Three days of private discussions will be held between members in York on how the Church can move forward on the issue.
It follows years of debates between liberals who want full acceptance of gay marriage and conservatives who say the Bible is clear marriage is between a man and a woman only.
Discussions on the issue have already been held at a local diocesan level but this is the first time there will be formal debates at the Synod.
"The majority of Synod is seeing them as an essential stage in our development," said Synod member Revd Canon Jonathan Alderton Ford.
He told Premier there were many people who felt the discussion were a "con". "That's really a mistake," he stressed, "this process is just to get people to talk to each other about where they're coming from and what they feel about the issue."
There will be no motion or vote on recognising same sex marriage at this Synod.
Revd Canon Jonathan Alderton Ford told Premier reports that some conservative members might boycott the talks were unfounded.
"What people who are of a conservative ilk are saying to their colleagues is, look, we need to hear the conservative voice properly and if half the conservatives don't turn up then actually that voice isn't heard.
"Boycotting the talks doesn't help anybody".
It's unlikely there will be any news from the discussions which are being held in secrecy.
Any update from the meetings will not come from the Church, officials said.
Speaking at the Church's General Synod last November the man in charge of the shared conversations warned they were "going to be risky".
David Porter, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Director of Reconciliation, told the General Synod that after the meetings around the country it was clear 'some people don't want to talk'.
"What we're offering is facilitated space, not mediated space.
"Safe space does not mean that you won't hear things that you'll find difficult or even at times offensive.
"It will be a guarded space."
