The Book of Common Prayer still sits on the pews and is used every week,
although not in every service. The congregation still sings from
"Ancient and Modern" hymnbooks.

But it is not just the style that is traditional. Parishioners are
deeply conservative. Most believe homosexuality is abhorrent.

"The church is very strongly against a person who has openly declared he
is homosexual being ordained," said the Rev Habil Omungu, the vicar of
St Francis's. Such a person would introduce unacceptable and unbiblical
teachings."

The parishioners of St Francis's have had their arguments in the past.
The decision to ordain women into the priesthood divided them in the
late 1990s and prompted two lay preachers to leave.

There was further dissent over a number of heraldic shields that had
hung in the church since colonial times and over a more recent stained
glass window that depicted elephants - some worshippers believed such a
scene was tantamount to Hindu idolatry.

But when it comes to homosexual ordination and same-sex marriages, the
congregation sings from the same hymn sheet.

"I think it's absolutely horrific," said Mary McNaughtan, who has
worshipped at St Francis's for more than 30 years.

"It's totally un-Christian. I think if it were to happen I would
probably leave the Church.

"I couldn't go to a church where a homosexual was preaching and God
would not want a homosexual to come between me and Him."

Many Kenyan Anglicans feel their moral ideals are now totally divergent
from those of the increasingly decadent and secular West.

As Anglican bishops from across the world prepare to meet in Windsor on
Tuesday, seeking a deal on homosexuality to save the disintegrating
160-nation Anglican Communion, Anglicans in Africa are far from a spirit
of compromise.

"This is the result of freedom being pushed beyond acceptable limits,"
said Mr Omungu.

"It has led to a culture of tolerance where people feel free to do
whatever they want."

While Mr. Omungu still hopes that "love, patience and compassion" can
turn the first publicly homosexual Anglican bishop, Gene Robinson, away
from his "deviation", some in the congregation at St Francis's are
convinced that there is no option left to them but to break away.

Founded in 1844, the Anglican Church in Kenya is perhaps the country's
oldest institution, even predating British rule in the former colony.

It has held true to ideas that might be familiar to Victorians, but
which have become alien to many in the West.

Even outside Christian circles homosexuality is despised by most
Africans, who see it as a Western vice that is alien to their culture.

There will undoubtedly be sadness at severing ties with Canterbury but a
softening of the line on homosexuality could lead to the extinction of
Kenya's three million-strong Anglican community, which is already under
pressure from its competitors in the evangelical church.

"There is no room for negotiation on something like this," said Dedan
Kamau, people's warden at the church. "Homosexuality is a sin. I do not
see a situation where Western dioceses return to traditional values. We
should just accept the split."

1 December 2003: Church unity talks fail over gay bishop 27 November
2003: Archbishop pleads for Anglican truce

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.