The fracking industry has praised the Church of England (CoE) after two groups at the church tentatively backed the controversial technology as a way to help the UK cut carbon emissions.

Shale gas was a “potentially useful element” in switching to a low-carbon economy as it was cleaner than coal, so long as it did not harm renewable energy’s expansion, a church briefing paper said.

The view puts the church at odds with Christian environment groups opposing fracking, who say it risks exacerbating global warming and holding back cleaner alternatives such as wind and solar power.

The church said it had been prompted to assess fracking because communities affected by exploration applications had looked to it for leadership.

But while the CoE said “legitimate concerns” on fracking should be heard and that it sympathised with people in areas such as Lancashire, Yorkshire and the east Midlands who are likely to see the first exploratory fracking in the UK, it did not oppose the technology.

Ken Cronin, CEO of industry body Ukoog, welcomed the document published on Wednesday by the Mission and Public Affairs Council and the Environment Working Group.

“We commend the committee for the care it took to review all available research and opinions,” he said. “We agree that shale gas can be a useful component in transitioning to a low-carbon economy and that there is a robust planning and regulatory regime.”

Christian groups said the church should oppose fracking. “We oppose the development of new fossil fuel reserves and believe the Church of England should oppose fracking due to the impact on the environment and climate change,” said a spokesman for the Christian charity Operation Noah.

“The Church of England should support and increase investment in clean alternatives to fossil fuels.”

Dr Alison Doig, principal climate advisor at Christian Aid – which is against fracking, said: “Getting energy from gas is certainly better than coal, but to keep to climate targets and protect the world’s vulnerable people from threat of climate change, we need much quicker progress than switching between different fossil fuels.”

While the paper was described as “representative of both groups’ current thinking”, the church said it did not have an official policy on fracking.

“This is not a policy paper,” said Malcolm Brown, head of the public affairs council. “It is a briefing paper to outline key issues and to highlight that fracking is not morally different from any other extractive industry – it’s about context.”

The briefing paper contained several caveats in its conditional support. “If developing the techniques of fracking provides an alibi for relaxing efforts to reduce carbon consumption, it is obviously unhelpful,” it said.

Other major faith groups in the UK do not take a position on fracking. The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Muslim Council of Britain both said they did not have a policy on it.

The Church of England has been keenly watched by investors for its leadership on fossil fuels and climate change, after it divested coal and tar sands oil from its £9bn investment fund in 2015.