The Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, has appealed to the Portadown Orange lodges and the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition to find a solution to the Drumcree stand-off.
"As July approaches and widespread apprehension is obvious throughout the province, I appeal once more to the Portadown Orange lodges and the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition to seek, even at this late hour, to reach some accommodation which will remove from the entire community the threat of widespread unrest and disorder," the archbishop said yesterday.
He wanted to encourage all efforts aimed at seeking a solution which was "honourable and fair to both sides". He added: "I continue to pray for those efforts and again urge both sides to recognise the vital importance of making some progress to removing a problem which has serious implications for the community far beyond Portadown."
The Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore, Dr Harold Miller, yesterday called on the Grand Lodge to become the "voice for the moderate majority".
"Now is the time for the Grand Lodge to speak out with courage, and to be a voice for the moderate majority. If they do not, they will become complicit in the continuing tragedy which is Drumcree," Dr Miller said.
While the church would always uphold the right of peaceful protest, that was not possible when 3,000 Orangemen paraded to a small church in an emotionally-charged atmosphere, he added.
Referring to the "Long March", a 117-mile Protestant rights walk from Derry to Portadown due to begin tomorrow, arriving at Drumcree on July 4th, Dr Miller urged the organisers to call off the event.
"I plead with those involved in setting up and organising this march, which they claim to be for human rights, to call it off and take a different approach."
The convenor of the Peace Pledge Ireland Campaign, Mr David Bleakley, yesterday called on Northern Ireland's churches to take a united Drumcree initiative.
In a letter to the four church leaders, Mr Bleakley suggested a shared community parade down the Garvaghy Road led by all the church leaders as an act of "much-needed core leadership".
Meanwhile, the Friends of Garvaghy Road have vowed to step up the pressure on the Taoiseach to specify what the Government intended to do to "protect the rights and safety" of Garvaghy Road residents.
The SDLP Assembly group has urged absolute restraint on all sides during the Long March and asked both communities not to be drawn into confrontation.
The Alliance Party's Chief Whip, Mr David Ford, backed calls for the Long March to be called off.
The Sinn Fein Assembly member for Upper Bann, Dr Dara O'Hagan, called on the Orange Order to enter into dialogue with communities with whom they wished to host their parades.