31 March 2026

Darton, Longman and Todd has just published a book to coincide with the enthronement of Archbishop Sarah Mullaly. She is the first female Archbishop of Canterbury and so her enthronement marks an important historical milestone for women, for the Church and for the world.

The book begins with a brief biography of the Archbishop and is followed by ‘ten urgent challenges for the Church of England’. They have been written by ‘ten leading Anglican writers’. The list doesn’t sparkle for it is not surprising.

Here are a few of the titles, ‘The Separation of Church and Hate – Spirituality and the Church of England’, ‘Sitting Outside Encountering Christ – The Church of England, LGBTQIA Inclusion and Same-Sex Marriage’, ‘Falling Among Thieves: Understanding and Responding to Church-related Abuse’ etc.

At the very end of the book, there is an ‘Afterward’ written by Rowan Williams, a previous holder of this office. ‘If an archbishop has the freedom to listen and share good news, they will be doing what every ministry exists for, giving permission for the Church to be itself’.

I am not sure what he means by ‘giving permission’ but  it is through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments that the Church becomes itself in the sense that it becomes visible to the world. The discipline of pulpit and table is an enabling ministry which brings the Church into the light.

Williams goes on to say that the archbishop is called ‘to learn again what God is doing, and to repeat in context after context the central story of how God has done it and is doing it, the story of Christ opening wide his arms on the cross, bidding us welcome when our souls draw back’.

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