“A Risk to Children”: The Church of England’s Silencing of Rev Dr Bernard Randall
Six years after preaching a sermon defending the Church of England’s own teachings on marriage and tolerance, Rev Dr Bernard Randall remains barred from public ministry. Despite being cleared by every statutory authority to which he was referred, Dr Randall is still classified by the Diocese of Derby as “a safeguarding risk”—not for any act of abuse or misconduct, but for preaching a sermon that reflected Christian orthodoxy.
This case, now widely cited as emblematic of the collapse of ecclesial integrity and the weaponisation of safeguarding procedures, continues to expose the contradictions at the heart of the contemporary Church of England.
A Sermon in Defence of Doctrine
In 2019, Dr Randall served as chaplain at Trent College, a Church of England-affiliated independent school in Derbyshire. During that year, the school invited Educate & Celebrate (E&C), an LGBT training organisation, to conduct inclusivity sessions for staff. E&C encouraged teachers to chant “smash heteronormativity”—a phrase whose ideological weight was never contextualised within the school’s Christian identity¹.
Following these sessions, a concerned pupil asked Dr Randall why, in a Christian school, students were being required to embrace ideas contrary to traditional Christian doctrine. In response, Dr Randall delivered a chapel sermon affirming that while all people should be treated with dignity, students were not obligated to accept LGBT ideology uncritically. “You should no more be told you have to accept LGBT ideology than you should be told you must be in favour of Brexit, or must be Muslim,” he said².
Punished for Preaching
For this sermon—delivered in a Church of England chapel, in a Church of England school, expressing Church of England teaching—Dr Randall was reported to Prevent (the UK’s anti-terrorism programme), the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). All four statutory bodies cleared him without raising any concerns³.
Nevertheless, the Diocese of Derby determined that he posed a safeguarding risk and revoked his Permission to Officiate (PTO), effectively banning him from public preaching⁴. In 2022, the Church formally labelled him “a risk to children,” citing only his sermon as the basis⁵. No allegation of abuse, no complainant, and no identified victim have ever been presented.
A Flawed and Discriminatory Process
Amid public outcry and legal pressure, then-Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ordered a review. In 2023, an independent legal assessment by Gregory Jones KC and Dame Sarah Asplin, then President of Tribunals, concluded that the Diocese’s safeguarding process was “egregious,” “flawed,” and “highly unsatisfactory.” The review found that statutory safeguarding guidelines had not been followed and suggested that Dr Randall was targeted due to his “theology”⁶.
Yet despite these findings, the Diocese refused to restart the process from scratch, instead stepping back just one procedural stage and resuming without any fresh evidence⁷. In June 2025, Dr Randall was finally granted a safeguarding meeting with CofE adviser Lee Elliot and the Bishop of Repton, Rt Revd Malcolm Macnaughton. During that meeting, Dr Randall was again declared a risk—not for anything he had done, but for what he might say in future sermons. When asked to identify a victim, Elliot replied: “There is no named victim… the school has not supplied that”⁸.
Psychological and Spiritual Toll
The human cost of this ordeal has been devastating. Dr Randall has stated that the prolonged exclusion has led to “six years of silence, shame, and spiritual exile.” In a recent interview, he revealed that he had contemplated suicide—including a plan to self-immolate in protest at the General Synod—before ultimately rejecting the idea out of spiritual conviction⁹.
His appeal to the Employment Tribunal, previously dismissed, has now been reinstated after Judge James Tayler ruled in March 2025 that the original judgment was “unsafe” due to apparent anti-Christian bias¹⁰.
The Wider Crisis
Commentators and clergy alike have condemned the Church’s continued treatment of Dr Randall. Journalist Julian Mann called it “ecclesiastical evil,” noting that the CofE has “weaponised safeguarding to suppress faithful ministry”¹¹. Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said the case reveals “an institutional hostility to orthodox Christianity within the structures of the Church of England”¹².
In response to Synod questions about whether teaching the Church’s doctrine on marriage now constitutes a safeguarding risk, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell replied only that “the House of Bishops has not considered the case”¹³.
The CofE’s refusal to reinstate Dr Randall—or even to acknowledge the theological implications of his treatment—exposes a Church in deep crisis. It claims to stand for inclusion, yet marginalises those who affirm its own doctrines. It preaches justice, but punishes orthodoxy. It promises care, but delivers coercion.
If Bernard Randall remains barred from ministry, the Church of England must answer a difficult question: is it still the same Church whose doctrine he preached?
¹ “Chaplain reveals how he was blacklisted as ‘risk to children’ by Church of England,” Anglican Ink, 6 September 2022.
² Randall, B., “Sermon transcript,” published in full by Christian Concern, 2021.
³ “All four statutory bodies cleared him,” Christian Legal Centre, case files, 2020–21.
⁴ “Rev Dr Bernard Randall still barred from ministry,” Free Speech Union, 30 July 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ “Legal Review of Dr Randall’s complaint,” Gregory Jones KC and Dame Sarah Asplin, 2023; summary reported by Free Speech Union, 2025.
⁷ “Church continues process without fresh evidence,” Christian Today, 30 July 2025.
⁸ “Transcript of safeguarding meeting,” Free Speech Union, June 2025; verified with Christian Legal Centre.
⁹ “Sacked chaplain Bernard Randall says he contemplated suicide,” Christian Today, 29 July 2025.
¹⁰ “Bernard Randall wins permission to appeal,” Anglican Ink, 4 March 2025.
¹¹ “Church of England’s treatment of Bernard Randall is evil,” Christian Today, 30 July 2025.
¹² Andrea Williams, statement to Christian Legal Centre, 2025.
¹³ “Church of England refuses to clarify whether its own doctrine is now a safeguarding risk,” Anglican Ink, 27 July 2025.
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