AUGUSTA (AP) – A legislative committee wasted little time Tuesday before killing a bill to bar members of Maine’s clergy from performing marriage ceremonies, following a hearing on the measure in which even the sponsor acknowledged the bill appeared doomed.

The Judiciary Committee’s unanimous vote against Rep. Boyd Marley’s proposal torpedoes a measure that had drawn sharp opposition from a variety of religious leaders.

Committee members said they had received hundreds of e-mails expressing concern about the bill.

Even Marley, D-Portland, said at the start of the hearing that the bill’s chances of passage were slim at best. Marley said his bill was not intended to provoke or offend clergy members, and said it arose from concerns raised by some of them about keeping church and state duties separate.

One of those clergymen, Rev. Mark Rustin of the North Deering Congregational Church in Portland, said there’s no need for clergy to be given special civil authority to perform wedding ceremonies.

He told the committee that the authority to solemnize marriages was a holdover from the colonial days, and warned that religious and civil roles should be kept separate.

An opponent, Rev. Robert Emrich of Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church in Plymouth, rejected the notion that clergy members become agents of the state by acting in a dual religious-civil role during weddings. Also opposing the bill was the Catholic Diocese of Portland.

Even before Tuesday’s hearing, opponents made their feelings known.

Maine Republican Party Chairman Joe Bruno issued a statement calling Marley’s bill “an extreme and completely unnecessary piece of legislation.”

“This legislation adds nothing but confusion to current statues and policies, not to mention the time-honored traditions of our communities here in Maine,” Bruno said.

Maine GOP Vice Chairman Mark Ellis said the bill would eliminate many of the choices couples have for marriage certification.

The Christian Civic League of Maine’s Web site called the bill “a waste of legislative time.”