The dissenting group includes seven diocesan bishops, as well as three suffragan bishops elected to the house and bishops designated as Provincial Episcopal Visitors, who are non-voting members. There are currently 53 members of the House of Bishops.

In their statement, they call on their colleagues to "reconsider the course we saw mapped out in our meeting".

Disagreement among the bishops on the issue of same-sex relations is well known, but Monday's statement -- which began "The Church of England's House of Bishops has agreed . . ." -- gave the impression of its being a collective decision of the whole house, given the concession it contained to refer the Prayers to the General Synod.

But Thursday's statement undermines this apparent collegiality. It continues: "We have participated in good faith in attempts to find consensus but were unable to support the decisions taken on Monday. There was deep disagreement within the House.

"Sharing the profound concerns of many in the Church of England and in the wider Communion, with heavy hearts we find it necessary to dissent publicly from the decisions of the House."

The signatories to the statement are the Bishops of Blackburn, Chichester, Guildford, Hereford, Rochester, Sheffield, and Southwell & Nottingham, along with the Suffragan Bishop of Lancaster, Dr Jill Duff (the only woman on the list), and the Suffragan Bishops of Beverley and Islington, as well as the Bishop of Ebbsfleet and Oswestry, each of whom ministers to a constituency of the Church that does not accept the ministry of women priests and bishops.

They set out their opposition to the commendation of the prayers separately from the authorisation of the new services, saying that it "does not permit the General Synod to consider the full significance of the prayers".

In an echo of letters sent to the College of Bishops in the summer (News, 14 July), the group suggests that "legal and theological advice the house has received suggest clearly to us that the decisions of the house may fall short" of a commitment that the new prayers would not be "indicative of a departure from the doctrine of the Church of England".

They also seem to criticise the process by which the prayers are being approved, writing that the Bishops "must have due regard to the obligations of good and proper governance".

On Thursday afternoon, the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) released a statement welcoming the bishops' decision to publicise their dissent. The national director of the CEEC, Canon John Dunnett, said that he was "very grateful to these bishops for critiquing the process by which the House of Bishops is pursuing their agenda for change.

"There must be proper and fit use of power, not misuse and abuse of power. I wonder if there's a hint here that good process in respect of the use of power has not always been at the top of the agenda. I share with the signatories the deep desire that we remain true to the gospel as entrusted to us."

But Jayne Ozanne, a General Synod member and campaigner for LGBT inclusion in the Church, described the statement by the dissenting bishops as "pretty appalling behaviour".

She said: "They will never agree to anything -- it's time the rest of the House stood up to them. The 'unity at any cost' mantra only ever hurts LGBT people, who continue to bear the weight of a dysfunctional leadership."

SINCE the House of Bishops' announcement on Monday, there has been pressure on Bishops to recant their decision, of which Thursday's statement is just the most significant example.

To read the Premier Christianity story go here: https://www.premierchristianity.com/uk-church/exclusive-dissenting-bishops-speak-out-on-same-sex-blessings/16497.article