A chaplain who was blacklisted and banned from officiating in the Church of England after he was reported to a government terrorist watchdog for preaching traditional Christian views on sexual ethics during a chapel service, says he will appeal an employment tribunal’s ruling issued earlier this week.
The case involves the Rev. Bernard Randall, 50, who was denied permission by the Bishop of Derby, the Rt. Rev. Libby Lane, to work as a minister following his dismissal by Trent College in Nottingham in August 2019, labeling him a “moderate risk to children” and vulnerable adults because of his Christian sexual ethics.
East Midlands Employment Tribunal was to decide whether the actions of Lane, the Church of England Bishop who blacklisted Randall, fall within the remit of an employment tribunal. The U.K.-based group Christian Concern, whose legal arm the Christian Legal Centre is supporting the chaplain’s case, said the tribunal ruled against him earlier this week.
After a legal hearing at East Midlands Employment Tribunal in September 2022, Employment Judge Victoria Butler ruled against Randall, Christian Concern said, explaining that as per a common practice observed in cases concerning Christian freedoms, Butler utilized the Church of England’s “Valuing All God’s Children” school guidance to counter Randall’s position.
In a past sermon at Trent College, after students asked him to address a new LGBT-inclusive policy, Randall questioned the legitimacy of the curriculum and said students should be allowed to counter the curriculum and convey conservative views on sexual ethics.
The diocese did not specify what the allegations against him were, and no evidence has ever been disclosed showing that he has done anything wrong or behaved inappropriately toward anyone, Christian Concern has said.
The teaching material from the “Educate and Celebrate” curriculum had been adopted by the college after a visit by Elly Barnes, founder of Educate & Celebrate, an LGBT education charity. The material aims to “equip … communities with the knowledge, skills and confidence to embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric of your organization.”
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