Clergy who are guilty of serious misconduct may be stripped of their holy orders after the Church of England’s ruling body voted to reinstate “defrocking”.

All priests, from newly ordained curates to the archbishop of Canterbury, could be defrocked under new disciplinary measures backed by the General Synod, which is meeting in York.

The Church of England is considering shifting its teachings to refer to God without using gendered language, succumbing to progressive pressure to change ancient religious practices to conform to modern woke mores.

“Christians have recognised since ancient times that God is neither male nor female,” a spokesperson for the Church told Reuters. “Yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship.”

This coming week promises to be one of the most historic—and controversial—in the life of the Church of England, as its governing body, General Synod, heads toward a resolution of a long debate over blessings of same-sex couples.

After years of wrangling over how the church should deal with homosexuality, its bishops announced in mid-January that they would not agree to same-sex marriage but were prepared to bless civil unions. They followed with an apology for the way that LGBTQI+ people were treated by the Church of England.

For the first time in history, new U.K. census data reveals a majority of people in England and Wales don't call themselves Christian anymore – a result that has sparked calls for the end of the church's involvement in government and schools.

New data for 2021 released Tuesday by the Office of National Statistics shows 46.2% of people identified themselves as Christians, compared with 59.3% of the population a decade ago.