 October 2025). "Sarah Mullally announced as new Archbishop of Canterbury". The Times. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  45. ^ Kaziimba, Stephen (4 October 2025). "Uganda statement on the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury". Anglican Ink © 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  46. ^ "Why Church of Uganda rejects Mullally's appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury". Monitor. 4 October 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  47. ^ Hellen, Nicholas (13 May 2018). "New woman bishop goes to war for female vicars". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  48. ^ "Sarah Mullally to be first female bishop of London". Financial Times. 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  49. ^ a b c Williams, Hattie; Wyatt, Tim (18 December 2017). "Sarah Mullally to be the next Bishop of London". Church Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  50. ^ Wyatt, Tim (23 September 2016). "Bishops' group lacks gay voices, say activists". Church Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  51. ^ "First female Bishop of London: God loves gay people". PinkNews. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  52. ^ "LGBT+ History Month". Diocese of London. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  53. ^ "Choice". Contemplation in the shadow of a carpark. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  54. ^ "Eamonn Mullally shares his hopes for the Lambeth Conference – The Lambeth Conference". Lambeth Conference. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  55. ^ Cox, Hugo. "The Bishop of London on homelessness and her cathedral digs". The Times. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  56. ^ "Suffragan Bishop of Crediton: Sarah Elisabeth Mullally". Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. GOV.UK. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  57. ^ "Britain's first female Archbishop of Canterbury has links to south London". This Is Local London. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  58. ^ Cox, Hugo (9 December 2018). "The Bishop of London on homelessness and her cathedral digs". The Times. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  59. ^ "No. 57509". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2004. p. 7.
  60. ^ "Cozens made CBE in New Years Honours". Community Care. 4 January 2005. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012.
  61. ^ Williams, Hattie (18 December 2017). "Church Times – Former Chief Nursing Officer to be first woman Bishop of London". Church Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  62. ^ "Bishop of London: Sarah Elisabeth Mullally". Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. GOV.UK. 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  63. ^ Rudgard, Olivia (18 December 2017). "New bishop of London could pave the way for female archbishop, say campaigners". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  64. ^ Sherwood, Harriet (18 December 2017). "Sarah Mullally appointed bishop of London". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  65. ^ "Pre 2002 Fellowships (in alphabetical order)". Archived from the original on 7 April 2015.
  66. ^ "Former government Chief Nursing Officer is appointed Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  67. ^ "Association of English Cathedrals Sarah Mullally Short Biography". Archived from the original on 22 July 2015.
  68. ^ "Honorary graduates 2019 | Honorary graduates | University of Exeter". www.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
Church of England titles
Preceded by Bishop of Crediton
2015–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of London
2018–present 		Incumbent
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