A VICAR has offended his parishioners by encouraging women to "be silent" and "submit" to their husbands.

Vicar Angus MacLeay issued a leaflet to churchgoers saying that women should "not speak" if questions could be answered by their husbands.

The leaflet, entitled "The Role of Women in the Local Church", adds that wives should "submit to their husbands in everything".

It continues: "Wives are to submit to their husbands in everything in recognition of the fact that husbands are head of the family as Christ is head of the church.

"This is the way God has ordered their relationships with each other and Christian marriage cannot function well without it."

The leaflet under a section called "more difficult passages to consider" continues: "It would seem that women should remain silent...if their questions could legitimately be answered by their husbands at home."

Dozens of women have cancelled their subscriptions at St Nicholas Church in Sevenoaks, Kent, where married MacLeay is rector after the leaflet was handed out.

Last Sunday, the curate at the same church delivered a "medieval" sermon called "Marriage and Women", telling women to "submit to their husbands" to make marriage work.

Reverend Mark Oden, a married father-of-three, told the congregation: "We know marriage is not working.

"We only need to look at figures one in four children have divorced parents.

"Wives, submit to your own husbands."

During the sermon Rev Oden also blamed "modern woman" for the high divorce rates in the UK.

Speaking after it was revealed that many women had cancelled their church subscription and vowed not to return to the church, Rev Oden said he was "passionate" about saving the institution of marriage.

He added: "I am passionate about helping people to have healthy marriages.

"I did not set out to unnecessarily offend people, but I stand by what God has said in his word the Bible."

One female member of the church said she was "disgusted" by the sermon, adding: "How can they talk that way in the 21st Century?

"No wonder the church is losing touch if this is the kind of gobbledegook they want us to believe in.

"I will not be going back to that church and will have to seriously consider my faith if this is the nonsense they are spouting now."

Another, who didn't want to be named, said: "We're supposed to let our husbands talk for us and remain silent?

"What kind of medieval sermon is that we are not in the 15th Century. I have already cancelled my direct debit to the church."

A spokeswoman for the church today admitted the leaflets had been handed out to the congregation.

She said: "The leaflets were handed out to members of the congregation but Angus is not available at the moment."