In a bid to stop the departure of male clergy who oppose the ordaination of women, they would be given their own "flying bishops" to perform pastoral duties, such as confirmation and ordination services. Diocesan bishops would lose their authority over the male traditionalist clergy. They would be told they must delegate powers to flying bishops chosen by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Liberals will be infuriated by the proposal, which represents a significant concession to the demands of traditionalists who had warned they would be forced to leave the Church of England without such safeguards.
Significantly, the new bishops would not be a temporary solution, but would have a legal status as the provision is included in the measure that will ultimately change the law to allow women to become bishops.
The proposal - to be debated by bishops in a private meeting this week - threatens to throw the historic reforms into disarray as female clergy have said they will not accept anything that discriminates against them in legislation.
Liberal campaigners had celebrated earlier this year when members of the General Synod - the Church's parliament - voted to block parishes opting into the care of flying bishops.
Now, however, the group responsible for drafting legislation for women bishops recommends that flying bishops are needed and will be appointed and backed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Furthermore, a code of practice affirms that those who "dissent from the promotion of women to the priesthood are loyal Anglicans".
Canon Jane Shaw, Dean of Divinity at New College, Oxford described the proposals as ludicrous and a betrayal of Synod's earlier vote. (Synod pic above)
"If they enshrine in law legislation that puts flying bishops in place they'll be going against the will of the Synod," she said.
"This would be totally undemocratic and completely inappropriate."
Dr Shaw added: "Women should be treated equally, but this effort to reach a compromise is unfair on fifty per cent of the human race.
"It will hamper women's ministry because it questions their legitimacy and authority."
She said it was "absurd" that a diocesan bishop shouldn't have oversight over all the parishes in their diocese.
One bishop said that he was "livid" that the Church seemed to have taken a step back in trying to appease traditionalists.
Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu are understood to support the proposal, which has been designed to reach a compromise over the divisive issue of women bishops, but which is expected to create a rift when the House of Bishops debates them behind closed doors this week.
The plan risks leaving both sides disappointed. While liberals are upset that opponents to the reforms are to be guaranteed their own bishops, traditionalists last night suggested that the concessions do not go far enough.
The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham, said that the proposal represented a significant improvement for Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals opposed to women bishops, but that it does not give them enough protection.
"I see this as an olive branch and it is certainly an improvement," he said.
"The problem is that it still does not deliver what we want and so risks creating an impasse by failing to please either side.
"The proposal means that the debate is improving and we intend to stay and fight until the end."
The traditionalists wanted the flying bishops to have their own jurisdiction rather than relying on having their authority delegated by the diocesan bishop, who could be a woman once the measure becomes law. This option was rejected by the drafting group.
The canon in church law that bars women from being promoted to the episcopate has been amended in the measure that will be presented to the bishops this week, bringing the consecration of the Church's first female bishop even closer.
Leading contenders to be the first woman bishop include the Very Rev June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury cathedral, the Very Rev Vivienne Faull, Dean of Leicester cathedral and Canon Lucy Winkett, precentor at St Paul's cathedral.
More than 1,300 clergy wrote to the archbishops of Canterbury and York before this summer's General Synod vote to say that they may have to defect from the Church of England if they are not given proper provisions when women are made bishops.
The Roman Catholic Church has repeatedly told the Church that consecrating women would make unity and shared Communion impossible.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, the head of the Council for Christian Unity, attended a House of Bishops meeting last year to urge caution over proceeding with a move that would not be recognised by either the Orthodox or Catholic Churches.
He added that if the ordination of women as priests had led to a "cooling off" of relations between the Anglican and Catholic Churches, making women bishops would cause a "serious and long-lasting chill".
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(Source: TCO)