Church rules hold that such cases must be decided on an individual basis by either the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Archbishop of York.

The procedure does not apply to anyone who has chosen to stay single following a divorce or whose former spouse has passed away.

Vows of marriage by couples exchanged during Church of England weddings hold that their commitment is a life-long one.

Christianity is not primarily an expression of white western privilege, said Bishop Philip the review chairman, but a truly global phenomenon, mainly of the global south and the global poor. The claim "Jesus is Lord" has always been a subversive challenge to power, especially absolute power. Archbishop Nicholls of Westminster noted further that the depth of Christian commitment to service was the obverse of its critique of the misuse of power.

Maintaining that the Church of England's internal investigation led by senior ecclesiastical lawyer Timothy Briden had cleared Bishop Bell only of the second set of allegations, the recent Briden report "made no statement about the original allegations," Warner said.

In December, the church announced vicars would now be able to hold a special service so transgender people could celebrate their new identities.

But there has been a steadily growing backlash to the proposals, culminating in the open letter which attacks them as "deeply concerning" and "lacking in serious theological analysis".