Sarah Mullally is a British Anglican prelate, nurse, and public servant, and is currently Bishop of London and (as of October 2025) the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold that position in the Church of England.
She has led an illustrious career in health care leadership, ordained ministry, and senior episcopal positions. She has a record of integrating pastoral care and institutional management, and her rise to the highest church position is a first in the history of the Anglican church.
Quick Info |
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| Real Name: | Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally |
| Birth Date: | March 26, 1962 |
| Age (as of 2025): | 63 Years |
| Birth Place: | Woking, United Kingdom |
| Parents: | Michael Frederick Mills and Ann Dorothy Bowser |
| Husband: | Eamon Mullally |
Early Life
Sarah Mullally was born on 26th March 1962 as the second youngest of two daughters and was brought up in Woking, Surrey. She also went to Winston Churchill Comprehensive School before joining Woking Sixth Form College.
She trained as a nursing student after school and graduated from South Bank Polytechnic (currently part of London South Bank University) and the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas Hospital. She proceeded to take a Master of Science at London South Bank University and theological training at the University of Kent and Heythrop College.
Mullally worked as a ward sister, director of nursing and executive in the NHS before entering ordained ministry. Her Christian identity, which she adopted during her teenage life, slowly formed her professional path, and she shifted the focus of her life movement toward full-time ministry.
Career
Sarah Mullally entered the field of health care, where, after working her way up the nursing hierarchy, she ascended to administrative positions in the field. In 1999, she was made Chief Nursing Officer to England and Director of Patient Experience, becoming the youngest in either of those national posts.
Within that role, she contributed to enhancing patient care, policy throughout the NHS, and healthcare experience criteria. In 2004, she dropped those positions to prepare as an ordained minister. In 2001 and 2002 she was ordained as deacon and priest, respectively, with a curacy at Battersea Fields.
Sarah Mullally spent some time in parish ministry but then became Team Rector in Sutton, a teacher of ethics, and Canon Treasurer in Salisbury Cathedral. In 2015, she became Bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Exeter. In December 2017, she was named the next Bishop of London and officially installed in May 2018.
She is one of the oldest members of the Church of England, having been appointed Bishop of London and also being a member of the House of Lords. In 2025, she was announced to be translated to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to have been so, thus becoming the spiritual head of the Church of England and a prominent figure in the global Anglican Communion.
Sarah Mullally has received honorary doctorates in several universities and in 2005 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition of her contribution to nursing and midwifery. In her leadership and ministry, she has promoted the inclusion of women in church leadership, pastoral care and ethics in the public life.
Sarah Mullally Personal Life
Sarah Mullally is married to Eamonn Mullally, whom she married in 1987. He is a professional IT and enterprise architect. They live together with two grown-up children: a daughter and a son. Her husband has been the one who has been behind her ministry and has been known to accompany her to church and even official events. Their marriage and family life has been shown to be long and has been brought out in the public as a stabilizing, supportive base behind her demanding health and church leadership roles.
Social Media
Sarah Mullally has a modest social media presence. On Instagram, she is connected to the page called @bishopelisabethsarah_mullally, and there she has comparatively few followers, just 132 followers, when compared to most of the open personalities.
Her main purpose in using her forums is to present her work in the Church and pronouncements on matters of faith, social justice, and liturgical occasions. She frequently appears quoted in media on ecclesiastical and policy issues and exercises official communication via Church of England and diocesan sources and does not do personal public branding.
