The division is thought to be the result of an ongoing investigation by the Episcopal Standards Commission into allegations of misconducted against Ballarat Bishop Michael Hough.

However, in a statement released yesterday, the Ballarat diocese has disputed the claims.

According to a concerned group of Ballarat parishioners, 20 clergymen have moved away from the diocese and attendances at Sunday morning services have dropped by at least two-thirds in just 12 months.

In a statement this week, the group claimed some parishes are without an incumbent priest or rector, and services are being conducted by retired clergy, deacons and lay people.

Spokesman for the concerned group of Anglicans, church layman Mr Euan Thompson, expressed the view that a level of divisiveness within the diocese was harmful to the future of the church and the diocese.

In July last year, the Episcopal Standards Commission decided to appoint an independent investigator to examine allegations of bullying and harassment by Bishop Hough against clergy and lay people in the diocese.

"Unfortunately, our diocese has now become a two-structured system: the supporters of Bishop Michael Hough and the loyal supporters of the clergy and lay people, many of whom made formal complaints to the Episcopal Standards Commission some 18 months ago," Mr Thompson said.

"We are also concerned that competent experienced clergy may no longer want to come to the diocese of Ballarat while it is in such a divided state."

In a statement from the Ballarat Anglican Diocese, Bishop Hough's registrar, Robin Mitchell, disputed the number of clergy leaving the diocese.

"The diocese accepts that a number of priests have left in the six years since Bishop Hough was enthroned. However, the reasons for the departures were many and varied. We also note that during that time 17 priests from other dioceses and four ordinands have joined the Ballarat dioceses, and three women deacons have been ordained," Mr Mitchell said.

"We'd also suggest in rural Victoria all denominations face a similar problem caused by depopulation. For example, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat makes extensive use of retired clergy, nuns who run parishes as parish leaders, and lay women working in parishes under a district priest."

Mr Mitchell said the claim of a two structured system, comprising loyal supporters was not one the diocese accepted.