{"id":2686,"date":"2025-10-20T15:42:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2025-10-20T15:42:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:42:47","slug":"nigerian-anglicans-kick-as-sarah-mullay-bishop-of-london-is-named-next-archbishop-of-canterbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/?p=2686","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian Anglicans kick as Sarah Mullay, bishop of London, is named next Archbishop of Canterbury"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bishop Sarah Mullay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His Majesty The King has approved the nomination of the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, Downing Street announced<\/a> on Friday October 3.<\/p>\n

The 106th\u202fArchbishop of Canterbury since Saint Augustine arrived in Kent from Rome in 597, Bishop Sarah will be the first woman to hold the office.<\/p>\n

She will be installed in a service at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.<\/p>\n

Sarah Mullally has been the Bishop of London since 2018, the first woman appointed to that role, and before that was Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter. Prior to her ordination in 2001, she was the Government\u2019s Chief Nursing Officer for England \u2013 the youngest person ever to be appointed to that role at the age of 37 \u2013 having previously specialised as a cancer nurse. Bishop Sarah has described nursing as “an opportunity to reflect the love of God”.<\/p>\n

The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for Canterbury nominated Bishop Sarah following a process of public consultation and prayerful discernment that began in February this year. The Canterbury CNC was made up of representatives from across the Church of England, global Anglican Communion and the Diocese of Canterbury.<\/p>\n

The\u202fmost senior\u202fbishop in the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury\u2019s ministry\u202fcombines\u202fmany roles including serving as the\u202fDiocesan\u202fBishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, Primate of All England\u202fand Metropolitan, as well as primus inter pares \u2013 or first among equals \u2013 of the Primates of the global Anglican Communion, which consists of around 85 million people, across 165 countries. In the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury is one of 26 bishops who comprise\u202fthe Lords Spiritual.<\/p>\n

Bishop Sarah said: \u201cAs I respond to the call of Christ to this new ministry, I do so in the same spirit of service to God and to others that has motivated me since I first came to faith as a teenager.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt every stage of that journey, through my nursing career and Christian ministry, I have learned to listen deeply \u2013 to people and to God\u2019s gentle prompting \u2013 to seek to bring people together to find hope and healing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want, very simply, to encourage the Church to continue to grow in confidence in the Gospel, to speak of the love that we find in Jesus Christ and for it to shape our actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I look forward to sharing this journey of faith with the millions of people serving God and their communities in parishes all over the country and across the global Anglican Communion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know this is a huge responsibility but I approach it with a sense of peace and trust in God to carry me as He always has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Evans, Chair of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury, said: \u201cIt has been a great privilege to have chaired the Crown Nominations Commission as it sought to discern who God is calling to lead the Church of England and Anglican Communion as Archbishop of Canterbury.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat discernment began with the public consultation, which heard the voices of thousands of people as they expressed their hopes for this nomination, and continued all the way through to the Commission\u2019s final meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to thank all those who took part in this process, particularly those who took time to share their views in the consultation and the members of the Commission who worked so diligently over several months, ably assisted by the Appointments Secretaries and by the Appointments and Vocations team at Lambeth Palace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shall be praying for Bishop Sarah as she prepares to take up this new ministry in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, said: \u201cI welcome and commend the nomination of Bishop Sarah as the next Archbishop of Canterbury and invite the churches of the global Anglican Communion to pray for her as she prepares to take up this important ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay God grant her wisdom and discernment, as she seeks to listen to Member churches, encourage mutual support, and foster unity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Anglican Communion Office is fully committed to supporting her ministry as she works with other Provinces and the Instruments of the Anglican Communion.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us pray that God will pour out His Spirit on the Anglican Communion to boldly share Christ’s transformational love and the hope of the Gospel in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell<\/strong>, said: “I’m delighted that Bishop Sarah Mullally has been appointed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury and the very first female in the role. She is a person of huge courage, wisdom, integrity, and experience. In the many challenges the Church of England faces at the moment, we need the kind, godly and stable leadership Bishop Sarah will bring. It will be my great pleasure to serve alongside her, and I hope that together we can continue the work of helping the Church of England be simpler, humbler and bolder in its proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ and in our service to the nation.”<\/p>\n

The Rt Revd Jonathan Baker, Bishop of Fulham,<\/strong>\u00a0said: \u201cDuring her tenure as Bishop of London, Bishop Sarah has always shown the greatest respect for the different theological traditions which coexist within the Church of England. In London in particular, she has generously supported my ministry and enabled the flourishing of traditional Catholic parishes and clergy across the Diocese. Now that she has been called to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury, she has the assurance of my prayers. May God grant to Bishop Sarah wisdom, courage and joy in her new ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rt Revd Dr Emma Ineson, Bishop of Kensington,<\/strong>\u00a0said: \u201cBishop Sarah is a woman of profound compassion and courage. It has been a joy and a privilege to work alongside her in her role as Bishop of London.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we will miss her deeply here in the Diocese of London, we are glad that she will only be moving just across the river. I am excited to see her bring her wise and determined leadership to the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, as together we seek to build up the Church of Christ and share his love with the world.\u201c<\/p>\n

Alison Coulter, Chair of the Archbishops\u2019 Council<\/strong>, said: \u201cI am really delighted that Bishop Sarah is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop Sarah is a woman of the utmost integrity who has an outstanding track record of leadership. I look forward to working with her, and I am praying for her as she takes up her new role.”<\/p>\n

Nigerian Communion rejects Mullay\u2019s appointment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has rejected the election of a woman as the new archbishop of Canterbury, saying it marks a deeper shift by the Church of England away from biblical teaching.<\/p>\n

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The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Church, in a statement by its Primate, Archbishop Henry C. Ndukuba, described the appointment as a devastating decision that did not take into consideration the long-standing doctrinal tensions over female leadership and the blessing of same-sex unions.<\/p>\n

Ndukuba said the appointment did not regard the convictions of the majority of Anglicans who are unable to embrace female headship in the episcopate.<\/p>\n

He expressed concern about Mullay\u2019s backing of same-sex marriage following her comment in 2023 after a vote on the issue. She had described the outcome of the exercise as a \u201cmoment of hope for the Church.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis election is a further confirmation that the global Anglican world could no longer accept the leadership of the Church of England and that of the Archbishop of Canterbury,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

He reaffirmed Nigerian church\u2019s alignment with GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference), a traditionalist Anglican network.<\/p>\n

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Archbishop Henry Ndukuba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gafcon, which includes bishops from Africa, Asia and Latin America, issued a\u00a0parallel statement<\/a>\u00a0through its Primates Council, calling the announcement a source of \u201csorrow\u201d and warning it would deepen divisions within the 85 million-member Communion.<\/p>\n

The Church of Nigeria, which is one of the world\u2019s largest Anglican provinces, said it would continue to uphold biblical doctrine \u201cirrespective of the ongoing revisionist agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also enjoined members of the Church of England who reject same-sex marriage to remain steadfast and \u201ccontend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Anglican Church in Nigeria is the second-largest<\/a> province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership (but not by attendance), after the Church of England. It has about 18 million members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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  His Majesty The King has approved the nomination of the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, Downing Street announced on Friday October 3. The 106th\u202fArchbishop of Canterbury since Saint Augustine arrived in Kent from Rome in 597, Bishop Sarah will be the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","category-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2688,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions\/2688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}