“At every stage of that journey, through my nursing career and Christian ministry, I have learned to listen deeply – to people and to God’s gentle prompting – to seek to bring people together to find hope and healing." - The Rt Read and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally

The Rt Read and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally was born 26 March 1962. She is an English Anglican prelate and former nurse. She has been the bishop of London since 2018, and is the first woman to hold this office. By virtue of her office she is also a Lord Spiritual, one of the 26 Church of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. On 3 October 2025, it was announced that Mullally would become the 106th archbishop of Canterbury in January 2026; she will be the first woman to hold the office. 

Born in Woking, Surrey, Mullally received clinical training in nursing from St Thomas' Hospital. She practised nursing primarily in South London, where she also began her study for ministry in the Church of England. In 1999 she became Chief Nursing Officer and director of patient experience for the English National Health Service. She left these roles in 2004 to pursue full-time ministry. For her service in nursing, Mullally was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005. 

Mullally was ordained a priest in 2002 and began her ministry in the diocese of Southwark. She served in various London churches, and in 2012 became a canon of Salisbury Cathedral. In 2015 she was consecrated as bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop in the diocese of Exeter.

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