The Rev Dr Gavin Ashenden, above, has lashed out at the The Church of England, saying it is ‘dying’ and is ‘more comfortable with politics and power than it is with the Holy Spirit.’

Ashenden, according to this report, resigned his position as chaplain to the Queen last week after he voiced his opposition to a passage from the Koran being read in a Glasgow Cathedral.

It’s thought he quit after conversations with Buckingham Palace and officials from the Church of England.

He told The Conservative Woman that he felt he had to leave the role because “if you make political enemies, or your face does not fit, or you fail to adopt increasingly secular values” you get left behind.

The Church, he said, was:

So politicised that it matters more now that you are a feminist than a theologian.

He encouraged Christians to “leave their church” if they seek to be faithful to the gospel of Christ.

Demographically and financially it is dying. Spiritually it appears to be on its last legs too.

I’m not sure I see much point in a church that just wants to be accepted as a sort of not too irritating chaplain to a secular and hedonistic culture, which is what it seems to be becoming.

I want to remain a faithful Anglican, but increasingly it looks like that is only possible outside the C of E.

It has opted for a kind of spiritualised socialism and feminism in opposition to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You get new life when you repent. But there is no sign that it is ready to take that path.

The C of E was also roundly condemned by gay Christians who reacted angrily to the announcement today that the Church it will maintain its opposition to same-sex marriage.

The Bishop of Norwich, Rt Rev Graham James told Premier the issue of same sex marriage is not up for discussion.

What the Bishops have concluded – the majority of them –  is that there shouldn’t be any change to the doctrine of marriage as we’ve received it.

Our understanding of marriage comes from scripture, the tradition, the lived experience of the church and is sharing with nearly every other Christian church throughout the world.

But Rev Colin Coward, above, the gay priest from Changing Attitudes said that Bishops have let LGBT people down.

I hoped that the bishops would do something to improve the integrity of their position and of the position of lesbian and gay partners – lay people and clergy in the church – and they done absolutely nothing.

I think it’s one of the most appalling pieces of work that bishops have produced in my lifetime – and certainly in my 40 years of ministry in the church – it does nothing whatsoever and in fact takes us in a backward direction.

According to the BBC, in an open letter to the bishops, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement said the report was proposing a “don’t ask, don’t tell” plan for gay Clergy.

This essentially asks clergy to dissemble and keep the nature of their relationships hidden – far from equalising the situation between straight and gay clergy, it pushes LGBTI+ clergy back into the closet.

The organisation’s Chief executive Tracey Byrne said:

LGBTI+ people who have participated in this process in good faith, at considerable personal cost, will feel angry and disappointed that there appears so little real change … This is another missed opportunity which further undermines the mission of the established Church to convey the gospel promise of good news for everyone.