Say my name, Say my name

We knew that we had a new Archbishop, we knew it was a woman, but from Sky News’ coverage, we didn’t know who it was for a fair few paragraphs. Sky News proudly declared: “Woman named as Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first.” Scanning the subtitle for a name… Eamonn Mullally. Oh no, that’s her husband.  Wait—what? Yes, before her name even appeared, we were introduced to her husband and informed of her age (of course).

Sky corrected the article after numerous comments. This is a trend we see often in the media, sadly, and I argue that it is not just misogyny but people not doing their jobs properly. 

Anyway, let me introduce and congratulate Dame Sarah Mullally the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. 

So, who is Dame Sarah, and what exactly does an Archbishop do?

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the global Anglican Communion aka the Anglican church with 85 million members across 165 countries. Think of the Archbishop as part chief pastor, part diplomat, part theologian-in-chief. They guide the Church’s doctrine, represent it to the world, and occasionally mediate the family squabbles across the wide variety in the houses of the Anglican church. 

Dame Sarah’s appointment is historic. She’s the first woman ever to lead the Church of England, a church that only began ordaining women as priests in 1994 and as bishops in 2014. Her rise isn’t just symbolic; it’s seismic. It signals a Church acknowledging that leadership can look and sound different from the past. Significantly this is one of the key messages of Jesus. He challenged the society at the time to reconsider that the leader they were waiting for would not be just a mighty warrior, but also a gentle, self-sacrificial lamb. Jesus flipped tables and also washed people’s feet. 

I don’t know if Sarah has been reading The Memo, but she clearly understands the significance of being relevant to your audience. 

On her first day in office, she made that clear, calling for a Church that looks more like modern Britain:

“If our churches are going to be more relevant to our communities, that means increasing churches that are led by priests that are women, who come from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.”

Her appointment hasn’t been without controversy. Some conservative Anglican groups, notably Gafcon, expressed “sorrow,” arguing that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy and condemning her support for same-sex blessings. Others, like the Church of Southern Africa, hailed the news as “historic.” Bishop Emily Onyango of Kenya called it “a new dawn,” noting that resistance often stems from patriarchy rather than theology.

So yes, there’s tension, but there’s also celebration. The Anglican Communion is vast and varied, and Dame Sarah’s leadership might just be the bridge between tradition and transformation.

From nurse to national pastor, from the NHS to the pulpit, Dame Sarah Mullally’s story is one of service, courage, and quiet revolution.

And next time, media friends, let's start with her name.