Revd Dr Carlton Turner

I am a Caribbean Contextual and Practical Theologian and Anglican priest with ministerial experience both in the UK and the Caribbean. Before theological training I qualified and worked as a teacher in modern languages, specialising in Spanish and linguistics. I am passionate about theological research and how it informs the practices of the Church. I am also passionate about training and mentoring people into ministry and helping them to discover their gifts within the Kingdom of God. At Queen's, I contribute to a number of different parts of the Foundation: Anglican ministerial formation; Queen’s postgraduate centres such as the Centre for Black Theology and Queen’s partnerships with theological institutions in Rwanda and Sri Lanka; and also teaching curates in the Diocese of Lichfield. Besides these aspects of my academic life, I enjoy sports and fitness, and of course, salsa dancing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

Qualifications

BA Theology	2005	University of the West Indies
MA Theology	2009	University of Birmingham
PhD	2015	University of Gloucestershire

External roles and responsibilities

• Lambeth Research Degrees in Theology (LRDT) – Academic Board Member
• Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England (FAOC) – Member
• The United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) – Trustee
• Anglican Minority Ethnic Network (AMEN) - Member
• Living Ministry Project (The Church of England) – Adviser/Researcher
• Society for the Study of Theology (SST) – Member/Presenter (former Executive Committee Member)
• British and Irish Association of Practical Theology (BIAPT) – Member/Presenter
• Black Theology Forum/The Centre for Black Theology (The Queen’s Foundation) – Member/Presenter

Research interests and supervision areas

Practical Theology and Ministry; Contextual Theology and Intercultural Hermeneutics; Theologies in Global Perspectives; Caribbean Theology; Decolonisation and Postcolonial Perspectives in Theology; Black Theology, Racism, and UKME/GMH experiences in the Church of England; Indigenous and African Caribbean Traditional Religiosity.

Publications

Books

• Introduction to Caribbean Contextual Theology (SCM, Autumn 2023).
• Overcoming Self-Negation: Junkanoo and the Church in Contemporary Bahamian Society (Wipf and Stock, 2020)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Carlton Turner, “Give us Healing Balm: Decolonising Theology Through African Caribbean Eyes,” Crucible: The Journal of Social Ethics, April 2022, pp. 16 – 23.
• Carlton Turner, “Deepening the Postcolonial Theological Gaze: Frantz Fanon and the Psychopathology of Colonial Christianity,” Modern Believing, 63:3, August 2021.
• Carlton Turner, “Legacies and Chains: Structuring Shame in the African Caribbean,” ANVIL, 37:2, July 2021 https://churchmissionsociety.org/resources/legacies-and-chains-structuring-shame-in-the-african-carribean-carlton-turner-anvil-vol-37-issue-2/
• Carlton Turner, “Mediating the Sacred Between Junkanoo and the Church in Contemporary Bahamian Society” – Article for the special edition of the journal Cultural Studies entitled: Sacred Crossroads: Cultural Studies and the Sacred. Citation: Turner, Carlton J. 2019. Mediating the Sacred between Junkanoo and the Church in Contemporary Bahamian Society. Open Cultural Studies. 3(1): 85-95.
• Carlton Turner, “Black Identity Reconstruction and the Healing Work of Grace” – Article for the online journal Sacrum Testamentum: An International Journal. https://sacratestamentum.wixsite.com/sacrum-testamentum/volume-1-1
• Carlton Turner, “Taming the Spirit? Widening the Pneumatological Gaze within African Caribbean Theological Discourse,” Black Theology: An International Journal 13, no. 2 (2015): 5 - 30.
• Carlton Turner, “Self-Negation within African Caribbean Christianity,” Black Theology: An International Journal 11, no. 1 (2013): 126 - 146.

Book Chapters and Reviews

• Carlton Turner and Anna Kasafi Perkins, “Monotonous Rhythm on the Heart of God: Drumming, Theological Aesthetics, and Christianity in the Caribbean” in The T&T Clarke Companion to Theology and the Arts, eds Imogen Adkins and Stephen Garrett, Bloomsbury, 2022.
• Carlton Turner, “Politics of Change: Independence, Neo-Colonialism, and Race Politics” in Colourism, Classism and Racism in the Caribbean Context, eds Mikie Roberts and Nicole Ashwod, WCC Publication (2022).
• Carlton Turner, “Conceal to Reveal: Reflections on Sexual Violence and Theological Discourses in the African Caribbean” In When Did We See You Naked? Acknowledging Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse, eds Jayme Reaves, David Tombs and Rocio Figueroa (SCM, 2021).
• Carlton Turner, “Could You Be Loved? BAME Presence and the Witness of Diversity and Inclusion” in Bearing Witness in Hope: Christian Engagement in Challenging Times, eds, Cathy Ross and Humphrey Southern (SCM, 2020).
• Book Review: Vodou in the Haitian Experience: A Black Atlantic Perspective by Celucien L. Joseph, Nixon S. Cleophat, and Patrick Delices, eds, Black Theology, 15:2 (May 2017): DOI: 10.1080/14769948.2017.1326747
• Book Review: Broken Bodies: The Eucharist, Mary, and the Body in Trauma Theology, by Karen O Donnell, Crucible: Journal of Christian Social Ethics (July 2019): https://crucible.hymnsam.co.uk...
• Book Review: One Grand Noise: Boxing Day in the Anglicised Caribbean World by Jerrilyn McGregory (2022). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.

Research Projects

• ‘If It Wasn’t for God’: A Report on the Wellbeing of Global Majority Heritage Clergy in the Church of England, Dr Selina Stone, Living Ministry: Qualitative Research of Global Majority Heritage/UK Minority Ethnic Clergy in the CofE, Dr Carlton Turner and Tamanda Walker, consultants, September, 2022.
• “Action Research into ministry in Urban Priority Contexts within the Church of England”, by the Estates Theology Group. Published as the forthcoming Finding the Treasure: Good News From the Estates, SPCK, 2022.
• “Responding to God: Christian Perspectives on Vocations and Calling”, Ian Jones and Carlton Turner, The Saltley Trust Learning Series 5, 2021. Responding to God is a research project seeking to understand the ways in which members of Anglican congregations, particularly GMH/UKME, understand questions of calling and vocation.