Rev. Paul M. Turner
Founding and Senior Pastor
A proud Decatur resident and devoted husband to Bill, who he legally married in 2015 and with whom he has been lovingly partnered since 1982. Their family includes Rowdy, a border collie. A Chicago native who was licensed in the Metropolitan Community Church in 1986 and ordained in 1989, Pastor Paul was called to Atlanta to pastor All Saints MCC in 1993, then Abundant Grace Community Church in 1995. In 1998 he co-founded Gentle Spirit Christian Church.
01. Full biography
A native midwesterner who was raised in the United Methodist Church, Paul felt, even as a young child, a call to pastoral ministry.
02. Pastor’s blog
Pastor Paul has been blogging since 2007 on issues of justice, human rights and theology.
03. Interview with Pastor Paul
Paul discusses his longtime ministry to LGBTQ+ people and others who have been neglected and turned away from the traditional church.
A community pastor
Whose ministry includes advocacy for the overlooked and downtrodden: The unhoused, veterans and seniors.
An LGBTQ+ advocate
An unwavering ministry born in the earliest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and continuing through the fight for marriage equality to today’s struggle for transgender equality.
An activist
Since the “Olympics Out of Cobb” movement in 1994, Pastor Paul has been at the forefront of activism on behalf of those who struggle to be heard.
An online voice
Editor-in-chief of Whosoever, the website founded in 1996 to advocate for the right of LGBTQ+ Christians to have a place in the church.
Get in touch
Contact the church office to schedule a meeting with Pastor Paul.