PART III.

ADMINISTRATION OF DISCIPLINE.

CHAPTER I.

BRINGING MINISTERS AND MEMBERS TO TRIAL, AND THE SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES.

The Trial of a Bishop.

¶ 200. A Bishop is answerable for his conduct to the General Conference, which shall have power to order the manner of his trial.

T 201. When a Bishop is accused of immoral conduct, the Presiding Elder within whose district said immorality is alleged to have been committed shall call to his aid four Traveling Elders, which five ministers shall carefully inquire into the case; and if, in their judgment, there is reasonable ground for such accusation, they, or a majority of them, shall prepare and sign the proper charge in the case, and shall send a copy there. of, so signed, to the accused, and shall

give notice thereof to one of the Bishops. Said Bishop, so notified, shall convene a Judicial Conference, to be composed of the Triers of Appeals in the five neighboring Conferences. And the said Judicial Conference shall have full power to try the accused Bishop, and to suspend lin from the functions of his office, or expel him from the Church, as they may deem his offense requires. One of the Bishops shall preside at his trial.

T 202. The accused shall have the right of peremptory challenge, yet not so as to reduce the number of the Judicial Conference below twenty-one.

T 203. In case of imprudent conduct, the Presiding Elder within whose district the offense occurs shall take with him two Traveling Elders, and shall admonish the Bishop so offending. In case of a second offense, one of the Bishops, together with three Traveling Elders, shall call upon him, and reprehend and admonish him. If he still persist in his imprudence, he shall then be tried in the manner ordered in TT 201, 202.

¶ 204. In case the alleged immorality er imprudence has been committed with out the bounds of any district, the Pre

siding Elder within the bounds of whose district the Bishop may reside shall proceed as hereinbefore specified.

¶ 205. When a Bishop disseminates, publicly or privately, doctrines which are contrary to our Articles of Religion or established standards of doctrine, the. same process shall be observed as is prescribed in TT 201, 202.

T 206. The President shall, at the commencement of the trial, appoint a Secretary, who shall take regular minutes of the trial, and of all the evidence in the case, which, when read and approved, shall be signed by the President and Secretary.

T 207. A Bishop shall have the right of appeal to the ensuing General Conference, if he signify his intention to appeal at the time of his conviction, or when informed thereof. And in case of an appeal, the minutes of the trial and all the documents relating to the case, including the charges and specifications, shall be transmitted to the ensuing General Conference, which minutes and documents only shall be used in evidence in the trial of the appeal.

¶ 208. Complaints against the administration of a Bishop may be forwarded

to the General Conference, and entertained there: provided that, in its judgment, due notice has been given.

The Method of Proceeding against accused Traveling Ministers or Preachers.

T 209. When a member of an Annual Conference is under report of being guilty of some crime expressly forbidden in the word of God, sufficient to exclude a person from the kingdom of grace and glory:

§ 1. In the interval of the Annual Conference sessions the Presiding Elder shall call not less than five nor more than nine members of the Conference to investigate the case, and, if possible, bring the accused and accuser face to face, and cause a correct record of the examination to be kept and transmitted to the Annual Conference. If the charge be sustained, he shall be suspended from all ministeriai services and Church privileges until the ensuing Annual Conference, at which his case shall be fully considered and determined.

§ 2. But if the accused be a Presiding Elder, three of the Senior Preachers of

his district shall inquire into the character of the report, and, if they judge it necessary, call in the Presiding Elder of any adjoining district, who shall appoint Я committee of not less than five nor more than nine Elders of the Annual Conferance of which the accused is a member, to investigate the case, and he shall also preside at the examination.

§ 3. If the accused, after due notice given him, shall refuse or neglect to appear before the Committee, the investigation shall proceed in his absence.

§ 4. A supernumerary or superannuated preacher residing without the bounds of his own Conference shall be subject to the investigation prescribed in ¶ 209, § 1, under the authority of the Presiding Elder of the district within which he resides. But, in such case, all the papers, including the record of the investigation, charges, evidence, and findings, shall be transmitted to the Annual Conference of which the accused is a member at its ensuing session, on which papers and such other evidence as may be admitted the case shall be finally determined.

§ 5. If, in any of the foregoing cases, counsel has not been provided for the