The Church of England is now beyond parody. You could not make it up. If I'd predicted this would happen say five or 10 years ago, you wouldn't have believed me – I'm not sure I would have believed it myself! How can the CofE discriminate against one of its own ordained clergymen for upholding CofE doctrine? Yet this is what has actually happened in the case of Rev Dr Bernard Randall.
Rev Dr Bernard Randall was employed as a chaplain in a school. Four years ago, back in 2020, he preached a sermon advocating tolerance of different views on identity politics. It is worth quoting from the sermon itself which can be read or watched online here:
"Now when ideologies compete, we should not descend into abuse, we should respect the beliefs of others, even where we disagree. Above all, we need to treat each other with respect, not personal attacks – that's what loving your neighbour as yourself means. By all means discuss, have a reasoned debate about beliefs, but while it's OK to try and persuade each other, no one should be told they must accept an ideology. Love the person, even where you profoundly dislike the ideas. Don't denigrate a person simply for having opinions and beliefs which you don't share."
Unfortunately, the school was so captured by LGBT ideology that it could not tolerate someone suggesting that they should tolerate people with different views! Yes, that's right, preaching tolerance was not tolerated and Dr Randall subsequently lost his job. That is why he is pursuing legal action against the school for unfair dismissal.
Not content with forcing Dr Randall out of his job, the school pursued him further, referring him to Prevent – the government's counter terrorism unit - as well as the Teaching Regulation Agency, the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer), the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), and the local Diocese of Derby as a safeguarding risk. Dr Randall has now been vindicated by all of these organisations, except for one – the CofE.
Dr Randall continues to be branded a safeguarding risk by the CofE, despite being vindicated by Prevent, the TRA, the LADO and the DBS. This has prevented him from engaging in any ministry or preaching in any church in the country. He has been blacklisted by the CofE for four years, at great personal cost and with no apology and no attempt to engage him about the issues.
The local diocese even went so far as to brand its own teaching a safeguarding risk! This beggars belief. It's like a satirical comedy sketch – except it's for real.
Dr Randall after years of being blacklisted by the CofE with no explanation felt he had no other option than to launch a discrimination claim against the Bishop of Derby, the Rt Rev Libby Lane. Just before an unprecedented tribunal hearing was to hear a case against the bishop for alleged discrimination against Dr Randall over his beliefs in CofE doctrines, the hearing was blocked by the President of Tribunals, Dame Sarah Asplin. She declined to provide a full explanation for blocking the hearing, but did say that the way Dr Randall's case was handled was 'highly unsatisfactory' and 'flawed' and that the decision should be reviewed, suggesting people from outside the diocese should review it.
Evidence has now emerged from Dr Randall's claim of discrimination that he was branded a safeguarding risk by the diocese without any reasons being given. Safeguarding policies were clearly not followed. Bishop Lane has been informed that the process and her involvement in it was 'highly unsatisfactory' and 'flawed' and should be reviewed. There is evidence that Dr Randall has been discriminated against by the diocese because of his 'certain theology'. Dr Randall is merely upholding CofE doctrine, so it suggests the diocese is biased against its own doctrine as it believes it to be a safeguarding risk.
The case was referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury who downplayed the issues. A legal officer later told him that he was 'plainly wrong' and had 'misunderstood the scope of his powers' after he said there was no disciplinary case for the Bishop of Derby to answer over the process that led to Dr Randall being blacklisted.
It is now over six months since the decision to block the tribunal hearing. Dr Randall remains blacklisted and has heard nothing further from the diocese. Dr Randall is therefore now applying for a judicial review of the decision to block a tribunal hearing into whether the Bishop of Derby discriminated against him for his orthodox belief in CofE doctrines. This, he feels, is the only option left open to him to try to obtain justice and the freedom to minister again.
This is a most absurd state of affairs for the CofE. All the evidence points to the CofE discriminating against Dr Randall for upholding CofE doctrine. This has been apparent for some years now. Yet there has been no apology and no attempt to clear him. The CofE has had four years to apologise and try to rectify the situation. Instead they have ignored or downplayed it. It seems intent on keeping Dr Randall blacklisted for as long as possible.
I hope Dr Randall's judicial review succeeds. The Bishop of Derby has overall responsibility for safeguarding in the diocese. She has known about this case for four years and she has done nothing to help Dr Randall. She knows that no reasons have been provided for blacklisting Dr Randall. She knows that safeguarding policy was not followed. She knows that her diocese branded CofE doctrine a safeguarding risk. She knows that Dame Asplin has described the procedure as 'highly unsatisfactory' and 'flawed'. Yet she has done nothing.
I would argue that the Bishop of Derby is complicit in discriminating against Dr Randall for his orthodox Christian beliefs, which are in line with CofE doctrine. And if this is indeed the case, then this is an untenable position for a bishop to be in. If she has any conscience or integrity she should resign. If she considers CofE doctrine to be a safeguarding risk she should resign. If she believes Dr Randall to be a safeguarding risk she should explain why. Given several secular organisations have vindicated him, I doubt there are any cogent reasons she has. In that case she should also resign.
If the Bishop of Derby had any integrity she would have resigned by now. But I suspect integrity is rather lacking amongst bishops these days. After all, many of them want to change the CofE doctrine on marriage, the doctrine they vowed to uphold. Many of them signed an open letter arguing that clergy should be allowed to break their ordination vows by entering same-sex civil marriages – a clear breach of the CofE doctrine that marriage is between a man and a woman. It is no surprise that one of those bishops was the Bishop of Derby. Every one of the 44 bishops who signed that letter is in breach of their ordination vows and should resign if they had any integrity.
So, I am not holding my breath waiting for Libby Lane to resign. But I am holding my breath for the judicial review because I believe that she does have a case to answer.
More important than getting Libby Lane to resign is getting Dr Randall back in ministry. The CofE has had plenty of opportunities to reinstate him. They should do it now. No more delay, no more process. An apology should also be made. Its treatment of him is appalling by any measure. Dr Randall should be fully cleared and vindicated because it is precisely people like him we need in ministry.
Tim Dieppe is Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern.
