Until recently, Episcopalians, like fellow Anglicans in other nations, opposed remarriage while the original spouse is living, based on Jesus' strict teaching (Matthew 5:31-32, 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18), reaffirmed by Paul (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).

The committee minority quoted 1 Timothy 3:2, that a bishop must be "above reproach," but delicately dropped the succeeding phrase saying he must be "the husband of one wife."

The Common Cause Theological Statement affirms basic Christian and Anglican beliefs not as historical documents, but as living truth. Among the affirmations are the following:

* Holy Scripture is the "Word of God containing all things necessary for salvation,"

* "We confess the historic faith of the Undivided Church as declared in the Catholic Creeds,"

* "We believe the teaching of the Seven Ecumenical Councils in so far as they are agreeable to Holy Scriptures"

"That church has departed -- spiritually dead and about to be administratively isolated. Its schismatic withdrawal from Christian doctrine has moved it away from traditional Anglicans in America and the big majority of international communicants," said LEAC, which mounted the indictment initiative in May as a measure to test legally the church's positions on controversial issues.

They issued a statement at a press conference refuting the June 28 decision to seek "alternative primatial oversight" for the diocese and the formation of a boundary-less, theologically conservative province.