Safeguarding Authority Drops Case Against School Chaplain Fired for Questioning LGBT Ideology

Rev. Bernard Randall in an undated file photo. Courtesy of Christian Concern

The Disclosure and Barring Service will not take action against a Christian chaplain who was forced out of his job at a school for giving a sermon defending the right to question LGBT ideology, according to religious discrimination lawyers.

In 2019, Bernard Randall was disciplined and lost his job as a chaplain at the fee-paying Church of England (CofE) school Trent College after preaching a sermon that presented the Christian viewpoint on gender identity and LGBT ideology.

The school reported him to safeguarding, teaching authorities and to the government’s counter-terrorism watchdog Prevent, after he raised concerns at the school about an external LGBT group, Educate and Celebrate, that had encouraged school staff to chant “smash heteronormativity” at a training session.

On Thursday, the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the chaplain, said that the department ensures that safeguarding is carried out correctly, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), confirmed that no action needs to be taken against Mr Randall.

Such action could have seen him banned from working with children altogether, and even working as a vicar.

‘Allegiance to the Church’s Own Teaching Is a Safeguarding Risk Factor’

“The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has just confirmed that it will not take action against Bernard,” said Christian Concern and Christian Legal Centre Chief Executive Andrea Williams.

“Now, Prevent (the government’s anti-terrorist watchdog), the Teaching Regulation Agency, the local safeguarding officer and the DBS have all said that no action needs to be taken against Bernard,” she added.

“Only the Church of England itself continues to investigate Bernard, ludicrously saying that Bernard’s allegiance to the Church’s own teaching is a safeguarding risk factor,” she said.

She added that his “case goes right to the heart of how LGBTQ ideology has spread through the Church and schools, causing untold harm to children across the country.”

‘Between That Gentle Wokeness of Britain and Extreme Communism’

Mr. Randall previously told The Epoch Times that his experience made him think the UK is gripped in a “soft totalitarianism” of sorts.

He is also currently taking Trent College’s headmaster in Derbyshire to court for victimisation, continued harassment, and discrimination on the grounds of his Christian beliefs.

“Part of my job as a Christian minister is to stand up on truth and that’s the truth not only from myself, a Christian belief, but also the right of everybody to hold their own views and discuss things openly,” he said.

“What’s happened with my case is right on the extreme end of what can happen in our society at the moment. Most people think it’s been extreme what’s happened to me, and yet it’s not so very far from what’s happening at a low level elsewhere in Britain,” he said.

“I’m sort of halfway between that gentle wokeness of Britain and the extreme communism of the Soviet Union,” he said.

“The direction of travel is toward that sort of totalitarian authoritarian ideal. At the moment, it’s soft totalitarianism,” he added.

“But unless we stand up and push back, it will become more strict, harder totalitarianism,” he added.

‘Educate and Celebrate’

Ms. Williams noted that national LGBT+ programme Educate and Celebrate is now shut down as a charity.

It’s currently being dissolved by the Charity Commission, and the official website is down.

According to a report by Conservative think tank New Social Covenant, Educate & Celebrate, headed by Elly Barnes, had its foundation as “a training arm” of Schools OUT UK, which included members of the Socialist Workers Party in the 2000s and also forged links with the teaching unions as it built its influence over the sector.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman told The Epoch Times by email that on Jan. 3, the trustees of Educate and Celebrate submitted a dissolution form to the Commission with a declaration that the charity “had fulfilled its purpose and had applied all of its remaining funds in furtherance of its objects.”

It is not known why the charity has closed.

The Epoch Times contacted Educate & Celebrate for comment.

The Epoch Times contacted Diocese of Derby and Trent College for comment.