Archbishop Sarah: A new chapter or just a change of style?

In her first presidential address, Most Revd Sarah Mullally shared her vision for her new ministry:

"And so, I believe that I have been called to love and serve the Diocese of Canterbury, the Church of England, and the Anglican Communion, not through developing new programmes and initiatives, but by being a shepherd, who works collaboratively and in partnership, enabling others to flourish."

She spoke slowly, stuck to the script and prayed that she would, "be able to approach this ministry with calm, consistency and compassion."

In doing so, she could not have put more distance between herself and her predecessor, the Most Revd Justin Welby . In 2018, journalist, Andrew Brown wrote a piece celebrating his achievements, in which he was very honest about his character:

"... he combines energy, ruthlessness and a determination to get the church moving, through a mixture of public theatricality and arm-twisting behind the scenes...

"... His manner is austere, somewhere between oil industry executive and crisp infantry officer. His temper is widely feared (“I haven’t been spoken to like that since I was at school,” said one victim), but at the same time it’s difficult to talk to him seriously without glimpsing beneath the armour of success, self-discipline and charming self-deprecation, the clever and miserable boy he must once have been."

Those present in the Chamber, thirteen and a half years ago, when Justin Welby gave his first presidential address, saw all but the temper and the arm twisting on display.

The energy and dynamism was there - he squeezed nearly a thousand more words into his time than Archbishop Sarah used. He began by thanking the central staff at Lambeth, Bishopthorpe, Church House and the Anglican Communion Office and flattered his inner circle, his Chief of Staff and the new Bishop at Lambeth. He gave an anecdote about his days working, "for an American company but living in Paris" (avoiding mentioning the oil industry) and dropped the names of important religious figures, "Bishop Angaelos, Head of the Coptic Church in the UK, whom I met in Egypt last week,", "As Pope Francis recalled so memorably."

At the same time he sought to portray himself as one of the people, "The Chair could almost have said my first address to the Synod, such is the length of my experience here!" But for all the faux-humility this was a man who was focused on big ideas: "revolution", "radical and prophetic words", the challenge of being "reconcilers in the world", the need to "reimagine ministry", "quinquennial goals", "a moment of crisis".

While he spoke passionately about the need for "a renewal of prayer and the religious life", and being "overwhelmed by the love of God", it was impossible to get away from his focus on the levers of power. Those at the centre, who could implement his new policies, were praised and General Synod needed to get with his programme for a country which had "changed dramatically". There was now no space for the "homophobic", or those with "completely unacceptable" attitudes which "contradict the stated policy of the Church of England".

The new Archbishop of Canterbury was more reflective. As she considered the enormity of the charges laid before her at the Confirmation of Election, she asked for prayer (again), and spoke of being an Archbishop whose calling was, "washing feet, and serving and caring for others."

Poetry took the place of the anecdotes, with a quote from R.S. Thomas:

"I have seen the sun break through

to illuminate a small field

for a while, and gone away

and forgotten it. But that was the

pearl of great price, the one field that had

treasure in it."

Her focus was on the day-to-day life of the church community. She saw "God’s Kingdom, the pearl of great price, revealed in countless places across the Church of England and the Anglican Communion." Her list included, "every prayer", "every child helped to flourish in our schools", "every night shelter and food bank" and, "each... youth group and community lunch." She avoided hectoring Synod and instead called on them to "flex the muscle of hope" and thanked them for the "personal sacrifices" they make to be involved.

Sarah Mullally told Synod, "Safeguarding is a fundamental, non negotiable responsibility, sharpened by our past failings and shaped by the work we still have to do." There was much talk of being trauma-informed and the need to,"put victims and survivors at the the heart of all we do and be committed to proper independence." Some survivors have suggested this is somewhat hypocritical after the manner in which the Archbishop of York and Sarah Mullally have cleared one another of safeguarding failures in recent months, but perhaps that is just one of the past failings.

Just as issues around safeguarding will rumble on into the new archepiscopacy so will the divided nature of the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. It is here where the similarities between the two archbishops comes into clearer focus.

Reflecting on the diversity of the Anglican Communion, the Most Revd Sarah Mullally spoke of the "grit" needed to form the pearl, which she described as "the challenges of difference, conflicts and misunderstanding among ourselves." It seems that in her thinking the pearl (and thus the Kingdom of God) will grow as those who disagree with one another, "remain in one another’s presence". Thus, the "practice of hospitality may be offered as a model to a polarised world, speaking into the deepening divides in our society with the possibility of hope and of healing."

Now this sounds very similar to the gospel of Justin Welby, which he shared with General Synod back in 2013. "There are no magic bullets. How we travel, and our capacity to differ without hating each other and to debate without dividing from each other, is crucial to the progress we make." Over time this led to the ideas of 'good disagreement' and 'plural truth', which are now so embedded in the Church of England that the new Archbishop of Canterbury can only continue along the same path.

Speaking of the grit which forms the pearl is an unusual way of interpreting the parable of the pearl, which is more often assumed to focus on its value and the response of the merchant, who, "went away and sold everything he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:46). Some may say that Jesus did not speak about the grit because of his lack of scientific understanding, and that the Archbishop's interpretation is just a case of proclaiming the faith "afresh to every generation". Others would disagree, pointing out that Jesus used the parable of the sower to explain how the Kingdom of God grows, and would suggest that the Archbishop should have turned to the earlier verses of Matthew 13 to make her point. But that might have been awkward, because Jesus is clear that it is the word of God that is the seed that is sown and that the Kingdom of God grows as each individual, "hears the word and understands it." (Matthew 13:23)

Despite references to the, "Gospel of Jesus Christ" and a plea that the Church would continue with, "our hope rooted in the Gospel, and our confidence rooted in God," there was no expectation in the Archbishop of Canterbury's first presidential address that she expected the Church to hear God's word and understand it.

Sadly, it seems, that just like Justin Welby before her, Sarah Mullally will lead the Church of England further into the mire, the only difference being that she will be "calm, consistent and compassionate" as she does it.

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