Church of England priest referred to Prevent wins settlement after sacking over LGBT-critical sermon at school

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As well as Prevent, Reverend Bernard Randall was also referred to the Teaching Regulation Authority and the Disclosure and Barring Service

A Church of England chaplain has secured a settlement with the school that sacked him after he told pupils they did not have to accept "LGBT stuff" during a school sermon.

Reverend Bernard Randall was dismissed from Trent College, a fee-paying boarding school in Long Eaton, Derbyshire in 2019, and referred to counter-terrorism programme Prevent, just two months after delivering the sermon.

He initially appealed his dismissal and had it overturned, but was later made redundant after refusing to accept a reduction in his working hours.

The reverend subsequently lost an unfair dismissal claim, though the case was later set to be reheard due to concerns over possible bias within the original tribunal panel.

Trent College has been ordered to pay Reverend Randall approximately £20,000 in costs, court documents show.

Advocacy group Christian Concern has confirmed a confidential settlement has been reached between the two parties.

The dispute originated after the chaplain raised objections to parts of an LGBT inclusivity programme the school had introduced, developed by the charity Educate and Celebrate.

Reverend Randall told an employment tribunal he believed elements of the scheme were "Marxist, revolutionary, atheist" and incompatible with Christian teachings.

He argued certain terminology used within the programme, including phrases such as "sex assigned at birth" and "cisgender" was "ideologically loaded and misleading".

The priest told the tribunal: "Educate and Celebrate went beyond a neutral stance of inclusivity into the implantation of ideas I consider to be identity politics."

He said he was prompted to write the sermon after a sixth-form pupil asked him why LGBT content had to be accepted within a Christian school setting.

The sermon, delivered in June 2019 to pupils aged between 11 and 17, referenced that question directly and included the line: "You do not have to accept the ideas of LGBT activists."

Christian Concern said the content reflected the Church of England's teaching on marriage, but the sermon sparked complaints from some pupils, parents and staff, with some reportedly left visibly upset.

Reverend Randall was consequently removed from his chaplaincy role and referred to the Government's counter-terrorism watchdog, Prevent.

Although his initial dismissal was overturned on appeal, the Derby Telegraph reported, he was issued a final warning and later made redundant after declining the school's proposal to cut his role to just seven hours a week, term-time only.

At a unfair dismissal hearing in February 2023, a judge ruled that the school's redundancy process had been genuine and reasonable and the Prevent referral had been justified on safeguarding grounds.

Christian Concern said Reverend Randall was also referred to the Teaching Regulation Authority and the Disclosure and Barring Service, though neither body pursued further action against him.

In March last year, Judge James Tayler at the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled the original judgment had been "unsafe" and ordered the case be reheard, ultimately leading to the recent settlement.

Christian Concern said an independent investigation later found no evidence harm had been caused by the sermons, concluding the allegations were "unsubstantiated" and no ongoing safeguarding concerns remained.

The priest has since completed all required safeguarding training and is now eligible to preach again within Church of England churches.

Reflecting on the case, he said "seven years have been taken from me", adding that his "faith and loyalty to the Church has been tested to the extreme".

He said: "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."

Reverend Randall also thanked his legal team and supporters, adding that he continues to work on forgiving those involved, saying: "I don't feel angry, I try not to. It's very difficult to forgive, I'm working on that."