London, England - The Church of England could begin severing its links with the state next month when it debates whether the Prime Minister should continue choosing cathedral deans.
The debate at the General Synod in York will be initiated by one of its most senior members, Canon Christina Baxter, the chairman of the House of Laity and a member of the Archbishops' Council.
It comes at a critical moment for the Church as Gordon Brown, who will shortly take over as Prime Minister, has indicated that he wants to reform the whole area of ecclesiastical appointments.
He appears willing to give up the Prime Minister's historic right to select Church leaders, including Archbishops of Canterbury and other diocesan bishops.
Mr Brown, the son of a Church of Scotland minister, has reportedly asked officials with close links to the Church to investigate how best to renounce powers of patronage. But he will need Church cooperation if he is not to spark a constitutional crisis.
If the Synod votes to remove the Crown from the process of appointing deans - the clerical "chief executives" of the country's cathedrals - it will be pushing at an open door at Downing Street.
But traditionalists will nevertheless warn that going too far down such a route could lead to the unravelling of all the Church's ties with the state, including the right of bishops to sit in the Lords.
Canon Baxter's call for the Crown to end its role in choosing deans will come during a debate on a report reviewing the appointments of a raft of senior clergy. The report is expected to urge better methods of identifying and promoting talented candidates.
Insiders say there is a groundswell in the Synod for the Church to wrest greater control of its affairs from the state to give it more freedom to deal with the unprecedented pressures facing it.