Christmas blessings
We need to rediscover the wonder of Christmas, the Bishop of London Sarah Mullally tells Bryony Gooch
When you meet the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, you’re charmed by her humility. Despite being the third most senior bishop in the Church of England – behind the Archbishops of Canterbury and York – she sees herself as no more important than a local parish priest. Her modesty doesn’t disguise the fact that she has achieved incredible things in her life, all in service to others. However, there have been times when her position has elevated her and, last May, she had a role to play at the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. As Dean of His Majesty’s Chapels Royal, she gave the Gospel reading, becoming the first female bishop in history to be involved in a Coronation service. If you watched the ceremony on TV, perhaps you were struck by the grandeur of Westminster Abbey, but Bishop Sarah describes the occasion as ‘surprisingly intimate’.
‘This was something between His Majesty and God,’ she says. ‘The King faced towards the altar for almost all of the service, because it was about him first and foremost swearing allegiance to God. He followed in the footsteps of his mother for a life lived in service to others.’
She adds: ‘I never dreamed I’d be involved with The Royal Family in this way – with the Coronation and, before that, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth. So that, for me, has been a real privilege.’
INSPIRED TO HELP OTHERS
Bishop Sarah grew up in Woking, Surrey. As a child, she was taken to church by her grandparents and, aged 16, she decided to be confirmed. ‘Christianity provided me with stability in a constantly changing world,’ she says. ‘For me, God was stable and faithful. When life wasn’t so straightforward, there was something about knowing that I was loved by Him that resourced me. My faith gave me confidence.’
She took away a calling from sermons to care for the sick, which inspired her to become a nurse. ‘Going into nursing was as much a vocation as it was a sense of caring compassionately for people,’ she says. ‘I think about the parable of the Good Samaritan, where the wounded traveller was picked up and looked after.’
After a nursing degree, she worked at St Thomas’ Hospital and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. She rose through the ranks and, in 1999, became the youngest ever Chief Nursing Officer for England at the age of 37, providing leadership for more than 400,000 nurses and advising the Government. She was made a Dame for her services to nursing and midwifery when she left her NHS career to become a Church of England priest.
‘The biggest decision I ever made was moving full-time into the church,’ she says. But she highlights the similarities between being a nurse and a priest. ‘You��
