He prepared for ordained ministry at Cranmer Hall and St John's College, University of Durham, graduating with a Diploma in Theology.
He was active in the House of Lords as the lead bishop on constitutional affairs and was prominent in the movement towards regional government in the North East.
[3] In 2003, he was appointed CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2003 for services to the North East and to the Church of England.
He was paid a salary of £23,610 a year; he received free accommodation in Auckland Castle; and he was given a Vauxhall Carlton plus chauffeur.
[3] However, an online magazine reported that Turnbull had presided "over the most catastrophic decline in Church membership and attendance in Durham diocese's modern history while its finances are correspondingly parlous.
[4] In his 1994 speech in Church House, Westminster just before his enthronement as bishop of the Diocese of Durham Turnbull was asked what his policy regarding gay clergy would be.
"[8] Despite his speaking out against openly homosexual clergy, in 1994 the News of the World reported that the bishop had been convicted of an act of gross indecency with a Yorkshire farmer.
On 13 September at Hull magistrates' court, Turnbull, who at the time was chaplain to the Archbishop of York, pleaded guilty and was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £6 6/- (£6.30).
He told the congregation that he had been "through a private and now public process of repentance", and that he was "deeply sorry" that friends had to share in the consequences of his past.
Furthermore, he added, "to be honest, I'm disappointed that three years after the document 'Issues in Human Sexuality' [referring to the 1991 report by the House of Bishops], we haven't got further down the line in exploring this on a wide basis within the church."
Asked whether, in view of his experience, a double standard existed within the church concerning clergy dismissed after a similar conviction, Turnbull said he thought it was unfair to compare a situation where a person's ministry had been rebuilt with cases in which the details are unknown.
"I could, but I won't, name clergy who are in exactly the same position as me and who have had their ministries rebuilt after some kind of misdemeanour which was untypical, out of character, or who in fact needed help," he said.
"[10][14] During the December 1995 Church of England Synod, Turnbull, reporting on the work of the commission, proposed a National Council with broad executive powers under the leadership of the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
[16] The only reform executed was that he Archbishops' Council was established in 1999 "to co-ordinate, promote, aid and further the mission of the Church of England.