The gay bishop whose appointment split the Anglican church is to preach from the pulpit of the historic St Mary's Church in Putney.

The Right Rev Gene Robinson's appearance on July 13 will embarrass Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams just days before a worldwide conference of church leaders.

Dr Williams has banned the American bishop from the Lambeth Conference, held in Canterbury, to try to appease traditionalists.

But Rev Robinson has been allowed to speak at a church barely three miles from Lambeth Palace, Dr Williams' residence, just three days before the conference begins in Canterbury.

The Rev Giles Fraser, the church's team rector, said: "I am delighted that Gene Robinson is preaching in Putney. His exclusion from the Lambeth Conference, a meeting for listening, is an absolute scandal. He is a gracious and deeply courageous man of God."

Robinson's appointment as Bishop of New Hampshire by the American sister church of the Church of England five years ago, split the worldwide Anglican network and deeply damaged Dr Williams' authority both at home and abroad.

The split on the gay issue was cemented last month at a global Anglican conference in Jerusalem, which declared that its supporters would no longer recognise churches with gay bishops.