Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990 TAG: 9007240471
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Mike Hudson
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Turner will become senior rector at the 1,500-member Episcopal Church of the Advent in Spartanburg. He will start his new position in October.
He said the 15 years his family has spent in Roanoke have been "the happiest years of our lives."
He said his challenge in the new job will be to develop a stronger commitment to the Spartanburg community on the part of the parish.
"It's the most painful decision that I've ever made, but the challenge seems to be God's call to go there."
Turner, an Alabama native, graduated magna cum laude from Duke Divinity School and served at several churches in North Carolina before coming to St. John's in 1975.
In Roanoke, he has been credited with working to help improve housing for the poor and elderly. He chaired two city task forces on homelessness.
"He has provided tremendous leadership" in the community and the church, Bishop Heath Light said.
Light, of the Episcopal diocese of Southwestern Virginia Southwestern, said Turner's tenure has been characterized by a "missionary imperative" of serving people in the downtown area not normally thought of as the congregation's constituency.
Roanoke City Council named Turner 1988 citizen of the year for his efforts to improve housing, mental-health programs and other community services.
In 1988 Turner also received a National Brotherhood/Sisterhood Citation from the Roanoke Valley chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Turner, an outdoorsman and fisherman, served on the state Commission of Outdoor Recreation.
by CNB