Rev Dr Bernard Randall, the Anglican clergyman on the centre of a six yr dispute together with his own church, has accused the Church of England of being “a company machine, more concerned with appearances and tick-boxing than showing basic Christian virtues”.
Dr Randall’s troubles began when he was working as a chaplain at Trent College in Derbyshire. The school invited campaign group Educate and Celebrate to show staff how you can “embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the material” of their interactions with students.
In response, Dr Randall delivered a sermon to the youngsters by which he said “you need to no more be told you might have to just accept LGBT ideology than you have to be told you will need to be in favour of Brexit, or have to be Muslim”.
The school leadership objected and eventually sacked him. Dr Randall was even secretly referred to the federal government’s anti-extremism task force Prevent, who later concluded that there was nothing objectionable about his comments.
The Church of England backed the college’s decision, despite what he said not being in contradiction to its own doctrine. Dr Randall stays blacklisted by the Church of England as a safeguarding risk and isn’t permitted to evangelise in its churches.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he opened up concerning the strain that the ordeal has had on him and his family emotionally and financially, describing the last six years as “devastating”, with “long periods of despair and hopelessness”.
The mental toll has been so severe that Dr Randall said he even considered taking his own life on the General Synod – the Church’s parliamentary meeting – as an act of protest, but was stopped by the thought that it could make no difference.
He told the newspaper, “Because of the way in which the Church has treated me, we will not move on. Once, I began fascinated by self-immolating on the ground of General Synod [the church’s ruling body] as a protest.
“The tears got here after I realised they’d just put it down as an unlucky incident, after which carry on in the identical way as before.”
Dr Randall has appealed to the Church at its very highest levels to revive him to ministry, but to no avail.
“I actually have been punished not for wrongdoing, but for believing,” he said.
“The Church’s safeguarding process has grow to be a tool of coercion, not care. I’m speaking out because I do know I’m not alone, and since nobody should suffer in silence for staying true to their faith.
“I actually have been treated as guilty without accusation or evidence, and pressured to resign my beliefs to be deemed secure. Despite no complainant, no evidence and no allegation of misconduct, I actually have been treated as a risk.”
A spokesperson for the Diocese of Derby said: “The Diocese of Derby is working with Dr Randall to deal with concerns which he has raised, and is following House of Bishops’ guidance in doing so.
“We have due to this fact asked that Dr Randall continues to work with the continued process, in order that it will probably be concluded as soon as possible.”
