Richard Turnbull brought an unusual combination of skills to his life’s work. He died on 26 October, aged 65, having been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Richard Duncan Turnbull was born in South Manchester on 17 October, 1960, the younger son of Alan Turnbull and his late wife, Kathleen, née Ormston.
Shortly after Richard’s eighteenth birthday, his mother died of cancer. He entered Reading University the following year to read for a degree in economics and accounting. At that stage he had no Christian commitment, nor any real knowledge of the Christian faith. Spending the summer vacation before his final year in the US Midwest, he found himself staying with a Christian family who had a living faith. In his final term at Reading, he agreed to go to church with some Christian student friends. A guest preacher would visit that evening. Returning for the evening service, Richard came to faith in Christ. After graduating in 1982 he embarked on a career as a chartered accountant with Ernst and Young, in London.
Chartered Accountancy and Theological Training
On arriving in London, Richard settled at Brandon Baptist Church in Camberwell. Here he would meet his future wife when, just a week after he arrived, Caroline Andrew, a new graduate from Leeds University joined the staff for a year as a careforce worker. Within a month Richard had been appointed as church treasurer.
Richard and Caroline married in 1986. In 1987 they moved to Southampton, where Richard had been transferred, and joined a small Anglican church in Weston. The vicar encouraged Richard to train as a lay reader, then to explore ordination. From here they moved to Durham where Richard gained a BA (first class honours) at Cranmer Hall in 1992 and was ordained in 1994. His PhD (Durham, 1997) explored evangelical theology and social reform in the 19th century, themes on which he would write and lecture in future years.
Richard’s curacy was served at Highfield Church, Southampton (1994-1998), during which time he became the youngest-ever member of the Press Council. He then moved to be vicar of Christ Church, Chineham, near Basingstoke (1998-2005).
Richard was known for his high energy and capacity for hard work. As well as tending to his parish, and preparing to preach, he played an active role in the wider Church of England, serving on General Synod from 1995. He chaired both the House of Clergy in his Diocesan Synod, and the General Synod Business Committee (2004-2005) as well as chairing working parties on clergy pay and the funding of theological education. He was for two years a member of the Archbishops' Council (2003-2005) under Rowan Williams.
Wycliffe Hall
In 2005 the family moved to Oxford where Richard had been appointed Principal of Wycliffe Hall, to succeed Alister McGrath. That year, he received an honorary MA from the University of Oxford.
At Wycliffe Hall, he taught courses on Anglicanism, Anglican and Evangelical identity, and on the Reformation. In his early years at the Hall, controversy arose among the faculty over his style of leadership, which was less collegial than some wanted. Further unrest was stirred by his conservative theology. The Board gave its support to Richard, and the outcome was that several faculty members resigned. Concern was expressed that the Hall would lose its reputation for intellectual rigour if conservative faculty were appointed to fill the vacancies, who would thus attract more conservative students. The new principal had a high regard for scholarship, as his new appointments to faculty were to reflect.
Richard was a popular principal with his students. They appreciated his genuine care, his modesty, and his sense of humour; and, in recognition of his high energy, nicknamed him Turbo. Seven years after he arrived, in May 2012, the Hall community was both shocked and saddened to hear that the Board had decided he should stand down. Degree exams were just beginning. The exam results that summer placed Wycliffe Hall top of the Permanent Private Halls by a clear margin, with a higher proportion of firsts than most of the well-known colleges. Clearly the faculty both modelled, and instilled, intellectual rigour. It was a bewildering time.
Simon Vibert, Vice-Principal of Wycliffe Hall from 2007, writes: ‘Richard had a special ability to "keep the main thing the main thing": his evangelical convictions were shaped by the reforming priorities of the 19th century characters of his doctoral research: Shaftesbury and Wilberforce. This was combined with his experience as a parish leader, and his plain-speaking, straightforward approach to life and ministry.
'My appointment as Vice Principal included setting up the School of Preaching, as well as sharing the key ministry priorities of leadership, evangelism and spirituality in the Hall. Richard wanted academic rigour supporting real church ministry. I valued these priorities and continue to appreciate all the evidence displayed now in our students, as church leaders today. I will much miss him as a family friend as well as colleague.’
CEME and US links
In the Autumn of 2012, Richard Turnbull founded the Oxford-based Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME), with Brian Griffiths as his Board chair, Baron Griffiths of Fforestfach, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher. Through conferences and publications, CEME would bring moral and theological reflection to matters of business and financial policy; and help Christians to see the business and financial worlds as a calling. On his retirement he became Director Emeritus.
Throughout these years, Richard retained and built on his US links. He was Senior Research Fellow for the Dallas-based Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy, and active in mentoring its Shaftesbury Fellows and in lecturing and in writing for the think tank, the Acton Institute.
The Christian Institute and writing
In 2017, Richard Turnbull became a Trustee of The Christian Institute, taking the chair in 2021. Ciarán Kelly, Director of The Christian Institute, said: ‘He led the Institute through a time of rapid transition marked by the sudden death of its founder and Director, Colin Hart, and then the passing of its long-serving founding Chairman, John Burn, all within the space of little more than six months.’ As the new Director, Ciarán added, ‘I appreciated Richard’s deep wisdom, borne out of his business experience as well as his ministry experience.’ Richard frequently gave talks, available in the Institute’s annual lecture series.
James Leggett, a Trustee, said, ‘His great gift was to combine quick thinking with thoughtfulness – as Chairman, he had the ability to lead graciously, listen intently, and summarise succinctly for the good of the charity.’
Richard’s own ministry had been much inspired by William Grimshaw of Haworth (1708-1763) whose life was marked by sheer perseverance. While Grimshaw’s name is not as familiar as those of the Wesleys, William Wilberforce, John Newton and others, he was counted among their friends and advisers, and, alongside them, played a significant part in the eighteenth century revival.
Richard was a keen historian, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Visiting Fellow of St Mary’s University, Twickenham. He had a gift for bringing a scholarly mind to his writing, while enabling it to be accessible to a broader audience. His book Reviving the heart: The story of the 18th century revival (2012) was published just as he stepped down from Wycliffe Hall. His published legacy also includes Shaftesbury: The Great Reformer (2010), warmly commended by William Hague; and Anglican and Evangelical? (2007) written from his well-informed perspective of the General Synod’s slow shift from orthodoxy, and what this meant for its doctrinal integrity, its finances, and its training colleges.
In recent years, Richard and Caroline worshipped at the small country church of St Michael’s, Begbroke, outside Oxford, where Richard preached regularly until a few months before he died.
Richard is survived by Caroline, their four children and families, and by his father.
