The evangelical parishes that opposed his appointment, not just in Oxford Diocese but throughout the Church, are among the wealthiest in the land.

Schismatic action by them to seek alternative oversight and to divert funds into independent trusts and away from the diocese, in response to Dr John’s ordination, would have brought the Established Church close to bankruptcy.

In the run-up to yesterday’s announcement, it became clear that such threats were not in the least bit empty.

Canon John was at home in Southwark when he was notified on Friday evening that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, wished to see him at Lambeth Palace at 8am the next day. The meeting lasted six hours. Alongside Dr Williams, for some or all of the meeting, were Jeremy Harris, the Archbishop’s secretary for public affairs, and the Rev Jonathan Jennings, his press secretary, both senior staff members who were appointed by the former Archbishop, Dr George Carey, an evangelical. Beside Dr John was the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev Richard Harries, who was responsible for the choice of Dr John for Reading.

The Bishop of Southwark, the Right Rev Tom Butler, asked to be allowed into the meeting but was refused permission. He spoke personally to Dr Williams on the telephone as the meeting progressed, arguing the case for Dr John to stay, to no avail.

During the meeting, Dr John was told that, for the good of the Church, he should stand down. The consequences of the appointment going ahead were laid out before him in full.

These included the threats by parishes in the Oxford Diocese that they would refuse to recognise the ministry of Dr John, that they would withdraw funding from the diocese and that they would seek alternative episcopal oversight.

Dr Williams was concerned about the effects of the appointment on unity not just in the Oxford Diocese but in the wider Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion. Dr Williams is keen not to go down in history as the man who presides over what could yet become the biggest schism in the Church since the Reformation. In spite of yesterday’s announcement, he is known now as a homophile and conservatives will be constantly watching him to ensure that he remains in line with fundamental biblical principles on the issue of sexuality.

Dr Williams was concerned about the effect of the appointment on the Oxford Diocese, where he feared that parishes would seek “twinning” arrangements with dioceses and parishes overseas. This could have led to conservative bishops from abroad being invited to preside at confirmations and other ceremonies. At the heart of the Archbishop’s concerns was the question of Dr John’s acceptability to his future flock.

During the ordination, which had been scheduled at Westminster Abbey for October 9 and was to be carried out by Dr Williams, the Archbishop would have addressed the clergy with the words: “Those who have authority to do so have chosen Jeffrey as a man of godly life and sound learning to be a bishop in the Church of God. Is it therefore your will that he should be ordained?” It was not so much the event itself, or the possibilities of cries of “It is not” going up from the ranks of the clergy, that concerned Dr Williams, so much as the principle encapsulated in the question.

The “acceptability” of the candidate was crucial in his deliberations.

Meetings and protests from the Oxford clergy and senior diocesans, as well as advice from his own staff, had convinced Dr Williams that Dr John was not acceptable as the next Bishop of Reading. At his meeting with Dr John, he attempted to explain this but because the two are friends, and together founded the liberal movement Affirming Catholicism, he did not find it easy.

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