Christian lecturer to appeal after tribunal upholds sacking over tweet

A Christian lecturer is to appeal after a tribunal ruled that it was reasonable for a Bible college to sack him over a tweet expressing his Christian beliefs on sexual ethics. 

Dr Aaron Edwards, 39, had been working for Cliff College in Derbyshire for seven years when he was sacked over his tweet, which was posted in response to the Church of England’s February 2023 debate over same-sex blessings. 

In his tweet, Dr Edwards said, “Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals now not see the severity of this b/c they’re busy apologising for his or her apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true. This is a ‘Gospel issue’, by the way in which. If sin is not any longer sin, we now not need a Saviour.”

He also tweeted: “That is the conservative view. The acceptance of homosexuality as ‘not sinful’ is an invasion upon the Church, doctrinally. This will not be controversial. The acceptance is controversial. Most of the worldwide Church would agree. It will not be homophobic to declare homosexuality sinful.”

After a backlash ensued, he later posted: “I expressed the conservative view as a doctrinal issue, [regarding] the implications for sin/the Gospel. It was not an attack on individuals, it was addressed to evangelicals. It seems that holding the view that homosexuality is sinful is barely welcome if it stays ‘unexpressed’.”

After refusing to remove his posts, he was sacked by Cliff College, a Methodist institution, for misconduct for “bringing the faculty into disrepute”.

Handing down judgment within the case this week, the tribunal dismissed his claims of harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal. 

“The Tribunal has found that the claimant’s Article 9 rights [freedom of thought, belief and religion) are not engaged in this case,” the judgment reads.

“This is because the claimant did not suffer the treatment on basis of his religious beliefs in and of themselves or because of a manifestation of his beliefs.

“The treatment of the claimant by the respondent was not because of his expression of views rooted in Christian beliefs but because of the severe reaction to them.”

The Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which is supporting Dr Edwards, called the judgment “concerning” and said that it “refused to engage with the fact that many students and members of the public did not react ‘severely’ to Dr Edwards’ tweet but supported him”.

Responding to the ruling, Dr Edwards said that it threatens to have “significant negative implications for Christian free speech in future years”.

“If Christian leaders like myself cannot stand up for what most Christians in the world today see as a legitimate and important expression of a Christian view, what chance do the rest of the population have?” he said. 

“Christians must be free to stand against the ideologies of the age which seek to trample upon the fundamentally good Christian norms and convictions upon which this once-great nation was built.”

He added, “The college has become ashamed of the very call to Christian holiness which brought Methodism into existence and rather than standing against sin, it has chosen to stand with sin against those who stand against sin.”

CLC chief executive Andrea Williams said: “Judge Bean has simply not engaged with the substance of this case. Aaron was sacked because he challenged the church to uphold God’s teaching on human sexuality. Contending for that truth publicly meant that he lost the job that he was so good at.

“Judge Bean says Aaron’s tweet could have damaged ‘the brand’ of Cliff College. What is the brand of a Bible college if it no longer believes or is prepared to defend or teach what the Bible says is sin?

“It is deeply saddening to see a once renowned evangelical Bible college losing its way by no longer upholding the truth about marriage. What message does Aaron’s sacking send to the next generation of leaders and pastors, and the future of Christian witness.

“This case exposes a collapse in confidence in biblical truth in one of the very places where the next generation of Christian leaders is being trained.”

Cliff College said it was “pleased” with the judgment. 

“We strive for Cliff College to be a place where everyone feels safe, everyone feels heard and everyone feels able to share their convictions in an open, appropriate and respectful manner, always mindful of how we communicate with each other and how our comments might be received,” it said.

“This includes a willingness to acknowledge when we get things wrong, or when we could do better – a characteristic which we seek to model and which we appropriately expect from our staff and our students.”