Couples will gain a wider choice of churches in which to marry under legislation to be considered by the Church of England.

Currently a couple can only marry in a church where one of them is resident or on the parish electoral roll.

But under measures to be debated by the General Synod meeting in York next month, couples would gain the right to marry in a church where one of the couple had been baptised, confirmed or previously been to school in the parish.

They could also choose a parish on the grounds that a relative such as a parent or grandparent is resident.

Stephen Slack, legal adviser to the Synod, said that previous decisions of the General Synod had backed the changes. He said: "In essence, this is because the marriage rules are seen by many as legalistic and restrictive, at a time when the Church is seeking to encourage couples to marry in the rite of the Church of England."

The Synod will also debate a motion calling for the reintroduction of the married couple’s tax allowance, which was abolished in 2000 by Gordon Brown. The private members motion says that reinstating the tax break would boost the institution of marriage.

But the knottiest subject of debate at the Synod is likely to be the introduction of women bishops into the Church of England.

The Synod voted last July to remove the legal obstacles which prevent women from being ordained as bishops. Since then, however, church leaders have failed to reach agreement on how best to introduce the historic reform.

A proposal for Transferred Episcopal Arrangements (TEA) - allowing parishes opposed to women bishops to opt for the care of a male bishop - have proved unpopular with both traditionalists and those in favour of women bishops, who claim it merely institutionalises discrimination.

In a bid to prevent a split over the issue, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will ask for consent to set up a new legislative drafting group, to draw up a range of possible measures for consideration by the House of Bishops and the General Synod. The first women bishops would almost certainly be delayed until after 2012.

William Fittall, general secretary of the General Synod, said that the new proposals did not mean that the TEA scheme was being ruled out.

He said: "We are in that classic situation where all the evidence suggests that quite a large majority are for going ahead with women bishops. But people want to go ahead in different ways and are not yet ready to settle on what that might be their preferred option."

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will also ask the Synod in a separate motion to approve the introduction of women bishops as theologically justified.

A note to the General Synod from Dr Sentamu and Dr Williams said: "We are conscious that, for many, it is a matter of frustration that the Church of England is finding it difficult to come to a clear mind on the way forward. The decisions that we face do, however, affect our fundamental identity as Anglicans within the Church of God."

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