Dr David Hope, the Archbishop of York, gave warning to the General Synod at the weekend in his address. He stated that the Church was in real danger of being overwhelmed by the issue of homosexuality.

He argued that the controversy was seriously distracting the Church from its main aim of spreading the Gospel, and was threatening a major split within the Church.

"What I plead for is not that we shall not have opinions and views, but that the tenor and tone of the way we both handle and debate deeply disputed issues ought to be such that honour the Saviour in our midst," he said.

Hope referred to past major disputes in the Church since its early days, and pointed out that the Church's very existence has been threatened in the pst, but the troubled times had always blown over eventually. However, he scolded members of the Synod for their apparant breakdown of trust. He passionately stated that these very people and groups were the ones who should be united in their common purpose and goal of bringing the Kingdom of God here to Earth.

The Archbishop compared the Synod's internal lack of trust to the dioceses whom it seems show each other great trust that should be followed.

"Why is it, I wonder, that we seem to be so suspicious, to be ready to think the worst rather than the best of each other?" he asked.

The Archbishops frustrations with internal quarrelling were vented not only due to the split over homosexuality issues, but also over continued disagreements over finances and reorganisation.