Karen Turner Methodist Chaplain
Available for all students, supported by the Methodist church.
Contact details
Role
Karen has a background in languages, teaching and youth work. Originally from California, Karen has lived in Slovakia, and different parts of the UK, and is seeking ways to live out her Christian faith in a whole-hearted, whole-life way in this new context in Bath.
She likes reading and talking about books and films and is happy to meet up for a coffee or tea to chat about life, faith or anything at all. You’ll find her in the Chaplaincy Centre on Tuesday lunchtimes and afternoons.
Karen's interests are the charity lunch, volunteering, networking between student groups, links with Bath Spa, and links between the campus and city.
Career
One of the most life-changing periods of Karen's life was when she left California to join an intentional Christian community in Suffolk in her early 20s. She had just finished an English and Spanish degree and thought of it as a short-term adventure, rather than a trajectory-changing experience.
Although Karen grew up as part of a Christian family and church, her imagination had not yet caught fire with all the myriad ways that a person could live out Christian faith. The experience of living in community with Orthodox, Catholic, Quaker and Anglican Christians from different parts of the world completely expanded her outlook and imagination as well as her own identity as a believer.
That journey led her to study Theology and work as an English teacher and a youth worker, but what has remained has been a deep appreciation of seeing God at work in others and a love of the diversity of God’s family. The pilgrimage of a life walking with God hasn’t always been easy, but the new vistas and company on the way have been amazing.
Karen is married to Philip and they try, in their own way, to live out a community of prayer and hospitality with their two boys, looking forward to wherever the road takes them next.