About Turbulent Books

Turbulent Books has been set up to make the books of David Rhodes increasingly available to a popular audience. Full of stories brimming with laughter, and sometimes with pain, the books do not come from the comfort zone of the institutional Church but from the streets of our own towns and cities, where David Rhodes has worked alongside homeless people for a number of years.

The books spring from the discovery that the Lord is to be encountered among those we look down on as being the poor and the worthless, and that it is these little people who reveal to us the meaning and the reality of God’s love. David Rhodes calls this exciting discovery ‘the priesthood of the poor’.

Turbulent Books helps us discover the spiritual meaning of social justice and challenges us to go deeper in our adventure with God. This turbulent ‘magnificat’ process not only honours the poor and excluded but also offers the reader a vital opportunity to discover the meaning and purpose of their own lives. All books are post-free, and whenever possible are offered at a discount of up to 35%.

The Turbulent Books titles have been described as ‘simple but profound’ in that they are refreshingly easy to read, but at the same time challenge us to explore some of the most important issues facing society today. They appeal to Christians, ex-Christians, Christians who are fed up with the Church – and people who wouldn't be seen dead in a church.

One vicar confessed he refused to encourage his congregation to read David Rhodes’ books on the grounds that he didn’t want everyone to know where he got his sermon ideas. As a punishment he was included in one of the later books - after which he started telling everyone how good they were!

Meanwhile other clergy are using them for Bible study, prayer groups, confirmation groups – and to give to newcomers to church. Much of the encouragement to write the books has come from Jane and Sue – two inspiring and committed atheists.

David Rhodes

He can smile about it now, but when David Rhodes started working alongside homeless people he was in for a rude awakening! Confident he knew what his task was, he set about caring for 'the poor' and trying to tell them about God. Several weeks later the Lord gently pulled the rug from under his feet. It was his homeless friends who were revealing the love of God to him. "Suddenly, for the first time, I began to understand the Gospel", he says.

David Rhodes began life as a journalist, working in the hard-bitten world of national newspapers. Then he discovered the biggest story of them all. Despite his unease with the institutional Church, he was ordained in 1972. But he has never quite stopped being a journalist and his passion to investigate the ‘big story’ of God has led him into some strange encounters, as his books reveal. He has spent most of his life in the parish ministry, but it is his work with street people that set his heart on fire - and brought him public recognition.

In 1994 he joined the ecumenical project Faith in Leeds with the task of helping churches to engage with social-justice issues in the city. As part of that work he began running his innovative ‘retreats on the streets’ to help Christians make the vital connection between their faith and social justice. This led to a number of TV appearances, including presenting the BBC TV Good Friday programme Passion in the City. He has done communications work for the Church Urban Fund, which he describes as the best thing to come out of the Church of England in the last 50 years. He was formerly Chaplain Missioner of The Children’s Society and is now a freelance writer and conference speaker. His books, two of them best-sellers, have all been published by SPCK.