A VICAR whose congregation is divided over its affiliation to the Church of England said news of a lesbian priest becoming a bishop in the US could divide the Anglican church further.

Father David Waller, of St Saviour's CofE Church, in Markhouse Road, Walthamstow, said the announcement that a vicar in Philadelphia could become the denomination's first openly gay female bishop does not sit comfortably with all members of the Anglican church.

The Reverend Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, has urged the Episcopal Church USA not to allow her ordination.

Fr Waller said: “The issue about how the Anglican community relates to one another and to others is important.

"The more it fragments, the more it becomes a different church. All these divisions make it difficult to engage in conversations with other churches. If Anglicans have such a broad spectrum, their identity can become blurred.”

Fr Waller told the Guardian recently that his church is considering an invitation by Pope Benedict XVI to join his section of Christianity following members becoming disillusioned over changes within the Anglican church such as the ordination of women and gay rights.

St Margaret's, in Woodhouse Road, Leytonstone, St Michael's, in Palmerston Road, Walthamstow, are also considering the Pope's invitation.

The possible move has angered some worshipers though and Fr Waller became the victim of intimidation when he received an threatening anonymous call and discovered graffiti on a a church sign which said, "C of E No Pope".

He said there have been no further attacks since the backlash last month.

“It is in the very early stages and there have been no plans or decisions yet, but it is something we are seriously considering,” he said.

“There are a significant number of people who have said they no longer feel at home with the Anglican church and wonder if Catholicism is the way forward.

“In the extreme, there are people who say the church has to keep up to date and reflect the culture in which it lives. And at the other extreme, some things are given as a constants and it is really up to the church to give the values of God, not the other way around. It depends where you stand between those values.”