On the 28th January, 2026 Dame Sarah Mullally will be confirmed as the Archbishop of Canterbury at St Paul’s Cathedral. Here, Dr Melanie Khuddro explores the significance of her historic appointment.

Last year, The Church of England announced that the first ever female Archbishop of Canterbury will be the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally.

This is a really big deal for the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, which she will also lead, for two main reasons to which I will return later…

But, first, who is she and how was she selected?

Dame Sarah has been the Bishop of London (another first for a woman) since 2018. Before her ordination as priest in 2002 she had been a nurse, and for five years a Chief Nursing Officer in the NHS. Her nursing career made her an obvious choice to lead the Church of England’s responses to the Covid pandemic.

In the Church of England, the selection process for this position takes a lot longer than it does in the Catholic Church! Indeed, the Church of England (and by extension the Anglican Communion) has been without someone in the post since Justin Welby resigned in January last year following intense pressure over safeguarding failings. So, it’s taken over 18 months to get here.

The process began with a panel known as a Vacancy in See in the Canterbury Diocese. Without going into too much detail, the panel includes lay and ordained, elected and ex officio people, and they seek the views of many regular church goers as they try to discern who has the gifts and the temperament to lead the Church at this time.

They then pass the baton onto the Crown Nominations Committee who puts the nomination to Downing Street. Finally, King Charles, who is head of the Church of England, formally makes the appointment. The whole process involves huge amounts of time (it is the Established Church after all) and prayerful discernment.

But what of the impact? Why is this appointment such a big deal for so many Christians?

Firstly, women have only been permitted even to be priests in the Church of England for the last thirty years or so, and the post of Archbishop has always been held by men; St Augustine was the first, back in the late 6^th century.

For women priests, then, and men, this appointment has been a huge encouragement that their ministry matters despite some in the Church still saying women can’t be ordained. Dame Sarah, herself a liberal and a feminist, has continued to argue that there is and always should be a place in the Church for those who do oppose women’s ordination. This is obviously a tension, but it shows a deep commitment to inclusion and pastoral care for all.

Her role also in leading on the very difficult and complex Living in Love and Faith conversations about gay marriage showed her to be brave and gracious. She herself has been supportive of the prayers of blessing for gay couples in main church services. Ultimately, she is known to be a liberal and she’s a very popular and inspiring choice for many.

But not for all.

The second reason why this appointment is a big deal is because the Church of England is only one, crucial part of the Anglican Communion, which includes national church communities across many countries. Many of these churches, or at least their leadership, are quite orthodox and conservative. The leadership may believe, for example, that marriage can only be between a man and a woman and that women cannot be ordained or put in positions of leadership. They will therefore be deeply unhappy about the appointment of Dame Sarah on both of these counts.

The Church in Nigeria, for example, sees liberal Christianity as revisionist (adapting the word of the Bible to satisfy cultural norms) and therefore lacking the doctrinal solidity they believe safeguards the Church’s moral and theological integrity. They have already issued a statement saying a liberal such as the Archbishop Designate ‘cannot hope to heal the already fractured fabric of the Communion’.

Progressives argue that the teachings of Jesus are inclusive and that the Bible has always been re-interpreted in the light of better understanding through exegesis. They would say progress in understanding doctrine is not being ‘wishy-washy’ but adapting to new and profound insights that are both Godly and valid. The Bible is not set in stone! They would also argue that there are gays and women in the more orthodox churches whose voices are not being heard.

Rev Dr Mandy Young, who trained at SEITE, now St Augustine’s, in Kent, where the new archbishop also trained, has echoed some of the more progressive and optimistic sentiments from the community:

‘I think it’s wonderful news. There will be those who says it’s just about diversity and ignore the fact that she’s the best person for the job. But she really is. The right person for this time.’

The Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion is in a state of discernment and deep disagreement about its direction. This is the context Dame Sarah is inheriting. And who knows, maybe it really does need a woman and a professional healer to negotiate a path through it!