Former Church of England school chaplain Bernard Randall has settled his long-running legal dispute over a sermon delivered at a private school. An independent Church safeguarding review has concluded there are no ongoing safeguarding concerns relating to him.
Randall, 53, became the subject of a high-profile legal battle after preaching at Trent College in Derbyshire in 2019, in which he encouraged pupils to question gender identity teaching following a visit by the campaign group Educate and Celebrate.
He was subsequently reported to the Government's anti-extremism Prevent programme, later left the school, and was refused Permission to Officiate by the Diocese of Derby, while a Church of England safeguarding process remained unresolved.
The Christian Legal Centre, which has represented Randall throughout the case, said the independent review commissioned by the Church has now found that allegations arising from the sermon were "unsubstantiated".
The review by an independent investigator for the Diocese of London concluded: "After full consideration and review of the available information I cannot establish, on the balance of probabilities, that harm was caused by the delivery of the sermons. This allegation is therefore unsubstantiated."
It also stated: "My recommendation to the [Safeguarding Case Management Group] in this matter involving Dr Randall is that the investigation finds the concern or allegation was unsubstantiated, and there are no ongoing safeguarding concerns."
According to the Christian Legal Centre, Randall has completed the Church of England's mandatory safeguarding training. He is now eligible to apply for Permission to Officiate, although any decision on granting a licence rests with the Diocese of Derby.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal later ruled that the original Employment Tribunal judgment was "unsafe" and ordered the case to be reheard. Trent College was ordered to pay £20,000 in costs before the parties reached a confidential settlement.
Responding to the outcome, Randall said: "Seven years have been taken from me for doing my duty as a CofE chaplain in a school with a CofE ethos. I encouraged pupils to think, to debate, and to love their neighbours whatever they believed. No minister, teacher or chaplain should be punished for upholding Christian teaching in a Christian setting."
He added: "I am relieved that this legal ordeal has finally reached a settlement, but nothing can restore the years that have been taken from me. I was reported to Prevent, treated as a safeguarding risk, and shut out of ministry for preaching a sermon rooted in CofE doctrine."
He concluded: “It is time for the Church and our institutions to recognise what has happened to me and to ensure it never happens again.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “Bernard Randall has endured one of the most extraordinary and disturbing cases we have ever supported. It has always been and still is a huge scandal. Secular bodies repeatedly vindicated him, but the Church of England, the institution that should have supported him the most, repeatedly failed him.
“What he has been through would have finished a weaker man, but Bernard has stood and stood again and again for his beliefs and the pursuit of justice.
“Bernard Randall cares deeply and passionately about the Church of England. Many would have understandably walked away from it after how he was treated. Bernard has not and this courage has been immense.
“Bernard now deserves a future in the Church he has served so faithfully. Few clergy are better placed to understand the urgent need for reform, both in how the Church of England upholds and applies its own teaching in schools and places of worship, and in how its safeguarding processes are used and must not be abused."
Premier Christian News has reached out to the Diocese of Derby for comment.
