But officials said it had not been authorised and was at variance with the doctrine and teaching of the church.

Polari is thought to have originated in Victorian London but fell out of use as homosexuality began to be decriminalised in England in the 1960s.

Its words, however, were brought to wider public attention in the same decade by comedian Kenneth Williams in the BBC radio series Round the Horne.

'Fantabulosa Fairy'

According to the Ordinal, the biblical DNA of ministerial responsibility diverges between presbyters and bishops at this particular point. The Apostle Paul's instruction to Timothy - 'what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also' (2 Timothy 2:2 - RSV) - would therefore apply to the bishop rather than to the presbyter.

Surveys show that the laity in our churches don't feel equipped for whole life discipleship and witness in the world. 'Clericalism' is identified as a major problem in the C of E's culture, for example it is commonly assumed that ordination is the 'next step' as part of an upward progression in the journey of discipleship, rather than a calling to a specific ministry.

Phoney Tony and Chillax Dave are to blame. Tony Blair, the once consummate PR man, took it upon himself to apologise for the slave trade and the Irish potato famine (though not for the Iraq war). Dave tallied up an even more mouth-watering selection--for the economic crisis no less, Section 28, Bloody Sunday, the Hillsborough victims and the Amritsar massacre in India of 1919.