School chaplain fired, reported as terrorist risk after answering question on Biblical view of LGBT

'As an ordained minister, it was my duty'

Reverend Dr. Bernard Randall is a Church of England (CofE) minister. Until recently, he was also a chaplain in a school founded “in accordance with the principles of the Church of England”—until he was dismissed for preaching Church of England doctrine.

The story begins a few years ago when, following alleged “homophobic” comments made at the school, its administration invited the Educate and Celebrate (E&C) LGBT charity to address homophobia, transphobia, and so forth. E&C, which has since closed down amid scandal, had an unabashed policy of pushing material encouraging children as young as three to “question their gender” and advocated for books containing explicit material to be read to children from kindergarten age up. 

After their presentation, one student approached Dr. Randall, confused as to why the school was promoting anti-Christian beliefs.

[H]ow come we are told we have to accept all this LGBT stuff in a Christian school?

Dr. Randall resolved to give a sermon on the subject, reasoning that,

as an ordained CofE minister working as a chaplain in a school with a CofE ethos, it was my duty to encourage debate and help children who were confused by the LGBT teaching to know that there are alternative views and beliefs on these contentious issues.

Are students entitled to think’?

Randall's first sermon was given (in the school chapel) to younger students between the ages of 11 and 13; the second sermon was for older students up to the age of 16. Before delivering these sermons, he gave the written text to a senior theologian in the Church of England who confirmed that the content was fully in line with the Church's positions.

Determined to do his duty, Randall went ahead with the sermons, using extremely cautious language to endorse the Biblical view of marriage and encourage students to feel comfortable deciding for themselves what makes sense with regard to the differences between the sexes:

 [It is] perfectly legitimate to think that marriage should only properly be understood as being a lifelong exclusive union of a man and a woman…

[Students are] entitled to think, if it makes more sense to you, that human beings are indeed male and female, that your sex can’t be changed, that although the two sexes have most things in common, there are some real, biologically based, differences between them overall.

Bible teachings ‘inflammatory’

Shortly afterward, Dr. Randall discovered that around 90 students had signed a “gender equality petition” which they presented to the school’s principal. One student, in ninth grade, had even written that following the sermon, “the impact of his words made me feel physically sick.”

One religious studies teacher in the school wrote to Dr. Randall claiming to have wept for students who attended his sermons:

I finally cried for the students who sat through your Chapel on this topic feeling nervous, uncomfortable, upset, and left with the impression that they are hated by God, and hated by the Christian community.

Several parents weighed in as well, criticizing Randall and suggesting better uses of his time:

Perhaps … [Dr. Randall] could choose to dedicate his time to teaching the message of tolerance and forgiveness … and remember that he is preaching to children who are already struggling to make sense of the world … [Instead] he is purposely choosing to teach in such an inflammatory way despite the possibility of upsetting many of the children…

Reported as a terrorist risk

The school’s administration then concluded that Dr. Randall “could not be trusted” in his role of chaplain, with the principal stating that his actions amounted to “gross misconduct.” He was also reported to a terrorist watchdog organization as a “potential risk.” 

Although the school’s Board of Governors overturned a decision to dismiss him, Dr. Randall was subsequently given a list of conditions to comply with in future sermons, which included a ban on broaching “any topic or express[ing] any opinion (in Chapel or more generally around school) that is likely to cause offence or distress to members of the school body.” He was also warned that he was not to “publicly express personal beliefs in ways which exploit our pupils’ vulnerability.”

Shortly afterward, the COVID lockdowns began, following which Dr. Randall was made redundant.

Are Church of England principles really undefined?

Dr. Randall was also blacklisted by the Church of England’s Derby Diocese safeguarding team as a “risk to children” for delivering the sermons. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has yet to comment publicly on the case.

Dr. Randall has since been cleared of being a potential risk by the U.K. Teaching Regulation Authority, but his appeal to the Employment Tribunal upheld many of the findings against him.

One complaint was that “the Claimant looked to Canon Law for guidance.”

The tribunal also noted that while the school’s founding guidelines include the “education of boys and girls … in accordance with the Protestant and Evangelical principles of the Church of England,” the guidelines “do not define what these principles are.”

According to the school’s deputy principal, Dr. Randall’s view of Church doctrine is “out of sync with the school’s ethos,” and his sermon was “dressed up to hide a damaging underlying message.”

The tribunal concluded that this underlying message was that homosexuals are sinners:

… the majority of Christians believed that homosexuality is sinful unless homosexuals remain celibate.

What of the Bible?

The tribunal did not explain how Randall's beliefs were less in line with the Bible than those of the LGBT group encouraging children as young as three to “question their gender.” 

Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his woman/wife … (Genesis 2:24).

You shall not lie down with a male, as with a woman: this is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22).

‘We are dealing with bigots’

Ahead of the hearing, Dr. Randall stated how appalled he was at the underlying assumption that Church beliefs are dangerous whereas E&C's anti-Christian agenda is not: 

I was and am aghast at how the courts have painted me and my Christian beliefs as the problem when it has now so clearly been exposed that E&C has been the danger to children...

My case concerns everybody. The gender identity and Queer Theory agenda sowing deep seeds of confusion in young children is now embedded in our schools...

Randall also pointed out the irony of his opponents' lack of tolerance:

If people are complaining that they don’t share the beliefs that I talk about then we are dealing with prejudice and bigots.

Randall proven right?

Randall, in his statement to the Employment Tribunal, noted the “Marxist roots” of the identity politics employed by the LGBTQ movement:

Identity politics has profound Marxist roots (seen in focus on oppressed classes, and the revolutionary overthrow of existing structures); it is, therefore, an atheist foundation.

In firing Randall for refusing to go along with identity politics, the powers-that-be may have unwittingly proven Randall right.