Seven-year Bernard Randall case ends in settlement

Evangelicals are celebrating after it was today announced that Church of England (CofE) chaplain Bernard Randall's seven-year ordeal has reached a settlement.

In 2019, Randall was referred to Prevent (the UK's counter-radicalisation programme, part of the Government's wider counterterrorism strategy), treated as a safeguarding risk, and effectively shut out of ministry for preaching a sermon rooted in CofE doctrine.

“Seven years have been taken from me for doing my duty as a CofE chaplain in a school with a CofE ethos," Randall said. "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."