The Bishop of Winchester has said a motion asking the Church of England to affirm it is in communion with the Anglican Church of North America is not an attack on The Episcopal Church in the US (TEC).

The motion, put forward by Lorna Ashworth, is to be debated on Wednesday by General Synod, the Church of England’s governing body.

It asks Synod “to express the desire that the Church of England be in communion with the Anglican Church in North America”, founded last year by breakaway conservative Anglicans angry over the liberal shift in TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada.

The Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, a signatory of the motion, said it was the right question to bring before Synod, meeting this week in central London.

“It is important Synod has the opportunity to understand the good and godly life of ACNA and the ways in which God is using it at present,” he said.

“I don’t see it as an attack on TEC or the Anglican Church in Canada but an opportunity to be positive about ACNA and celebrate its presence and intentions, and to stand with it through its future.”

The bishop said a vote in favour “doesn’t affect anything” but would serve to inform the Archbishop of Canterbury when he responds to any formal requests in the future.

He said he was not aware of any attempt by TEC to stop the motion coming before Synod.

Ms Ashworth said the motion was “not about requesting formal processes” but rather fellowship and communion and “standing by brothers and sisters in Christ for the sake of the Gospel”.

Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, added that an expression of desire to be in communion would be “heartily received” given that ACNA now had more members than 12 provinces in the Anglican Communion, including those of Scotland, Wales and the Southern Cone.

He said: “We desire as close a relationship as possible and to keep that tie as real and present as we can.”