Celebrating Archbishop Sarah Mullally’s Installation with Bishop Paul & Bishop Andy
Archbishop Sarah Mullally was installed on Wednesday 25th March in a special service at Canterbury Cathedral. Both Bishop Paul and Bishop Andy were in attendance from the diocese. Before he travelled, Bishop Paul spoke to Summaya Munghal on BBC Radio Nottingham’s breakfast show about what to expect from the installation and our new Archbishop.
In the interview, Bishop Paul expressed his joy at the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. He spoke about how Archbishop Sarah will bring immense wisdom in leadership, compassion and integrity to this significant ministry as Archbishop, with a clear sense of vision for the primary role of the church bringing the hope of Jesus Christ through the local church in every community.
Bishop Paul went on to say, “Sometimes people call something ‘history in the making’ and you feel that it’s slightly overplaying it, but today really is a historic moment. There have been 106 Archbishops of Canterbury over 1400 years…I am thrilled that we will be welcoming the first female Archbishop of Canterbury today.”
He concluded the interview by saying, “We’re very aware that we’re living in troubled times and I know that Archbishop Sarah sees her role as bringing God’s love, healing and hope to our troubled world.”
Use the button below and skip to 1:51:18 to listen to the interview.
Bishop Andy was also present at the service, which was a wonderful celebration of Archbishop Sarah Mullally’s new ministry. Reflecting after the ceremony, he noted that it was “full of life, with significant contributions from a wide variety of contexts and cultures.“
These included the involvement of local school children, hymns chosen by Archbishop Sarah, anthems by the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral, an Urdu Kyrie Eleison, and the joy-filled praise and worship of the African Choir of Norfolk.
As part of the service, Archbishop Sarah also delivered her inaugural sermon. Bishop Andy said that she “spoke poignantly about coming to faith as a teenager, at which point she could never have imagined that her future would include stepping into the role of Archbishop. On the Feast of the Annunciation, she echoed the words of Mary in Luke 1, ‘Here I am, the servant of the Lord’, and encouraged us to trust with the Angel Gabriel, that ‘nothing will be impossible with God’”.
The full service is available to watch on YouTube, which you can access with the button below.