Chaplain contemplated suicide to protest treatment by CofE

An Anglican chaplain in the United Kingdom reportedly considered lighting himself on fire at the Church of England’s General Synod to protest his ongoing exclusion from ministry after being labeled a risk to children for a 2019 sermon affirming biblical teachings on marriage and sexuality.

The Rev. Dr. Bernard Randall said during a recent interview with The Mail on Sunday that his own church’s treatment of him has led to financial difficulties for his family and plunged him into “long periods of despair and hopelessness,” leading him at one point to consider “self-immolating on the floor of General Synod as a protest.”

Randall said he came to believe the hearts of those leading the Church of England have grown too hardened for such an act to make any difference.

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“The tears came when I realized they’d just put it down as an unfortunate incident, and then carry on in the same way as before,” he said.

Randall, who worked for five years at Trent College in Derbyshire, England, first made headlines in 2021. He took legal action against the Church of England-affiliated school for sacking him following a sermon that urged students to make up their own minds about the claims of LGBT activists.

The school also reported him to Prevent, the U.K.’s counterterrorism watchdog, which ultimately determined he did not pose a terrorist threat.

That year, the school allowed Elly Barnes, CEO and founder of LGBTQ charity Educate and Celebrate, to train school staff how to “smash heteronormativity.” The now-defunct organization aimed to help schools and organizations “embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric” of their culture.

Following controversies that included allegedly pushing toddlers to question their gender, the organization shut down without explanation last year. Stephen Ireland, one of the charity’s patrons, was jailed in June after being found guilty of raping “an extremely vulnerable” 12-year-old boy, according to the BBC.

Randall claimed he penned his controversial sermon in the wake of Barnes’ visit, after a pupil approached him to ask why they “have to accept” LGBTQ ideology at a supposedly Christian school.

During the sermon, which remains available online, Randall explained the biblical positions on sexuality and marriage to his young students, aged 11 to 17. He added that the values of Barnes’ organization conflicted with “the Protestant and Evangelical principles of the Church of England,” and urged them to think for themselves on such topics.

“There are several areas where many or most Christians (and for that matter people of other faiths too), will be in disagreement with LGBT activists, and where you must make up your own mind,” he told them.

Randall’s sermon prompted the school’s leadership to suspend and ultimately terminate him. He was restored to his position upon appeal, but was furloughed during the pandemic, never restored to full-time hours and made redundant on Dec. 31, 2020.

Randall’s Diocese of Derby, headed by the Rt. Rev. Libby Lane — who became the Church of England’s first female bishop in 2014 — also reportedly “blacklisted” him from working after a safeguarding investigation determined he posed “a moderate risk to children” because of his beliefs about sexuality.

During their investigation against Randall, the diocese also reportedly determined that “the Church itself is a risk-factor” because of its historical teachings on the issue.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby blocked Randall’s misconduct case against Lane, despite legal advice labeling his decision as “plainly wrong” due to a misunderstanding of his authority. A clergy discipline tribunal found “serious errors” with the case against Randall, but ruled Lane had no personal case to answer and recommended an independent review.

Randall, who is still trying to have his license restored, faced a new preliminary safeguarding meeting in June, during which concerns persisted about his potential future sermons. A Church of England safeguarding adviser referred to Randall’s Christian beliefs as “your views,” though the chaplain maintained they are the official views of the Church of England.

“This has been six years of silence, shame and spiritual exile. I have been punished not for wrongdoing, but for believing,” Randall told The Mail on Sunday this week. “I am speaking out because I know I am not alone and because no one should suffer in silence for staying true to their faith.”

During an interview with Fox News in 2022, Randall claimed he felt called by God to stay in the Church of England because his roots run deep in the institution, though he acknowledged he is unsure where he fits.

“I’ve always been in the Church of England,” he told the outlet. “My family has always been Church of England. I can’t quite imagine not being in the Church of England. It’s more about the Church of England leaving me, in a sense. I’m not going to make any promises, but I think I want to stick it out.”

“And if I need to be a nuisance to try to call the Church back to where it should be, I think maybe that’s my calling. God never promised an easy ride, so I’ll stay where God has put me and do the good that he has put in front of me. That’s the basic attitude I take,” he added.

Randall’s lawyers at the Christian Legal Centre have denounced the Church of England’s treatment of him, whom CLC Executive Director Andrea Williams described as “a faithful minister who has suffered deeply for simply preaching the Gospel.”

“The Church’s continued refusal to reinstate him, despite his vindication, is a failure of pastoral care and Christian witness. We urge the Church to show compassion, humility, and justice by restoring Bernard to fellowship and ministry,” she said.

“It is heartbreaking to see a man of faith and integrity suffer so profoundly for doing what he was called to do. Bernard Randall has been vindicated time and again, yet the Church continues to punish him. How much longer must he wait for justice?”

“This has not been safeguarding, it is censorship. If the Church continues to refuse to reinstate him, they must be held accountable not only for the injustice, but as a serious safeguarding risk themselves to their own clergy,” she added.

The Diocese of Derby said in a statement to The Christian Post that it is working with Randall “to address concerns which he has raised, and is following House of Bishops’ guidance in doing so.”

“We have therefore asked that Dr. Randall continues [sic] to work with the ongoing process, so that it can be concluded as soon as possible,” the statement reads. 

The Church of England has been losing members and trust among those in the U.K., according to a YouGov poll released earlier this year following recent abuse scandals. The same poll also showed that 50% of Britons favor the disestablishment of the Church of England, while only 23% prefer to maintain its status.

The office of the archbishop of Canterbury has remained vacant since January, when Welby stepped down following an inquiry that found that he failed to promptly alert police about serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps.