A new Church of England service for transgender people could “harm” children, an open letter signed by more than 2,000 clergy has claimed.

Some 2,155 bishops, priests and lay members of the church have added their names to the letter which condemns new guidance released last month on gender transition.

In December, the church announced vicars would now be able to hold a special service so transgender people could celebrate their new identities.

But there has been a steadily growing backlash to the proposals, culminating in the open letter which attacks them as “deeply concerning” and “lacking in serious theological analysis”.

The signatories caution rapidly-developing theories about gender could cause “more harm than good” to children experiencing gender dysphoria and call on the Church of England’s House of Bishops, which approved the reforms last year, to “revise, postpone or withdraw” them until concerns have been addressed.

The letter states that while gender dysphoria was an “emotionally painful experience that requires understanding, support and compassion”, the House of Bishops appears to have ignored the potential for damage caused by “novel and largely untested theories about sex and gender”.

It also argues the guidance implicitly undermines the church’s understanding of marriage by endorsing the idea there is no difference between male and female.