Get to know the guy they call “bob.”

Robert S. (bob) Turner currently serves as the pastor of Community United Church of Christ in Reading, Pennsylvania. An ordained minister since 1996, Turner has served in a wide array of capacities in the church, including youth minister, campus minister, associate pastor, interim pastor, and senior pastor. He has also worked as a human rights lobbyist in Washington, DC, and in an interfaith capacity with Muslims Against Hunger in north-central New Jersey.

Turner is the author of the novel A Rope for Judas, published in 2019 by Resource Publications, and the book Our Father Who Aren't in Heaven: Subversive Reflections on the Lord's Prayer, published by Wipf and Stock in 2015. He also maintains a blog, The Hopeful Curmudgeon.

A native of Illinois, Turner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Southern Illinois University, a Master of Divinity in Christian Education from a seminary that will remain nameless, and a Master of Public Administration from West Virginia University. He has lived and/or practiced ministry in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and now Pennsylvania. He lives in Reading with his wife Sarah, a visual artist. His two adult daughters live in Illinois and Pennsylvania. Turner is also the proud grandpa of Jonathan.