The Bishop of Liverpool has vowed to continue campaigning for gay marriage, days after the C of E announced it would not change its teaching following more than two years of debate.
Known for his pro-LGBT stance, Rt Rev Paul Bayes, described himself as a "bastard bishop" as he stood by a report published last week that refused to offer gay couples an official blessing in church.
Giving an insight into the depth of division in the Church, he admitted conservative colleagues could not even be in the same room as him because of his liberal stance.
The report published by the C of E's House of Bishops on Friday refused to change its stance that marriage is exclusively between one man and one woman. It insisted it would offer "maximum freedom" for LGBT couples within the current laws and teaching of the Church and promised "a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support for lesbian and gay people".
Bayes acknowledged many on the liberal wing of the C of E would feel an acute "sense of betrayal" after he spoke in support of gay marriage but endorsed the report by the body of bishops as a whole.
"I believe that the suggestions in the report, insufficient as they are, are nonetheless necessary; that they will help LGBT people in the church, will make a church less toxic than the one we have now," he wrote in a post on the blog ViaMedia.News.
But he added he would continue to work for "greater freedom" for LGBT couples in the Church.
"I will continue to seek the right way to be a bishop, in this season on this matter when those who disagree with me outnumber me," he wrote.
"I will struggle for a church where the love of the loving will be honoured, whomever they love.
"I will reach for and advocate for and enable the maximum freedom now, and I'll pray and work and hope for still greater freedom later."
The Bishop of Liverpool's comments come after the conservative Bishop of Maidstone, Rt Rev Rod Thomas, welcomed the report but raised concerns the promise to allow "maximum freedoms" might lead to "a wide range of church activities and practices which effectively undermine the Church's doctrine".
In a statement on Saturday he wrote: "Our current agreement to work together is provisional and that future work must take place within the parameters of the Church's doctrine."
GAFCON UK, a conservative grouping within the wider Anglican Communion, also welcomed the report but said it was not confident it would maintain the status quo for long.
"We need to express our serious reservations about the many ambiguities in the text relating to how we as Anglicans understand truth and goodness, sin and salvation, and how we should carry out pastoral and liturgical practice," a statement released on Friday read.
"We are concerned that the emphasis on freedom given to clergy in terms of pastoral practice, and the possibility of further revision to the church's teaching in future, will do nothing to prevent a trajectory which aligns with the ethics of contemporary culture rather than the challenging but life-giving teaching of the Bible."
