Richard Turnbull

The Reverend Richard Duncan Turnbull (born 1960) is the Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

Biography

He was educated at the University of Reading (BA 1982) and St John's College, Durham (Cranmer Hall) (BA First Class Theology 1992, PhD 1997). He became a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in 1985. He is also a Master of Arts of the University of Oxford (2005).

He was ordained deacon in 1994 and priest in 1995.

He served as Assistant Curate of Portswood Christ Church 1994-98 and Vicar of Chineham 1998-2005.

He has also been a member of the General Synod of the Church of England (1995-2005), chairman of the Business Committee of the General Synod (2004-05), and chairman of working parties that produced reports on clergy pay and the funding a theological education. He was a member of The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England (2003-05) and chairman of the House of Clergy of Diocesan Synod of the Diocese of Winchester (2000-05).

He is Chairman, and a Director, of the Church of England Evangelical Council and will remain in office until 2010.

He was appointed Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford in 2005. Between a third and half of the college's academic staff is said to have resigned since his appointment, and many members of the teaching staff are reported to have written to the college's governing council to complain about the Principal's leadership style, claiming that he was undermining the College's reputation. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jun/14/religion.highereducation Stephen Bates 'Theological college's head is undermining it, say predecessors'. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.] ]

In a speech he made in October 2006 to the conservative Anglican group Reform, Turnbull encouraged conservative evangelical Anglicans to give ten percent of their donations to the Church of England direct to theological colleges. In the same speech he exhorted the church to evangelism, stating that 95% of the UK population (i.e. those not attending any church) are "facing hell unless the message of the gospel is brought to bear." [ [http://www.change.freeuk.com/learning/relthink/turnbull.html 'Richard Turnbull at Reform Conference October 2006'. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.] ]

He is an evangelical, defining this by belief in the supreme authority of Scripture, the doctrine of substitutionary penal atonement, personal relationship with Jesus, and commitment to evangelism.

He was a member of the committee that drafted the document "A Covenant for the Church of England" (see [http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=1034 "Anglican Mainstream": A Covenant for the Church of England] ).

Notes

Publications

*"Anglican and Evangelical? (Continuum, 2007)
*'Evangelicalism: the state of scholarship and the question of identity', "Anvil" 16:2 (1999)
* [http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/KLICE/PDFs/WB/Vol%203.2%20Turnbull.pdf "Eschatology and the Social Order: A Historical Perspective" (Whitefield Institute Briefings 3:2, March 1998)]
*'Lord Shaftesbury', in "Theologische Realenzyklopadie" (1993)
*'The emergence of the Protestant Evangelical Tradition', "Churchman" 107 (November 1993)

ources and further information

* [http://www.chbookshop.co.uk/product.asp?id=2396382 Church House Bookshop review of "Anglican and Evangelical?"]
* [http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=1604 Anglican Mainstream review of "Anglican and Evangelical?"]
* [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/theo_hobson/2007/05/highway_to_disestablishment.html Theo Hobson, Comment is Free: Highway to Disestablishment, "The Guardian" (24 May 2007)]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2581243.ece Andy McSmith, 'The man who says we are all going to hell', "The Independent" (25 May 2007)]
* [http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=39122 Bill Bowder, 'Principal's changes lead to resignations and wall of silence' "Church Times" 7523 (18 May 2007)]
* [http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=1682 'Wycliffe Council backs Principal in process of change', "The Church of England Newspaper", reprinted on "Anglican Mainstream"]
* [http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=766 Stephen Bates, 'College row reflects crisis in Anglican Church', "Religious Intelligence" (24 May 2007)]
* [http://www.evangelicals.org/news.asp?id=663 David Phillips, 'Guardian attack on Wycliffe Hall', "EV News" (16 May 2007)]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2007/05/richard_turnbull_on_the_demogr.html William Crawley, 'Richard Turnbull on the demographics of hell', "Will and Testament" (24 May 2007)]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,2086769,00.html Stephen Bates, 'Theologian damns most Britons to hell', "The Guardian" (24 May 2007)]
* [http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/002409.html Thinking Anglicans: Richard Turnbull speaks to Reform]
* [http://www.wycliffehall.org.uk/content.asp?id=67 Wycliffe Hall, Oxford: Revd Dr Richard Turnbull]
* [http://www.wycliffehall.org.uk/temp/RichardspTurnbullspPublications.pdf Richard Turnbull Publications]
* [http://www.ox.ac.uk/publicaffairs/pubs/annualreview/ar05/11.shtml University of Oxford Annual Review 2004/05: Heads of House]
* [http://www.ceec.info/council.htm Church of England Evangelical Council: Council Membership]
*"Crockford's Clerical Directory" (97th edn, London: Church House Publishing, 2001), p. 764