Reverend Bernard Randall has been banned from preaching sermons after speaking on the Christian perspective of LGBT issues at a CofE school. He is taking the headmaster of Trent College to court, accusing him of victimization, continued harassment, and discrimination based on his Christian beliefs.
In 2019, Mr. Randall was disciplined and lost his job as a chaplain at Trent College after presenting a sermon that raised concerns about a training session where school staff were encouraged to chant “smash heteronormativity.” He was also reported to the Prevent, the government’s counter-terrorism watchdog. Mr. Randall took the school to an employment tribunal, but lost and is now appealing the ruling.
The Christian Legal Centre alleges that Mr. Penty, the headteacher of Trent College, made a malicious referral to the Teaching Regulation Authority, as well as referred Mr. Randall to the Disclosure and Barring Service. Mr. Randall has also been blacklisted by the Church of England and prevented from giving a public sermon since 2020.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, criticizes the situation and states, “If Bernard Randall is deemed not fit to work with children by the Church of England and school authorities, then none of us are safe. To throw him out of the vocation he loves, report him to the local authority for safeguarding and stop him working with children, is to wreck his life. He has not been allowed to preach a sermon for over four years. There’s nothing good or kind about this.” The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department for Education and the Diocese of Derby for comment.