Gay marriage and abortion are the prime hot-button issues but others include sex before marriage and the role of women in the clergy. In Lichfield, some wealthy gay donors to the church feel themselves alienated by anattitudewhich forces gay vicars to be celibate and fails to recogniseequal marriage.

The more "traditional" family values may not be something we all buy into, but one of the main tenants of a truly liberal society is that that liberalism cant be forcefully imposed on the people from above. The UK, and more specifically the Church of England, are clearly places of diverse opinion. The question is: how do they all come together?

At present, the worldwide Anglican Communion is undergoing a demographic shift. As the average British churchgoer becomes older and older, much of the growth is coming from socially conservative African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.

With the UK and the US increasinglysecular and accepting of gay marriage, the Communion is faced with a dilemma: embrace liberalism and risk alienating many Anglican communities from the developing world or court those same communities and become out-of-step with 21st Western liberal values.

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If the Church of England continues to smother liberal Anglicans, it is heading for a split - Telegraph.co.uk