A Good Advent

By Sarah Mullally

A Good Advent, the first published work by the new Bishop of London Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally, provides an inspiring and thought-provoking introduction to the Advent season. The booklet also includes details of how to download the accompanying free app which will provide a daily devotion throughout Advent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SPCK
• Release date: Nov 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9780281083114

Sarah Mullally

The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE was installed as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral on 12th May. She now sits in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spirituals, having be introduced on 24th May. She was sworn as a member of the Privy Council on 14th March 2018. The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally DBE (aged 55) studied first at South Bank University for her BSc followed by a MSc and then at Heythrop College, University of London where she got her MA. She was awarded Honorary Doctorates of Science from Bournemouth University, (2004), University of Wolverhampton (2004) and University of Hertfordshire (2005) and was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 for her contribution to nursing and midwifery. She is a late ordinand who before ordination was Chief Nursing Officer in the Department of Health. She trained for the ministry at the South East Institute for Theologian Education and served her first curacy at Battersea Fields in Southwark Diocese from 2001 to 2006. From 2006 to 2012 she was Team Rector at Sutton in Southwark Diocese. From 2012 to 2015 she was Canon Residentiary and Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral before taking up her role in 2015 as Suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter. Bishop Sarah is married to Eamonn and they have two children. She has continued her interest in the health service having been a non executive director at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust then at Salisbury NHS Foundation Hospital. She is a member of Council at King’s College London University. She is a novice potter.

Book preview

Foreword by the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, Bishop of London

I am delighted that you have opened this little booklet, produced by SPCK.

The main contents come from a chapter I originally wrote on ‘A Good Advent’ in 2015, which formed part of a book, A Good Year, edited by Canon Mark Oakley. I am most grateful for his encouragement.

Since becoming Bishop of London this year, it has struck me more than ever that we don’t like to wait. As I walk out of my front door, I am quickly swept up by a stream of busy people heading to the Tube. They certainly don’t like to wait.

Equally, it’s not just the children among us that don’t like to wait for Christmas as the Winter nights draw in. London is filling up with lights and a sense of expectation as we prepare to celebrate. Yet we can end up rushing around so busy that we fail to stop and experience the light and hope that Christmas brings.

During St Paul’s Cathedral’s dramatic Advent service, a procession moves from darkness to light, mirrored by music and words, reflecting hope and despair. To appreciate the light and hope, you need to wait in the darkness. Advent is a time to be still in the midst of our busy lives. We should make space in the darkness