The Rev. Alison Turner became Associate for Children & Family Ministry at Saint Thomas Church in 2018. A life-long educator, her role within the clergy team includes liturgical responsibilities of a parish priest, specific responsibilities for pastoral care of young people and families, hospitality and outreach. She oversees the organization and management of new and creative ministries for the children and young people of our parish, including Catechesis, 9am Mass ministries, and Sunday School and Nursery. After serving as Acting School Chaplain during the pandemic, she was formally commissioned as Choir School Chaplain in 2021, a role she holds concurrent with her parish duties. She chairs the Safeguarding Monitoring Committee of the Vestry at Saint Thomas, which serves both our church and school. Within the Diocese, Mother Turner serves as Dean of the Midtown Manhattan Clericus.
Mother Turner was born in southeast England and has always been immersed in parish life, as both a teacher and priest, with a special focus on education and catechesis, liturgy, and music.
A graduate of St Mary’s University College, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (University of Surrey) from where she went to teach in Roman Catholic and Anglican multicultural schools in East London, while working towards an MA in Theology and Adult Education (University of Surrey) in preparation for her ordination. Her ministerial training was based in Cambridge.
Her first Head of School position was in a rural setting (age 4-11) in Devon (in the southwest of England) in 2001. In 2006, she became Headmistress of Exeter Junior School, a large independent city school (age 7-18) founded in 1633, and one of the leading co-Ed independent schools in the southwest of England.
Mother Turner was ordained priest in the Diocese of Chelmsford, at Michaelmas 1998 where, in her early parish ministry, she developed an interest in redevelopment projects and collaborations between church and schools. Her most recent ministerial position in the UK was as Priest Vicar in Exeter Cathedral, where she held various liturgical roles as well as oversight of the nurture and catechesis of children and young people at local and Diocesan level, alongside her full/time role as a Head of School. She served as a member of the Diocesan Board of an Education.
In 2015, she joined her husband, Fr. Turner, and Bertie their Cairn terrier, in New York. She became part of Saint Thomas life and assisted local parishes with services while studying at the General Theological Seminary.
In 2018 and 2019 Turner graduated with a Masters in Sacred Theology and Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. The focus of her thesis was Children’s ministry in the Episcopal Church. She is now completing a part time D.Min.
Alison is a member of the St. George’s Society, New York, the oldest charity in the city and serves on the benefit committee that works with social workers looking after vulnerable seniors. She is also a very active member of the Order of St. John, and with her husband, has close relationships with the Order of Malta and enjoys fostering ever-deepening relationships between the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Dioceses in New York. She has three grown-up adopted children, and is now a proud grandmother of three.
Categories: Clergy
