LONDON, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - Anglican clergy from across the world gathered Sunday for the final day of the Lambeth Conference, held once in a decade, amid a bitter row about the position of gays in the church.

The Lambeth Conference is a key event for the worldwide Anglican Communion -- which has around 77 million followers led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Some 650 bishops and archbishops are in Canterbury, southeastern England, for intensive sessions of worship, study and conversation at the University of Kent campus.

About 200 bishops -- including those from Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda -- are staying away because of the consecration five years ago of the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, the bishop of New Hampshire in the United States.

The event also comes amid moves by bishops from Africa, Australia and the US to create breakaway grouping in protest at Robinson's consecration.

The meeting, which kicked off on July 17, began the final day with morning prayers. The bishops will then hold a closing plenary session, followed by more worship at Canterbury Cathedral.

Robinson, the first Anglican bishop to live openly in a gay partnership, was not invited to the conference but hold events on the sidelines.

The Lambeth Conference is named after Lambeth Palace, which is the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury where the first conference was held back in 1867.