He said: 'In my own prayer life and as part of my daily discipline I pray in tongues every day -- not as an occasional thing, but as part of daily prayer.'

He said he had been encouraged by words of knowledge and prophecy: 'I expect to hear from God through other people with words of knowledge or prophecies -- some of which I am unsure about, others I can sense there being something of the Spirit of God.'

But not this time. Justin Welby has been called on to think again and preside over the appointment of someone whose views are less of a slight to the integrity of the Holy See. After all, much of the energy that drove the secession of the Church of England in the first place was a determination to believe and practice the faith as it was encountered in reading the Gospels. It is odd, to say the least to appoint to this office a man who cannot take the New Testament at face value.

Challenged by the clergy that 'the situation is serious' and 'if not addressed, we would all struggle to support the leadership of our bishops in this matter and a number of our churches may want to seek alternative means of receiving episcopal ministry,' the bishops simply responded that they needed to be 'honest'.

The survey also found that more than two-thirds have been on the receiving end of verbal abuse and one in five has experienced threatening behaviour over the last two years.

The findings, released on Friday, also showed that clergy who have suffered violence are more likely to find their work "more challenging" than they did previously.