The posts of dozens of bishops, archdeacons and cathedral deans could disappear under proposals for cuts in the Church of England to be debated next month.

The General Synod, the Church’s parliament, will be asked to consider cutting the number of senior clergy in the established Church to bring them into line with falling clergy numbers.

The call appears to stand a good chance of winning backing from clergy and laity amid a feeling that a reduction by nearly a third in the number of stipendiary clergy over just two decades has left the Church top heavy.

Maintaining the episcopal apparatus in just one diocese, if a bishop’s house and support staff are taken into account, costs an average of £500,000.

Added up across dioceses, these are fast becoming costs the Church can ill afford as parishioners are asked to find more cash for clergy pensions and historic assets of the Church fall in value because of the recession.

The Rev John Hartley will, on behalf of the Bradford diocesan synod, ask the General Synod at its meeting at York University in mid-July to “formulate proposals for reductions in the numbers of episcopal and senior clergy posts”.

If passed, a report with recommended number of cuts in bishops will come back to the Synod for approval in three years.

The exercise could coincide with plans to merge or change the boundaries between some dioceses in an attempt to reduce administrative and staff costs.

The Church of England has 44 diocesan bishops, including the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and 69 suffragan or assistant bishops.

In addition there are 42 cathedral deans and dozens more archdeacons and residentiary cathedral canons.

All apart from the Archbishops could be at risk in the cost-cutting, although senior clergy still enjoy the protection of freehold or “jobs for life” meaning any reduction will have to be by leaving posts vacant when incumbents retire.

Falling investment returns combined with a £352 million pensions shortfall mean the Church can no longer spend what it did on paying clergy and episcopal stipends and expenses.