A chaplain who was labelled a safeguarding risk by the Church of England due to his traditional Christian views on gender identity is seeking a judicial review at the Royal Courts of Justice today.

Rev Randall has not been employed in ministry since his dismissal by Trent College in 2020 over a sermon to students in the school chapel in which he said they did not have to agree with LGBT ideology.

Lawyers acting for Rev Bernard Randall will argue that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, have "repeatedly misused safeguarding processes to uphold an illegitimate ban on Dr Randall's ministry".

Without a licence to minister in the Church of England, he remains unable to work as a chaplain and has been forced to find alternative employment. 

This is despite being cleared by the government's counter-terrorism scheme Prevent, the local authority designated officer on safeguarding (LADO), the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Dr Randall attempted to bring a disciplinary case against Bishop Lane but it was blocked by Archbishop Welby.

When lawyer Gregory Jones KC was asked to review the case on behalf of the Church of England's clergy disciplinary body, he concluded that Welby had "misunderstood the scope of his powers", and was "plainly wrong" to dismiss the complaint.

Of the Diocese of Derby's findings, Jones KC said that they "do not in my view support any finding of a 'safeguarding' issue as defined by the [Church of England's safeguarding] Guidance". 

The review was later taken over by the President of Tribunals, Dame Sarah Asplin, who was asked to consider whether it was appropriate to convene a tribunal to rule on the complaint.

Despite finding "serious errors in the process adopted" and that "the whole safeguarding procedure was flawed", she determined that the Bishop of Derby did not have a case to answer. 

The hearing on Tuesday is seeking a judicial review to challenge Dame Asplin's decision not to convene a tribunal.

Ahead of the hearing, Dr Randall said that "safeguarding has been weaponised as a political tool against a theological position which is wholly consistent with the Church's doctrine".

"Yet again, in the corridors of power, the Church has closed ranks to protect senior people. Where is the accountability? What of transparency?" he said.

"These are not the failings of years ago. This is now. Too many ordinary people have stopped trusting the Church, and my case is just one of many reasons why.

"I long to see a Church which healthy and strong, unashamedly proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which brings life in all its fulness to all people without exception.

"As it stands, the Church of England is not that Church. That is a cause of deep sorrow to Christians up and down this land, me included."

 Before the hearing, Dr Randall will hand in a petition signed by over 40,000 people to Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The petition asks Archbishop Welby to apologise to Dr Randall and reinstate his licence to minister. 

"It's time for the Church of England to give Bernard his life back. He's been punished for nothing more than upholding his Christian beliefs, which are fully in accordance with Church of England doctrine," the petition says. 

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Dr Randall, said, "Even Jesus, let alone Bernard Randall, would have fallen foul of the diocese of Derby's approach to safeguarding and would have been marked a risk to children."