The following Statement from the Wycliffe Hall Council was published on Wednesday.
Staff and students at Wycliffe were told last week that Principal Richard Turnbull is to take a leave of absence from the Hall. The Council wishes to make it clear that the Principal has not been dismissed. The Council and Richard are now in ongoing discussions over his future role at Wycliffe, with Vice-Principal Simon Vibert assuming the position of Acting Principal. We have every confidence in Simon, and in the rest of the staff, to ensure continuity and the efficient functioning of the Hall during this time.
The outcome of the discussions with Richard will be communicated to staff and students in due course. However, our overriding priority is to ensure Wycliffe remains unequivocally committed to equipping men and women as leaders, preachers, church planters and evangelists in the mission of proclaiming and living the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a deeply biblical understanding of the nature of the Kingdom of God.
George Conger published Wycliffe Hall principal out at Anglican Ink.
…Dr. Turnbull’s leave of absence came as a surprise to many outside observers as the college appeared to have recovered from its difficulties. However, an insider who asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the council said the departure of Dr. Turnbull centered round issues of trust and management…
Gavin Drake published Principal on ‘leave of absence’ after more redundancies in the Church Times.
..Dr Turnbull has not been available for comment since the weekend. He had been expected to lead a parish mission last weekend in Oughtibridge, near Sheffield, but pulled out at the last minute.
On the Virtue Online blog, the Revd Julian Mann wrote: “He withdrew from that on Friday, the day of his planned arrival, strongly indicating that from his perspective his departure was sudden. The explanation given to me as the minister of the parish on Friday morning for Dr Turnbull’s withdrawal from the mission was that he was on sick leave.”
He described Dr Turnbull’s departure as “a massive loss for UK Anglican Evangelicals”.
The college’s latest annual accounts, to June 2011, were lodged with the Charity Commission last month. They reveal that it would have made a deficit on its unrestricted funds of £149,080 had it not made £2.3 million from the sale of property…
Very sad for him.
Can this Hall survive with such a deficit?
Apparently Turnbull’s crows are coming home to roost. Incidentally, the photograph illustrating the Conger piece shows Turnbull addressing the John Jay Institute. Seems he is on the right-wing “think tank’s” Advisory Council, where he is listed immediately below Kenneth Starr, the guy who hounded Bill Clinton as special prosecutor in the Lewinsky business – http://www.johnjayinstitute.org/about-us/advisory-council/). Interesting connection.
Incidentally, Dr Turnbull’s address to the Jay Institute last September made a point of which the American Right could well take note – http://www.johnjayinstitute.org/resources/events/compassion-and-conservatism-lord-shaftesbury-as-a-model-for-faith-and-polit/
Did he jump or was he pushed? Rev Vibert is of the same ilk, if not more hardline than the Principal, is he not?
re Mad Rabbit – was that the Starr Chamber and the Slippery Eel?
Peter Ould on Anglicans Unscripted seems to think the move was preciitated by the fact that Wycliffe has only 7 ordinands coming up in October…all men. Any comments?