THE Most Revd Sarah Elisabeth Mullally became the first woman to take office as Archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday, at the confirmation in St Paul’s Cathedral of her election.
“This is our habemus mamam moment,” the Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, told the congregation, her declaration a play on the words used to announce that a new pope has been elected, as the congregation began to applaud.
AlamyThe Archbishop greets the crowd outside St Paul’s after the service
In the charge to the new Primate of All England, the Archbishop of York suggested that “while the world may be very interested in the fact that you are the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, I think God is very interested in the fact that this is the first time Sarah has been the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Archbishop Cottrell’s advice to her was to be herself: “Continue to be the person who exercises the gifts, wisdom, and experience that your life has given you; and continue to be the one whose life is shaped and nurtured by the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Welcoming the congregation, the Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Revd Andrew Tremlett, said that, although Bishop Mullally — as she was at that point in the service — followed in the footsteps of more than 100 archbishops going back to St Augustine of Canterbury, she also “stepped into history” as the first woman to take up the office.
After standing beside the font, where she formally consented to her election, Bishop Mullally moved to the front of the cathedral accompanied by bewigged lawyers. The confirmation of election is primiarly a legal occasion: lawyers and bishops took centre stage at a horseshoe-shaped table under the dome.
Issues with the sound system meant that parts of the proceedings were unintelligible, and the sitting of the court was also interrupted by a protester, immediately after the Proctor representing the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral had declared: “No person has appeared in opposition to the Confirmation.”
“I object,” the man shouted. The rest of his words were inaudible from the press gallery, and he was escorted from the building by cathedral staff. The Church Times understands that he referred to her record on safeguarding while Bishop of London, something that she had addressed in an interview with the BBC earlier in the day. She had said then that it was “right” that her actions were under scrutiny. “I will reiterate my commitment to safeguarding, particularly to listening to the victims and survivors of abuse.”
“SARAH was the only woman for the job,” the Interim Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, said after the service, describing Archbishop Mullally as “God’s woman for the moment”.
Asked whether she had the confidence of the Bishops to lead the Church on safeguarding, Bishop Worsley replied in the affirmative. “She handles with care those situations that are brought to her attention, and she will determinedly lead the Church into a place where all are welcome, safe, and valued, and attend to those mistakes that have been made in the past.”
The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Debbie Sellin, said that, when she had been ordained, it had been “hard to imagine” a woman taking up the office of Archbishop of Canterbury.
“Sarah’s been called because she’s Sarah,” Bishop Sellin said. “She is a woman, and happens to be the first one, but she’s been called because she’s the right person for us just now.”
GRAHAM LACDAO/ST PAUL’S CATHEDRALArchbishop Mullally with her fellow bishops outside St Paul’s
The Bishop of Fulham, in London diocese, the Rt Revd Jonathan Baker, provides episcopal ministry to traditionalists. Asked after the service whether he thought that those in the Church of England who did not recognise the ordination of women should be worried about the appointment of a woman as Archbishop, he said that he had “lots of confidence” in her commitment to honouring all parts of the Church.
“We’ve had a very good relationship with her throughout her time as Bishop of London, and I’m sure she will continue in that vein,” he said.
The legal ceremony had been expanded liturgically into a service. The identity of the readers highlighted two facets of Bishop Mullally’s ministry in London: the civic, in the form of the Lord Mayor Locum Tenens of the City of London, Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley — who read from Wisdom 7.7-10, 15-16 — and the educational: two students from The Urswick School, Hackney, reading John 16.12-15, their school uniforms in counterpoint to the Alderman’s gold-braided regalia.
Their New Testament reading was heard first in Portuguese, and then in English, in homage to the diocese’s links with the Anglican Church in Mozambique and Angola.
Archbishop Cottrell led Bishop Mullally through a reaffirmation of her consecration vows. “Bishops are called to lead in serving and caring for the people of God and to work with them in the oversight of the Church,” he said.
The litany was led by Bishop Hudson-Wilkin, with members of the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) and representatives of churches in the diocese of London.
After the legal proceedings had been a completed, a number of representatives from different parts of the Church participated in the charge addressed directly to Archbishop Mullally. “You are called to offer strong, visible leadership on safeguarding,” the engagement lead for the Racial Justice Unit, Alysia-Lara Ayonrinde, said.
Students from The Urswick Schol and St Michael’s C of E Primary School, Enfield, told the Archbishop that she was “called to love the Church of England in all its breadth and diversity, and to help the Church love itself more . . . believing that its best days are still to come”.
A Team Vicar in the Benefice of Dorchester, and joint chief executive of the network Rural Ministries, the Revd Joanna Allen, called on the new Archbishop to “provide Christ-centred moral leadership to speak up for the dispossessed, marginalised, and those who struggle to be heard, challenging the unjust structures in society, and working in relationship with other denominations, faiths, cultures and backgrounds”.
