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School chaplain sacked over gender sermon at £40k-a-year school wins 7-year battle to be reinstated
Bernard Randall, a 53-year-old school chaplain, has won a seven-year legal battle to be reinstated as a preacher after being sacked over a 2019 sermon on gender at Trent College in Derbyshire. Randall, a former Cambridge University chaplain, was banned from preaching after telling pupils at the £40,000-a-year school that marriage is between a biological man and woman, and was referred to the government's Prevent counter-terrorism programme without his knowledge. The case matters as it raises questions about the treatment of clergy expressing traditional Christian teaching and the appropriate use of anti-terrorism referrals.
Randall delivered the sermon in the school's Anglican chapel following a visit from an external campaign group called Educate and Celebrate, which during a training day used the phrase "smash heteronormativity" and said it wanted to embed "queer theory" at the school. That charity was shut down by the Charity Commission in 2024, and its founders, Steven Ireland and David Sutton, were later jailed for child sex offences. Following his sermon, Randall was banned from preaching by the Diocese of Derby and blacklisted by senior Church of England clergy; he said seven years had been "taken from me for doing my duty" and that no minister should be punished for upholding Christian teaching.
In short
- Chaplain Bernard Randall reinstated after seven-year battle over gender sermon.
- He was sacked and referred to Prevent counter-terrorism programme.
- Campaign group behind the row later shut down, founders jailed.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Randall's supporters argue that a chaplain expressing traditional Christian teaching about marriage—a belief held by millions of believers—should not face dismissal, blacklisting by church leadership, and referral to a counter-terrorism programme. They contend that preventing clergy from articulating mainstream Christian doctrine suppresses religious freedom and legitimate expression, particularly when the seven-year punishment appears grossly disproportionate to the alleged transgression. The context of Educate and Celebrate's subsequent closure and founders' convictions suggests there were genuine concerns about what was being promoted at the school, lending credibility to Randall's felt need to speak. In this view, religious institutions must retain space for traditional theological teaching without fear of institutional retaliation.
The case against
Those defending the school's initial response emphasise that schools have distinct responsibilities to create inclusive environments for all students, including LGBTQ+ young people who may experience real harm from hearing their identities or families characterised as outside the chaplain's theological vision. A sermon in mandatory chapel reaches captive audiences of minors, making the impact on vulnerable students a legitimate institutional concern separate from questions about the chaplain's right to hold his beliefs. Educational settings serving diverse populations should not present particular theological positions as objective truth to students who cannot opt out, and duty of care to all pupils outweighs the privilege of unfettered expression by staff in those settings. The school's response, whatever its procedural failings, reflected a genuine effort to protect students' wellbeing and sense of belonging.
Explained simply
Bernard Randall was a school chaplain at Trent College, an independent school in Derbyshire, until he was dismissed in 2019 following a sermon he delivered in the school's chapel. The sermon addressed gender and marriage, with Randall saying that marriage is between a man and woman, reflecting what he described as traditional Christian teaching.
The sermon came shortly after the school hosted a training day led by Educate and Celebrate, a charity working on gender diversity issues in education. Randall said he delivered the sermon to present an alternative perspective on these themes to the pupils.
Following the sermon, Randall was banned from preaching by the Diocese of Derby and referred to the government's Prevent counter-terrorism programme without his knowledge. His seven-year legal battle to overturn his dismissal raises questions about how clergy expressing traditional Christian views are treated and whether the Prevent programme is being used appropriately in cases involving religious speech.