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Chaplain settles LGBT sermon unfair dismissal case - Published A chaplain who used a sermon to tell pupils they did not have to believe in "LGBT stuff" has reached a legal agreement with the school that dismissed him. Rev Bernard Randall was sacked by Trent College in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, in 2019, two months after the sermon. He appealed and his dismissal, external was overturned, but he was later made redundant after refusing reduced hours. After losing an unfair dismissal claim, his case had been set for a new tribunal over possible bias on the panel that made the ruling, and Trent College was ordered to pay Randall about £20,000 in costs, according to a court document. Advocacy group Christian Concern said a confidential settlement had since been reached. An employment tribunal heard Randall opposed parts of a programme the school was implementing to try to improve LGBT inclusivity. Randall told the tribunal he believed elements of the programme - devised by charity Educate and Celebrate - were Marxist, revolutionary, atheist and incompatible with Christian values. He said some of the terminology within the programme was "ideologically loaded and misleading", and he highlighted phrases such as "sex assigned at birth" and "cisgender". Randall 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 inspired to write the sermon, delivered in June 2019 to pupils aged between 11 and 17, after he was asked by a sixth-form pupil: "Sir, how come we are told we have to accept all this LGBT stuff in a Christian school?" Randall included the question within the sermon, which he said concerned school leaders. He also said, in his sermon: "You do not have to accept the ideas of LGBT activists." Christian Concern said Randall's sermon reflected the Church of England's teaching on marriage, but it triggered complaints from some pupils, parents and staff members, who said it nearly left them in tears. Randall was removed from his role as chaplain at the fee-paying boarding school and reported to the government counter-terrorism watchdog Prevent. The Derby Telegraph reported, external Randall appealed against his dismissal, which was overturned, but he was given a final warning. Trent College then informed Randall it wanted to reduce the chaplaincy role to seven hours, term-time only, which he did not accept and was therefore made redundant. At an unfair dismissal hearing in February 2023, the judge said the school's redundancy process was genuine and reasonable, and the referral to Prevent had been justified "from a safeguarding perspective". Christian Concern said Bill Penty, the-then head of Trent College, then referred Randall to the Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) and to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The TRA decided not to take forward a case, while the DBS ruled Randall had no case to answer, according to Christian Concern. In March 2025, Judge James Tayler, sitting in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, ruled the original judgment was "unsafe" and ordered the case be reheard, leading to the out-of-court settlement. Randall can also preach again in Church of England churches after, according to Christian Concern, an independent investigator said they could not "establish, on the balance of probabilities, that harm was caused by the delivery of the sermons". They concluded the "concern or allegation was unsubstantiated and there are no ongoing safeguarding concerns". Christian Concern said Randall had completed all mandatory safeguarding training and was now eligible for permission to officiate. 'Difficult to forgive' Randall said "seven years have been taken from me" by the case and that his "faith and loyalty to the Church has been tested to the extreme". He added: "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. "I want to thank my legal team and everyone who has stood with and supported me, and especially the many people who have prayed for me throughout this ordeal." Randall told the BBC he had "been out of ministry for over seven years" due to the case. He said: "I don't feel angry, I try not to. It's very difficult to forgive, I'm working on that." Trent College told the BBC it would not be making any further comment on the matter. Get in touch Tell us which stories we should cover in Derby Listen to BBC Radio Derby on Sounds and follow BBC Derby on Facebook, external, on X, external, or on Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk, external or via WhatsApp, external on 0808 100 2210. Related topics - Published4 December 2023 - Published14 September 2022 - Published10 September 2022 - Published7 September 2022
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