The Rt. Rev. Charles I. (Ci) Jones, Bishop of Montana, finds himself in a difficult situation. Bishop Jones, 56, is facing an ecclesiastical trial over allegations of sexual exploitation and immorality resulting from an alleged sexual affair with a woman in the early 1980s.

Bishop Jones will be tried in an ecclesiastical court in Minneapolis in September, with seven bishops acting as judges. He could be deposed, suspended or reprimanded.

The charges, brought by a woman who was a member of Bishop Jones' congregation when he was a vicar in Kentucky, were made public in 1993. Bishop Jones acknowledged the affair at the time and that led to a disciplinary agreement between Bishop Jones and the Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning, who was then Presiding Bishop. The agreement included a 30-day leave of absence.

The latest charges were made in February 1999 but were kept confidential until recent weeks.

In response, Bishop Jones issued a pastoral letter which was read or distributed at all 48 of Montana's Episcopal churches. He told members of the diocese that he deeply regrets the "embarrassment and pain" caused by the allegations, but said he will seek justice.

"As you well know, in 1993-94 we resolved the issue of my past behavior as a priest to the satisfaction of those involved with an agreement with the Presiding Bishop, with the Diocese of Montana, and as far as we know with the accuser," he wrote.

Bishop Jones said the accusation went to the Presiding Bishop in 1997 and 1998, following the revision in 1996 of the church's canons regarding sexual misconduct. He said the Presiding Bishop sought his resignation twice "despite my extensive efforts to make amends and reparation." Bishop Jones refused to resign, so the matter appears headed to ecclesiastical court. He said he hopes the matter can be settled informally without going through a trial.

"Ashby [his wife] and I have now had to deal with this threat of me losing my ministry and livelihood for over seven years with no resolution to the issue," the bishop wrote. "This third time, we decided that the process is abusive to us as well as the accuser, and it needs to be stopped and resolved for the future. No one else should have to go through this prolonged agony for a serious mistake made long ago in one's past, and for which one has been penitent and has sincerely sought to make reparation for damage done."

The Billings Gazette reported that Bishop Jones' attorneys, Edward Inman Curry III of Memphis, Tenn., and the Rev. Thomas Dooling, of Dillon, Mont., have filed a response in which the bishop denies the charges and seeks dismissal of the proceeding, claiming his constitutional rights under both federal and Episcopal Church constitutions have been denied.

Bishop Jones has been the diocesan in Montana since 1986.