Sydney, Australia - Sydney's Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen says a proposal to create a two-tier church catering to conservative and liberal Anglicans will not work.
But, Dr Jensen said, the argument between the two forces was really a struggle for the soul of world Christianity, particularly in the west.
The leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has proposed a two-tier worldwide Anglican church which would make liberal Anglicans, who for example support the consecration of gay bishops, associate congregations.
A row has been running between liberals and conservatives among the world's Anglicans since the consecration of an openly gay American bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003.
The conservative Dr Jensen says the split has really already happened and Dr Williams is just trying to make sense of what is going on around him.
"I don't think (the two-tier church) is going to work. I wish him well. I hope it does work. But I actually don't think it will work," Dr Jensen told ABC television.
Dr Jensen likened the split to a marriage separation and said the argument between Anglican conservatives and liberals would affect other churches in western Christianity.
"I'm not saying it is a divorce as yet, and I hope it doesn't come to that. But I think, in a sense, the different partners have agreed to live separately," Dr Jensen said.
"What's happening in the US for example is there is a liberal majority but there's a very strong conservative minority, and they've got to separate from each other in some sense, and this two tier-structure is just reflecting the reality of that separation."
For Dr Jensen, the argument over homosexuality in the church was won by God's word in the Bible on the issue instead of liberal discussion about human sexuality.
"And it's not just the Anglican church, this (argument) is going to affect other churches as well. It's really a struggle for the soul of world Christianity, particularly I'd say in the west."