“Free speech is not harmful” – Bernard Randall

1 August 2025

Rev. Dr Bernard Randall was sacked for a sermon in which he said it was ok for children to debate and disagree with gender identity teaching. Bernard, who the Christian Legal Centre is supporting, was dismissed as chaplain at Trent College in Derbyshire and then referred to Prevent and the DBS, both of which cleared him of any wrongdoing.

The sermon followed the invitation of discredited and controversial group Educate and Celebrate into the Christian school to promote radical sexual ideologies. Just last week, one of Educate and Celebrate’s patrons, Stephen Ireland, was jailed for 24 years for a series of sex offences against children, which included rape.

However, Bernard is still barred from preaching and was told in June he would not be allowed to preach without a risk assessment to “check his thinking”. The CofE safeguarding adviser, Lee Elliot, said if his sermons taught “things that are controversial” – such as the Church’s teaching on marriage and sexual ethics – they “could significantly lead to harm”.

After these developments, Bernard Randall appeared on Free Speech Nation (GB News) to explain some background to his case and discuss why freedom of speech is not “harmful” but beneficial for society. He said, “I think the Church’s teaching is good and beneficial for individuals in society [and] for society at large… Truth matters. Truth is at the centre of Christian understanding about everything.”

Bernard Randall also spoke to Kevin O’Sullivan on Talk TV to explain the disconnect between Christian teaching on the value of marriage and the Church’s persecution of him for upholding that teaching.

 

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