Gentle Spirit Christian Church

Senior Pastor

A native mid-westerner who was raised in the United Methodist Church, Paul Turner felt, even as a young child, a call to pastoral ministry. He majored in Theology and minored in Psychology at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. He left prior to graduation when the nature of his sexual orientation became clear to him and church officials informed him that he would never be ordained within the United Methodist Church. After being out of the church for six years, Turner discovered the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Church in June of 1982. He received a certificate in "Crisis Intervention" from the Council of Christian Communions of Cincinnati in 1983; served on the Crisis Intervention Team and as a Chaplain for the city jail, was licensed as a clergyperson in the UFMCC in 1986, and ordained in 1989.

Rev. Turner's first church was in Toledo, Ohio where he took a church of 14 and built it into a congregation of 120 during his 6-year pastorate. He founded the N.O.V.A. Project (No One's Victory Alone), which provided direct services, referral and a buddy system for those affected by HIV. He also served as the President of the Board of Trustees of F.O.C.U.S. (Family Outreach Churches United in Service), an interdenominational organization made up of 15 churches, which provided food, clothing, and shelter services to the poor and the homeless. In addition this group he oversaw a Transitional Housing program that provided shelter to six families at a time.

In late 1993, Rev. Turner was called to Pastor All Saints MCC in Atlanta, Georgia, a position he held for nearly a year. In the early part of 1995, he was called by and became the Senior Pastor of Abundant Grace Community Church of Atlanta, an independent Christian church with a mission, "to bring the message of redemption and grace to those people who have been victims of oppression, rejection and misinformation and to assure them they are true heirs in the realm of God."

In the spring of 1998, Rev. Turner founded Gentle Spirit Christian Church of Atlanta, Inc. of which he is the Senior Pastor.

Rev. Turner has been in Atlanta since January 1, 1994 and has been at the forefront of leadership and activism for the gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered community. Upon his arrival in Atlanta he immediately got involved with the "Olympics Out of Cobb" movement, speaking at rallies and marches. He has and continues to work with several community organizations including but not limited to: Atlanta Interfaith AIDS Network, Georgia Equality Project, Atlanta Gay Chamber of Commerce, Hotlanta Softball, Monday's Myth Bowling, Faith Issues Community Committee. He also coached an openly gay hockey team on a straight league and works with the Stonewall Democrats.

Rev. Turner served as the President of InTown Community Assistance for 5 years. This is a multi-church ministry that works with the homeless and jobless and he continues to serve on their Board of Directors. Rev. Turner serves as the Corporate Vice-President for a webzine for GLBTQ Christians called Whosoever. For which he also writes a column for the webzine called "Seeds of Hope."

Rev. Turner worked as an advisor to an outreach in Rockdale and Newton County called the Zaccheaus Society founded by a married Priest, Father Jack McBride. Currently he serves as President of the Board of Directors and is an enthusiastic member of Trans=Action – an education and advocacy group for the transgender community. In addition he has been invited and serves as the co-chair on a working steering committee called the "Rainbow Brigade" of the National Mental Health Association of Georgia, which serves to identify and advocate for the mental health needs of the GLBTQ community.

Paul and Bill (His partner) are celebrating their 25th anniversary in June 2007. They own a home in South East Atlanta and their family includes 2 labs-Sara and Coco NoNo, and a Macaw named Jimmy.