Gay marriage of clerics has left Church of England 'anxious' and 'unsettled'

It was the first admission from C of E leaders that the wedding of two male Anglican clerics at a prominent London church has worsened the Church's crisis over gay rights.   

The decision by the Reverend Martin Dudley to defy the Church's laws and stage the ceremony - which contained large chunks of the traditional marriage service - came just as bishops from around the world are preparing to meet to try to find a compromise.  

The marriage of Rev Peter Cowell (left) and Rev David Lord has worsened the Church Of England's crisis over gay rights

Although Mr Dudley insisted that he had no intention of making a political statement with the ceremony, opponents of the Anglican gay lobby regarded the event as a carefully-timed provocation.   

The admission of its damaging impact was made by William Fittall, who as Secretary General of the General Synod is the Church's most senior lay official - the C of E's equivalent of the Cabinet Secretary in Whitehall.   

Mr Fittall said: 'There is no doubt we are at an unsettled moment in the life of the Church. It is an issue that goes to the heart of what sort of Church you are.

'This has caused further anxiety on the part of many.'   

He added that the meeting of the C of E's parliament, the General Synod, in York next month will now be 'quite an anxious occasion.'  

The gay wedding - in which the Rev Peter Cowell and the Reverend David Lord exchanged rings and vows - came at the outset of what threatens to be eight months of tortured argument in the Anglican church, fraught with the risk of schism.   

The Synod meeting next month is likely to hear fierce arguments over a planned 'covenant' document being drawn up to try to define the limits of Anglican beliefs in the face of division over gay rights.   

That will be followed by the Lambeth Conference, a gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world to be staged in Canterbury.

The chief task of the conference is to try to prevent a split in the 400-year-old worldwide Anglican Communion in the face of the decision of the American church to consecrate

The couple were married at the Church of St Bartholomew The Great, London

a gay bishop.   

Yesterday C of E officials said that any deal made by the Lambeth bishops will be picked over and voted on in a set piece Synod debate next February.   

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is under growing pressure to take action against Mr Dudley over the gay marriage - an event which went far beyond modest services of blessing for gay couples to which bishops usually turn a blind eye.   

Bishop of London Dr Richard Chartres has launched an inquiry into the event.

The Reform group, which represents around 500 conservative evangelical clergy, said that a split in the Church of England is close and added: 'Our only hope of preventing this is for bishops to exercise swift and clear discipline.

'Unless this happens, the floodgates of indiscipline will open. There is no longer any room for carefully constructed statements designed to hold everyone together in an uneasy truce.

'Schism in the church is being caused not by orthodox believers but by clergy pursuing a liberal agenda.'   

Its statement added: 'For the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London the choice, therefore, is between being faithful to the Bible's teaching or acquiescing in the promotion of the liberal sexual agenda. They cannot do both.  

'Words are no longer enough. It is only clear action that will now speak to the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as to orthodox Anglican and other church leaders in this country.'