Ebenezer Baptist Church

Our honoree is a native of Southampton County, Virginia and a product of its public schools. He continued his education at the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and a Master of Education in Counselor Education. He also earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology of Vi... rginia Union University. The Virginia University of Lynchburg bestowed the Doctor of Divinity upon him in 1999 after his five-year stint there as an adjunct professor. Pastor Turner has served the following pastorates: Mount Paran Church in Elkton(1980-1985); Mount Marine Church in Fishersville(1982 1987); Ebenezer Church in Staunton(1985-1999) and Beulah Church in Stuarts Draft(2002 2006). He also served as the full-time chaplain of Sussex I State Prison in Waverly from 1999 to 2001. His professional career in counseling has included employment at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center; Staunton Correctional Center; and Harrisonburg Workforce Center. He retired from Valley Community Services Board as the Judicial Liaison and an Emergency Services Clinician in May, 2014. He returned to Ebenezer Church in Staunton on January 1, 2007 as the interim pastor and subsequently was installed as senior pastor on June 15, 2008. He was licensed to preach at Rising Star Baptist Church in Branchville on December 5, 1976 and was subsequently ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Charlottesville under the pastorate of the late Dr. Elisha George Hall on December 7, 1980 . He has served the community as a board member of Staunton Public Library, the United Way, and the Staunton Branch, NAACP. He is affiliated with the Ministers Alliance of Waynesboro, Staunton, and Augusta County; the Hampton Ministers Conference; and the Ministers, Deacons, Stewards and Laymens Union of Virginia and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. He joyfully taught a number of ministers as the coordinator of the Staunton-Waynesboro Extension of the Evans-Smith Church Leadership Institute co-sponsored by ...Read More