from Christian Today
Christians are being asked to pray as the Employment Appeal Tribunal hears the case of sacked chaplain Rev Dr Bernard Randall.
Dr Randall lost his job at Trent College, Nottinghamshire – a school with a Church of England ethos – six years ago after preaching a sermon in the chapel in which he said that pupils did not have to agree with LGBT ideology.
In addition to losing his job, he was reported by the college to Prevent, the government’s terrorism prevention scheme.
Since then, he has been cleared by Prevent, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), and the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which all found that he had no case to answer.
Despite this, he remains blacklisted from ministry by the Church of England which deemed him to be “a safeguarding risk to children”, despite his sermon being in line with the Church’s official doctrine. He has not been allowed to return to preaching in the intervening time.
Dr Randall said: “This has been six years of silence, shame, and spiritual exile. I have been punished not for wrongdoing, but for believing.
“The Church’s safeguarding process has become a tool of coercion, not care. I am speaking out now because I know I am not alone, and because no one should suffer in silence for staying true to their faith.”