Watch the Installation of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, at Canterbury Cathedral

Archbishop Sarah legally became Archbishop of Canterbury in January but her installation at Canterbury Cathedral will mark the symbolic start of her public ministry in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

In a service steeped in historic symbolism, she will be welcomed by church leaders from England and around the world as well as representatives from the nation and Commonwealth.

During the service she will take her seat – or be “installed” – in two special chairs: first as Archbishop of Canterbury in the “Quire Cathedra” and then in the ancient chair of St Augustine, as a sign of her role as Primate of All England and ‘primus inter pares’ (first among equals) of the Anglican Communion.

The symbolic elements will also include Archbishop Sarah’s arrival in which she will bang three times on the West Door of the Cathedral seeking permission to enter.

The service will provide an opportunity for the whole church to pray for Archbishop Sarah as she begins this new ministry and it will also be the moment when she delivers her first sermon as Archbishop.

Yes, that was the moment Archbishop Sarah legally became Archbishop of Canterbury and that service included some formal and legal elements including a sitting of a church court to confirm her appointment.

The Installation represents the moment Archbishop Sarah is welcomed into the ‘See’, actively beginning her public ministry and will be a moment of both celebration and dedication.

There will be around 2,000 people at Canterbury Cathedral for the service, including members of the Royal  Family, the Government, clergy and lay people from Canterbury and London Dioceses, the wider Church of England, the General Synod, Primates from the Anglican Communion, Bishops, Deans, interfaith leaders, representatives from charities, schools and the NHS.

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Princess of Wales, will represent the King and the Royal Family. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, will also be there alongside other key figures from the Government and Parliament.

There will be representatives from the Vatican as well as leaders of the Roman Catholic Church across the British Isles; the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches and other major Christian denominations.

There will also be representatives from the Commonwealth and United Nations, charities, healthcare and schools. 

There will be representatives from all parts of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, including school children and parishioners from the Diocese of Canterbury, some of whom will be taking part in the service.

Everyone is invited to watch the service together online at cofe.io/InstallationLive.

The service is taking place on March 25, which is the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Church remembers how Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she had been chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus.

It is a day when the Church celebrates one of the great women of the Bible and thinks about how we can respond to God’s call. The story of the Annunciation will be reflected throughout the service.

Archbishop Sarah’s installation will also be an historic day in itself, as the first woman to become Archbishop of Canterbury in the role more than 1,400-year history.

The theme of the Archbishop as a “shepherd” will also be reflected throughout the service. It is an important theme in Christianity – Jesus spoke of himself as the Good Shepherd – and something Archbishop Sarah has spoken about. When it was announced last year that would be the next Archbishop, she said:

“I intend be a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition. Today I give thanks for all the women and men – lay and ordained; deacons, priests and bishops — who have paved the way for this moment. And to all the women that have gone before me. Thank you for your support and your inspiration.”

Archbishop Sarah will wear the cope (or outer cloak) and mitre (the bishop’s hat) which were commissioned when she was first consecrated as a bishop.

She will also wear a specially designed morse – or clasp – decorated by the buckle from her belt she wore as a nurse serving in the National Health Service.

Bishops traditionally carry a staff shaped like a shepherd’s crook – known as a crosier – which illustrates the bishop’s role as a shepherd. The crosier being presented as part of Archbishop Sarah’s installation was used by Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher, the last Bishop of London to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He received this in 1961 as a gift from the senior archbishops of the other churches of the Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Sarah also wears the ring given to one of her predecessors, Archbishop Michael Ramsey, in Rome by Pope Paul VI on 24 March 1966, almost exactly 60 years before her installation. Archbishop Ramsey’s visit was an historic moment – the first official visit to the Vatican by an Archbishop of Canterbury since the Reformation and the ring signalled the growing friendship between Anglican and Roman Catholic communities.

Download the Order of Service for the full programme.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop of the Church of England and is considered first among equals of the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Her role has six key aspects:

• Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, although much of the day-to-day responsibility is delegated to the Bishop of Dover.  
• ‘Metropolitan’ bishop – with jurisdiction throughout the 30 dioceses of the Province of Canterbury (the southern Province of the Church of England).
• Leader of the Church of England – or “Primate of All England”. This includes acting as a Chaplain to the King and sitting in the House of Lords.
• A “focus of unity” in the Anglican Communion which includes roles such as being convener and host of the Lambeth Conference.
• The Archbishop also has a national ecumenical role and will take a lead in building relationships with other faith leaders.
• Archbishop Sarah is a global Christian leader speaking on moral issues and advocating for Christians around the world.

The first Archbishop of Canterbury was St Augustine who was sent by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary to share the Christian faith with the Anglo-Saxons in 597AD (hundreds of years before the word “England” was coined).

Augustine founded what is now Canterbury Cathedral and this became the principal seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury who now leads the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion.