Dame Sarah Mullally: ‘Stepping into Church leadership was the biggest decision of my life’

Before becoming the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally was NHS England’s chief nursing officer. In this 2009 conversation, she shares how her career background shapes her vision for the Church and the challenges of leading with care

Talk about the transition from Chief Nursing Officer to initially to be a deacon and a priest in the church of England. What led to this transition?

Well, I became a Christian at the age of 16 and I felt that what I did with my time there was, in a sense, to honor God, but also to care for the people that he loved.

So that always motivated me. And I guess there was always a thought in my mind, I may go into and use my skills within a purely Christian environment, or the Church of England in which I grew up.

It was quite a young age when I thought about it, the Church of England didn’t ordain women, so it wasn’t really an option. But it was always there in my mind that I would do it.

And I suppose the proper transition was gradual. I began to train on a part time course for ordination, and then I was appointed as chief nursing officer to the Department of Health. So the training ran alongside, and I did it part time whilst in the Department of Health and in a sense, both fed into each other and both gave me sanity in each part of my life.