Christian prison worker loses appeal over quoting Bible in chapel service
from Christian Concern:
A Christian prison worker who felt he had no option but to resign after being disciplined for quoting from the Bible during a prison chapel service, has lost his appeal against an Employment Tribunal’s ruling that the prison was right to discipline him.
Rev. Barry Trayhorn, an ordained Pentecostal minister, worked as a prison gardener and volunteered in chapel at HMP Littlehey, a prison for sex offenders.
In May 2014, Rev Trayhorn spoke in a prison chapel service, quoting the Bible and talking about God’s forgiveness for those who repent.
He quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9 which says: “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
A complaint was later made about the inclusion of homosexuals in the list, and he should not have not mentioned them in his quoting of the Bible. Rev Trayhorn was disciplined and eventually felt forced to resign.
In a judgment handed down yesterday (02 August), Mrs Justice Slade upheld the Employment Tribunal’s ruling, that the quoting of a the Bible in a chapel service could “legitimise… mistreatment” of homosexual prisoners; and Rev Trayhorn was appropriately disciplined for quoting the sin.
Mr Trayhorn plans to take his case to the Court of Appeal, supported by the Christian Legal Centre.
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