Adapted from St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue
Before the start of the 11 a.m. Festal Eucharist on May 18, the wardens, on behalf of a unanimous vestry, announced the call of the Rev. Canon Carl Francis Turner as the 12th rector of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. He and his wife, Alison, will settle in at St. Thomas early this fall.
… Canon Turner had been encouraged to think about studying Chemistry and to work for BP, where his father was employed, but at age 17 he decided to tell his parish priest that he felt called to be a priest.
He gained a place at St. Chad’s College at the University of Durham to read theology and then, encouraged by Archbishop Michael Ramsey, who had become his mentor in Durham, spent two years at All Saints Cathedral, Milwaukee with a link to Nashotah House. Michael Ramsey visited Carl several times and continued to encourage him until the archbishop’s death in 1988.
… Carl met his wife, Alison, while he was a curate, and they married in 1990. Alison is a teacher and a priest and is currently headmistress of Exeter Junior School, one of the leading independent prep schools in the southwest England.
Image of Carl and Alison Turner courtesy of St. Thomas Fifth Avenue
