From Exeter to New York

St Thomas Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which vies with Trinity Church on Wall Street for the title of wealthiest parish in the Anglican Communion, has appointed an English priest, Canon Carl Turner, the Precentor of Exeter Cathedral as its next Rector. Canon Turner grew up in Hull and studied at St Chad’s College, Durham, where he came to know Archbishop Michael Ramsey. He trained at St Stephen’s House but, encouraged by Ramsey, he spent two years at All Saints’ Cathedral, Milwaukee with a link to Nashotah House seminar y. A previous Rector of St Thomas, John Andrew, was a chaplain of Ramsey. He became noted as a preacher during his period at the church from 1972 to 1996. Under Andrew and his successor, Fr Andrew Mead, St Thomas’ has been firmly in the traditionalist camp. It has a superb boys’ choir and a strong musical tradition. Turner will be at home in a parish that emphasises high musical standards. He plays the French horn and was responsible for worship and music at Exeter Cathedral. He and his wife, Alison, may take a little time to get used to sidesmen in morning dress but there is much at St Thomas’ to make him feel at home, not least the memorial to the British victims of 9/11 which bears the words of the Queen’s message to the memorial service attended by Tony Blair: ‘Grief is the price we pay for love’.