Archbishop Sarah Mullally & Ten Urgent Challenges for the Church of England

Biography by Tim Wyatt with articles by Ten Leading Anglicans – Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd (2026)

It is common when someone comes to the end of their career for their peers to publish a Festschrift^[1]which includes a biography with thoughts about the impact of one person’s career on society.  As Archbishop Sarah Mullally begins her tenure of the throne of St Augustine this is more of an aperitif with cautions about the perils of the road ahead and appeals and advice on how to lead the Church of England which, too many appears to have been rudderless for some time.

It begins with a biography of Archbishop Sarah which, carefully noting the skills she has as well as challenges already faced, lays the foundation for the ten topics in the papers that follow.

We are led through a mixture of formal lectures, personal appeals, and open challenge in areas of inequality and discrimination that suffuse parts of the church she is called to lead.  All of them have a Gospel imperative and take as their starting point Archbishop Sarah‘s expertise in healthcare, in leading the church in areas of gender and sexuality, and her deep concerns for Safeguarding.

The articles are at the same time a question and a challenge^[2].  They describe how things have been and paint a picture as to how they could be if the Church of England chose to revisit its call to be a house of prayer for all nations.  Some of them are hard to read and will raise feelings of anger balanced by sadness in the heart of the reader.  Each of them is a personal appeal to Archbishop Sarah, and through her, the House of Bishops and the General Synod of the Church of England to walk more closely in the footsteps of Christ.

All ten issues are on the agenda of the Church of England and of our nation. Some would say that because the Church has not been unequivocally inclusive our national life has suffered and falls into the maw of so-called Christian Nationalism.

Each intervention is timely, well resourced (sadly some because they have been rehearsed so often) and offers a way forward.  And each section ends with a personal, often tender, prayer for Archbishop Sarah which all readers can make their own.

In her first Presidential Address as Archbishop the Chief Nurse become Chief Shepherd reminded the General Synod that Hope is like a muscle of the Body of Christ and for the Body to flourish we must exercise the Muscle of Hope.  This book contains ten body-building exercises for a Church that has grown flabby after spending too much time feasting at the table of this naughty world.

Presented as challenges for the Archbishop it is in fact a call to the church to wake up, take our medicine, and be not only healed but become healers in the Name of Christ.

Personally I will be sharing this book with as many people as possible but especially;  with those at the beginnings of formal ministry – as it is a role description for servants of Christ, with those who long for a more inclusive church – as it will help resource and broaden that inclusion, and for those who are just fed-up with being told that the Church no longer speaks for the Nation or the Gospel – that they may find a voice.

This book is a pathway for faith and a lexicon of Hope.

Revd Canon Andrew Dotchin – Trustee of Inclusive Church

Port Bannatyne, Isle of Bute – February 2026

Contents List:

ARCHBISHOP SARAH MULLALLY – A Biography – Tim Wyatt

1 THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND HATE – Spirituality and the Church of England – Mark Oakley

2 FACING TRUTH WITH HONESTY – Nationalism, Racism and the Church of England – Eileen Harrop

3 A PLACE FOR ALL BODIES – Welcoming and Empowering Disabled People in the Church of England – Emily Richardson

4 SITTING OUTSIDE, ENCOUNTERING CHRIST – The Church of England, LGBTQIA Inclusion and Same-Sex Marriage – Charlie Baczyk-Bell

5 WHEN RIGHTS ARE ROLLED BACK, ‘LET JUSTICE ROLL LIKE A RIVER’ – Trans and Non-Binary People and the Church of England – Christina Beardsley SMMS

6 FALLING AMONG THIEVES: UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONDING TO CHURCH-RELATED ABUSE – Abuse, Safeguarding and the Church of England – Andrew Graystone

7 CHALLENGE INEQUALITY, CHANGE PRACTICE, DEEPEN SPIRITUALITY – Poverty and the Church of England – Jon Kuhrt

8 HOPES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE WORLD – Climate Care and the Church of England – Ruth Valerio

9 THE THREAD THAT BINDS US – The Challenge of Global Anglican Unity – Amatu Christian-Iwuagwu

10 IN THE BLEEDING SILENCE Mission and the Church of England – Chantal Noppen

AFTERWORD – Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury

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^[1] Definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festschrift

^[2] The articles discuss: Spirituality, Racism, Welcoming disabled people, Same Sex marriage, Transphobia, Safeguarding, poverty, Care for the Climate, Global Anglicanism, Mission.  Followed with an Afterword by Rowan Williams – former Archbishop of Canterbury