La Plata A.M.E. Church

James Conrad Turner, Jr. was born in Clinton, Maryland to James, Sr. and Theressa Turner. In 2008, he graduated from Lynchburg College (now University of Lynchburg) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2010. He is a 2018 graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary located in Washington, D.C., where he was awarded a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in African American Church Studies. While studying at Wesley Theological Seminary, he served as an Urban Fellow from 2015-2018 and was also elected as the student body president during the 2017-2018 academic year.

James Turner Jr. was called to preach at an early age while attending his childhood church, Ebenezer A.M.E Church in Ft. Washington, Maryland. Under the tutelage of his pastors, Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning, Jr. and Rev. Dr. JoAnn Browning of Ebenezer AME, he served as an assistant minister with the Men’s Ministry. In this capacity, he primarily worked with the young adult men and assisted with the planning and execution of the Men’s Season and annual Men’s Conference. James obtained his License to Preach in December of 2017 and preached his initial sermon entitled, “Young, Gifted, and Black” in 2018.

James has had the opportunity to travel to Liberia on a two-week immersion through Wesley Theological Seminary as well as attend the Faith and Politics Civil Rights Pilgrimage in 2017 with the Honorable Representative John Lewis. In 2016 and 2017, he attended the Forum for Theological Exploration conference in Atlanta, Georgia as a member of the Young Adult cohort. He is married to Chelsea Turner and currently resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.