A century or more ago, the Church of England sent missionaries to Africa with instructions to convert the heathen.

Now, with attendance figures in sharp decline and the Anglican Church in turmoil over homosexuality, bishops are to be told that they must start converting the heathen closer to home.

New mission orders are being drawn up to rebuild British faith, and in an ironic reversal of history, some of the missionaries could be from Africa and Asia.

The orders form part of a new church law that will create a more flexible parish and diocesan structure. Under the new rules, bishops would be able to fly in a new priest to turn around a flagging parish while the incumbent is still there. The measure would allow evangelical bishops to assert their beliefs over liberal clergy by sending in like-minded evangelicals. Similarly, liberal bishops could defy parishes that were hostile to gays in the Church.

Missionaries would also be sent to thriving parishes to offer a fresh perspective. Each mission would be assigned a monitor who would report on its activities to the bishop.

The aim is “to promote or further the mission of the Church”, according to a report to be submitted to the General Synod. Those missionaries that are ordained priests would be able to celebrate Communion.

The orders, which will be debated by the General Synod this month, are the latest example of how the Church is trying to diffuse tensions over homosexuality that threaten to break the Church apart. Next week, in Tanzania, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will try to avert a formal split over the issue at a meeting of Anglican primates.

The issue will also feature at this month’s synod. Members will debate a motion that attacks the bishops for failing to “state clearly” that civil partnerships are “inconsistent” with Church teaching, and another that calls for congregations to “welcome and affirm” lesbians and gay Christians — lay and ordained — and to value their contribution at “every level of the Church”.

The synod will also debate the row over alleged racist bullying and the treatment of Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother. A motion will ask whether standards are being “fatally eroded” by “constant subjection” through the media to “suggestions and images promoting the exploitation of other human beings”.