Canon Andrew Hindley - who worked in Blackburn diocese from 1991 to 2021 - was subject to five police investigations, including into allegations of sexual assault. Documents seen by the BBC show there had been concerns about Canon Hindley for years.

Canon Hindley was an openly gay priest in a cathedral which some people describe as "conservative."

He has never been charged with any criminal offences and says he has never presented any safeguarding risk to anyone.

A senior member of staff at Blackburn Cathedral resigned over the settlement and says concerns about the priest were "an open secret" among senior clergy.

In 2022, Canon Hindley was offered £240,000, ($308,000) the BBC understands. "We do not know the final amount paid because the parties signed non-disclosure agreements keeping it secret." There were previous attempts to pay the priest to leave, dating back more than 15 years.

The archbishops of Canterbury and York told the BBC they are "still working" to get Church processes right and "must learn" from past mistakes.

Really! A weak, more sophomoric statement could not be made by the two prelates. Hear, speak, and see no evil is the obvious course to take. The Anglican three-legged stool at its finest.

A long-drawn-out process to get rid of him ended with the Church's solution to dismiss Canon Hindley on ill-health grounds, followed by a financial settlement.

The Case of the Rev. Dr Bernard Randall

Dr. Randall was blacklisted by the Bishop of Derby, Rt. Rev. Libby Lane, after it was deemed that he had departed from safeguarding guidance but gave no reasons for her doing so. His sermon was an orthodox sermon on sex and marriage.

His "crime"? He was discriminated against by the Bishop of Derby for his orthodox Christian beliefs or what became known as his "certain theology."

The case escalated to the point where Randall is pursuing a judicial review against Dame Sarah Asplin's decision to dismiss his grievances. Dame Sarah, president of Tribunals, had acknowledged "serious errors" in the handling of the case but did not hold Bishop Lane personally accountable, instead suggesting a reevaluation of the case by an independent team.

Trent College, a boarding school, fired Randall in 2020 and reported him to a government counter-terrorism agency after Randall taught in accordance with the Church of England's theology of sex and marriage, his lawyers said.

Randall said in a 2018 sermon that students should debate and question mainstream secular teachings about gender ideology. The Bishop of Derby refused to renew Randall's ministry license after he was dismissed from the school. The chaplain filed a complaint of misconduct against the bishop which was denied by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2022.

What exactly led to him losing his job? Randall pushed back against school staff over their plans to implement a pro-LGBTQ program created by the group Educate & Celebrate. The charity claims to work with schools to reduce so-called homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. In his sermon, Randall reiterated the church's teachings on gender and sexuality but encouraged students to show love and respect to people with differing views. The school fired him but reinstated his position after an appeal under a list of 20 conditions including submitting sermons in advance and not discussing topics that could offend anyone. The school ultimately ended his employment in 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason he was redundant, he wrote in an article on Premier Christianity.

How have authorities responded? The government counter-terrorism watchdog group, local authorities, the Teaching Regulation Agency, and the Disclosure and Barring Service said they would not take action against Randall. He and his team in February this year began an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal after an earlier tribunal upheld the school's decision and dismissed his claims of discrimination.

How has the Church of England responded? The Diocese of Derby in 2019 launched a safeguarding investigation into Randall, and in 2021 the safeguarding team recommended that his license to officiate should not be renewed.

Randall in 2022 filed a complaint of misconduct against the Bishop of Derby, the Rev. Libby Lane. Later that year, the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to begin a formal investigation to review his complaint.

In June 2023, lawyer Gregory Jones KC reviewed the case on behalf of the Church's disciplinary body and determined that the diocese lacked evidence for its position, according to the Christian Legal Centre. He also said the Archbishop was wrong to dismiss the complaint.

Dr Randall said: "In my case, safeguarding has been weaponized as a political tool against a theological position which is wholly consistent with the Church's doctrine.

"I have been vindicated by a number of secular bodies, but the CofE, who on paper share my beliefs and should be supporting me, are refusing to give me my life back.

"In this case, I was assumed to be a safeguarding risk because of the content of my sermons. This amounted to stereotyping on the grounds of belief which is unlawful."

Now the UK chaplain is going to court and his lawyers have applied for a judicial review of his firing, the Christian Legal Centre said.

The Church of England has become Laodicean; neither hot nor cold. It is a lukewarm institution shunned by the vast majority of the British public (over 97%). The CofE is indeed rich (financially), so was the Church at Laodicea, (Rev. 3:14) but God said that it was "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

No better description of the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the House of Bishops could be made than this.

For more click here: https://www.christianpost.com/news/justin-welby-rebuked-over-actions-in-case-of-blacklisted-chaplain.html?utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_medium=newsletter
AND HERE:

https://wng.org/sift/fired-after-sermon-on-sexuality-uk-chaplain-goes-to-court-1723666981

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