Evangelical Christians are being urged to repent of their homophobia by their fellow evangelicals.

A handful of 'affirming evangelicals' who believe the Bible does not condemn homosexual practice have written to their colleagues on the Church of England's ruling General Synod calling on them to admit their prejudice.

Five members of the Evangelical Group on the General Synod wrote to the pressure group outlining 'significant concern' over the 'the high levels of homophobia that appear to go unacknowledged and unchallenged'.

The letter highlights deep divisions over gay relationships that run throughout the CofE, even among evangelicals who are traditionally seen as conservative on sexuality.

Signed by Anthony Archer, Canon Simon Butler, Gavin Collins, Dr Angus Goudie and Jayne Ozanne, the letter urges conservatives to admit the harm of gay conversion therapy and the 'desperate consequence for Christian mission of the Church's teaching on sexuality'.

The five members of synod write: 'How are we to assess the fact that many people in secular society regard the Church's views on sexuality not just as bewildering, but as positively morally deficient, and so fail to see the gospel as a potential source of Good News?'

The call comes after a tense first day on the Church's synod as conservatives and liberals locked horns on the issue.

A report by the Church's bishops says there is 'little support' to change teaching that marriage is exclusively between one man and one woman.

It promised 'maximum freedom' for gay couples within current laws and called for 'a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support' for LGBT people but offers no change to doctrine or practice.

The report will be subject to a 90-minute 'take note' debate on Wednesday and a wholesale campaign by pro-LGBT Christians hopes to see the report struck down.

Gay rights campaigners used the opening afternoon of synod to launch repeated calls on the Archbishop of Canterbury to extend the time allocated for the debate and remove two and half hours of private group work.

Zoe Heming told synod 'a longer debate would be a safer space' for gay members.

If the campaigners succeed and the report is not passed it cannot be discussed until the end of this synodical cycle in 2020.