Fired after sermon on sexuality, UK chaplain goes to court

Lawyers for the Rev. Bernard Randall applied for a judicial review of his firing, the Christian Legal Centre said Tuesday. Trent College, a boarding school, fired Randall in 2020 and reported him to a government counter-terrorism agency after Randall taught in accordance with the Church of England’s theology of sex and marriage, his lawyers said.

Randall said in a 2018 sermon that students should debate and question mainstream secular teachings about gender ideology. The Bishop of Derby refused to renew Randall’s ministry license after he was dismissed from the school. The chaplain filed a complaint of misconduct against the bishop which was denied by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2022.

What exactly led to him losing his job? Randall pushed back against school staff over their plans to implement a pro-LGBTQ program created by the group Educate & Celebrate. The charity claims to work with schools to reduce so-called homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. In his sermon, Randall reiterated the church’s teachings on gender and sexuality but encouraged students to show love and respect to people with differing views. The school fired him but reinstated his position after an appeal under a list of 20 conditions including submitting sermons in advance and not discussing topics that could offend anyone. The school ultimately ended his employment in 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason he was redundant, he wrote in an article on Premier Christianity.

How have authorities responded? The government counter-terrorism watchdog group, local authorities, the Teaching Regulation Agency, and the Disclosure and Barring Service said they would not take action against Randall. He and his team in February this year began an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal after an earlier tribunal upheld the school’s decision and dismissed his claims of discrimination.

How has the Church of England responded? The Diocese of Derby in 2019 launched a safeguarding investigation into Randall, and in 2021 the safeguarding team recommended that his license to officiate should not be renewed. Randall in 2022 filed a complaint of misconduct against the Bishop of Derby, the Rev. Libby Lane. Later that year, the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to begin a formal investigation to review his complaint. In June 2023, lawyer Gregory Jones KC reviewed the case on behalf of the Church’s disciplinary body and determined that the diocese lacked evidence for its position, according to the Christian Legal Centre. He also said the Archbishop was wrong to dismiss the complaint.

Dig deeper: Read Carl R. Trueman’s opinion piece about how the Church of England is loosening its theology on sex.