RICHARD TURNBULL

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

Contents

Biography

Publications

Sources and further information

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 he became Principal (including Geoffrey Maughan, Director of Pastoral Studies, Philip Johnston, Director of Studies, Adrian Turnbull, Tutor in Liturgy, Krish Kandiah, Tutor in Evangelism, and David Wenham, Vice-Principal and Tutor in New Testament). One member, Elaine Storkey, has allegedly been threatened with disciplinary action. Every member of the teaching staff, with one exception, is reported to have written to the college's governing council to complain of being intimidated by the Principal. On 15 May 2007 an internal review was announced by the college's governing council. However, staff are believed to have stated that they expect the Chairman of the College Council, the evangelical Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, to support the Principal. The Council later gave Dr Turnbull its unequivocal support. Attention has been drawn to the appointment of Simon Vibert as Vice-Principal because Dr Vibert is an outspoken opponent of the ordination of women. However, the college has pointed out that at the same time it appointed William Donaldson, who is known to support the ordination of women as bishops, a senior tutor of the college.
In a speech he made in October 2006 to the conservative Anglican group Reform he encouraged conservative evangelical Anglicans to give ten percent of their donations to the Church of England to conservative evangelical theological colleges. In the same speech he said that he thought that ninety-five percent of the population of the United Kingdom was likely to be going to hell.
He is a supporter of the doctrine of Substitutionary Penal Atonement.
He and Simon Vibert were members of the committee that drafted the document ''A Covenant for the Church of England'' (see ''Anglican Mainstream'': A Covenant for the Church of England).

Publications

★ ''Anglican and Evangelical? (Continuum, 2007)

★ 'Evangelicalism: the state of scholarship and the question of identity', ''Anvil'' 16:2 (1999)

★ ''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)

Sources and further information

★ Church House Bookshop review of ''Anglican and Evangelical?''

★ Anglican Mainstream review of ''Anglican and Evangelical?''

★ Theo Hobson, Comment is Free: Highway to Disestablishment, ''The Guardian'' (24 May 2007)

★ J. Grant Swank, Jr, 'Anglican College Pres Says "Go to Hell"', ''The American Daily'' (24 May 2007)

★ Andy McSmith, 'The man who says we are all going to hell', ''The Independent'' (25 May 2007)

★ Iona Bergius, 'Crisis at Wycliffe Hall as five staff resign in protest', ''Cherwell'' (18 May 2007)

★ Bill Bowder, 'Principal's changes lead to resignations and wall of silence' ''Church Times'' 7523 (18 May 2007)

★ 'Wycliffe Council backs Principal in process of change', ''The Church of England Newspaper'', reprinted on ''Anglican Mainstream''

★ Stephen Bates, 'College row reflects crisis in Anglican Church', ''Religious Intelligence'' (24 May 2007)

★ David Phillips, 'Guardian attack on Wycliffe Hall', ''EV News'' (16 May 2007)

★ Stephen Bates, 'Unholy row at Oxford's college for clergy amid staff exodus and claims of bullying', ''The Guardian'' (16 May 2007)

★ William Crawley, 'Richard Turnbull on the demographics of hell', ''Will and Testament'' (24 May 2007)

★ Stephen Bates, 'Theologian damns most Britons to hell', ''The Guardian'' (24 May 2007)

★ Thinking Anglicans: Richard Turnbull speaks to Reform

★ Wycliffe Hall, Oxford: Revd Dr Richard Turnbull

★ Richard Turnbull Publications

★ University of Oxford Annual Review 2004/05: Heads of House

★ Church of England Evangelical Council: Council Membership

★ ''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (97th edn, London: Church House Publishing, 2001), p. 764