Hope as Daily Resistance: A Sermon on Tending the Soil of Trust

The closing Eucharist of the Anglican Consultative Council in Belfast was not merely a liturgical conclusion—it was a prophetic act of trust. Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, preaching at the Cathedral Church of St. Anne on July 4, reframed the council’s theme, “Called to One Hope,” as an ongoing spiritual discipline rather than a settled achievement.

“Together we have tended the soil of trust from which hope can grow,” Mullally declared, acknowledging the deep pain of difference that marked the weeklong gathering of 37 Anglican provinces. Her sermon, released by her office, drew a direct line between the hard work of peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and the faithful resistance she witnessed during a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Archbishop Hosam Naoum.

In both contexts, Mullally identified hope not as passive optimism but as a daily, lived defiance against despair and injustice. “Christian hope,” she said, “is carried by those who hold the light of Christ in their hearts, even in the darkest times.” The sermon wove together testimonies from member churches—care for creation, standing against violence toward women, welcoming refugees, and building a safer church—as evidence of a shared purpose rooted not in agreement but in Jesus Christ.

Drawing from the prophet Amos, Mullally reminded the assembly that God’s promises of restoration are spoken into a broken world. The council’s work, she implied, is unfinished—but that incompleteness is itself the soil where authentic hope takes root.