EGN NEWS DESK
A chaplain who was labelled a safeguarding danger by the Church of England on account of his conventional Christian views on gender identification is searching for a judicial overview on the Royal Courts of Justice at the moment.
Rev Randall has not been employed in ministry since his dismissal by Trent College in 2020 over a sermon to college students within the college chapel wherein he stated they didn’t must agree with LGBT ideology.
Lawyers performing for Rev Bernard Randall will argue that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, have “repeatedly misused safeguarding processes to uphold an illegitimate ban on Dr Randall’s ministry”.
Without a licence to minister within the Church of England, he stays unable to work as a chaplain and has been compelled to seek out various employment.
This is regardless of being cleared by the federal government’s counter-terrorism scheme Prevent, the native authority designated officer on safeguarding (LADO), the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Dr Randall tried to deliver a disciplinary case towards Bishop Lane nevertheless it was blocked by Archbishop Welby.
When lawyer Gregory Jones KC was requested to overview the case on behalf of the Church of England’s clergy disciplinary physique, he concluded that Welby had “misunderstood the scope of his powers”, and was “plainly improper” to dismiss the criticism.
Of the Diocese of Derby’s findings, Jones KC stated that they “don’t for my part help any discovering of a ‘safeguarding’ problem as outlined by the [Church of England’s safeguarding] Guidance”.
The overview was later taken over by the President of Tribunals, Dame Sarah Asplin, who was requested to contemplate whether or not it was applicable to convene a tribunal to rule on the criticism.
Despite discovering “critical errors within the course of adopted” and that “the entire safeguarding process was flawed”, she decided that the Bishop of Derby didn’t have a case to reply.
The listening to on Tuesday is searching for a judicial overview to problem Dame Asplin’s choice to not convene a tribunal.
Ahead of the listening to, Dr Randall stated that “safeguarding has been weaponised as a political software towards a theological place which is wholly in keeping with the Church’s doctrine”.
“Yet once more, within the corridors of energy, the Church has closed ranks to guard senior individuals. Where is the accountability? What of transparency?” he stated.
“These will not be the failings of years in the past. This is now. Too many strange individuals have stopped trusting the Church, and my case is only one of many the explanation why.
“I lengthy to see a Church which wholesome and robust, unashamedly proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which brings life in all its fulness to all individuals with out exception.
“As it stands, the Church of England shouldn’t be that Church. That is a explanation for deep sorrow to Christians up and down this land, me included.”
Before the listening to, Dr Randall will hand in a petition signed by over 40,000 individuals to Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The petition asks Archbishop Welby to apologise to Dr Randall and reinstate his licence to minister.
“It’s time for the Church of England to present Bernard his life again. He’s been punished for nothing greater than upholding his Christian beliefs, that are absolutely in accordance with Church of England doctrine,” the petition says.
Andrea Williams, chief govt of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Dr Randall, stated, “Even Jesus, not to mention Bernard Randall, would have fallen foul of the diocese of Derby’s method to safeguarding and would have been marked a danger to kids.”
