CHAPTER IV

GENERAL CONFERENCE DECISIONS OF LAW

¶33. Complaints and Charges

§ 1. The question, "Are there any Complaints?" does not refer to Members of Annual Conferences, but refers (1) to charges of crime brought against Preachers on Trial in the Annual Conference; (2) to complaints made against the moral or official conduct of Local Preachers; and (3) to complaints made against the official conduct of members of the Quarterly Conference other than those named above.-Journal, 1884, p. 376.

§ 2. The dismissal of a preliminary complaint is not a bar to a new complaint.-Journal, 1884, p. 372.

¶ 34. Testimony

§ 1. Questions relating to the admissibility of evidence are Questions of Law.-Journal, 1848, p. 127.

§ 2. Documentary Evidence need not be spread on the Journal, but should be filed and preserved by the Secretary.-Journal, 1848, p. 129.

¶35. Irregular Proceedings

§ 1. When an Annual Conference decides that a Preacher in Charge has received or expelled a member contrary to the Discipline the decision does not exclude the member so received, but restores the member so expelled.-Journal, 1852, p. 73, and Journal, 1860, p. 297.

§ 2. When the Annual Conference decides that a member of the Church has been expelled contrary to the

Discipline, such act of the Conference does not restore him to good standing in the Church, but simply restores him to membership in the Church; and when so restored he is placed in the position he occupied before he was tried that is, he is an accused member; and hence the Preacher is not at liberty to give him a Certificate of Membership.-Journal, 1860, p. 298.

§ 3. Irregularity in the reception of a member is not a bar to trial.-Journal, 1860, p. 298.

§ 4. If an expelled member shall gain membership elsewhere without confession, contrition, and satisfactory reformation, his membership is null and void, and any Certificate of such membership should not be received.— Journal, 1884, p. 378.

¶ 36. Appeals

§ 1. When an expelled member has by neglect or otherwise forfeited his right to Appeal, a subsequent Quarterly Conference may not hear his Appeal.-Journal, 1860, p. 298.

§ 2. If a Member of an Annual Conference should die pending his Appeal to a Judicial Conference, his death does not affect the Appeal, which may still be prosecuted by his heirs or legal representatives.—Journal, 1884, p. 375.

37. Vacancies in General Committees

When a Minister or Layman shall be elected a member of any General Committee, to wit: The Book Committee, the General Missionary Committee, etc., he shall reside within the General Conference District that he represents at the time of his appointment. And if, for any cause, he shall remove beyond the limits of such District, or shall cease to be a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his office shall become vacant; and

the Board of Bishops shall appoint a successor from the same Conference to which the retiring member belonged, or within the bounds of which he resided. The provisions of this paragraph relating to the filling of vacancies shall not apply to vacancies occurring in the Book Committee.-Journal, 1876, 1908.

38. Members of Annual Conferences

§ 1. The Episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church is a unit, and our economy assumes harmony of action. But Bishops are many, and in the division of the work into different Conferences presided over by different Bishops, a Bishop can, in accordance with the Discipline and usages of the Church, transfer an effective Preacher, with or without his desire, into a Conference under the jurisdiction of another Bishop without at the same time himself giving him an appointment. But every effective Preacher is entitled to an appointment within the Conference of which he is a member. His transfer to another Conference carries with it this right, and should not therefore be made without at the same time making adequate provision in a regular manner for his protection. Nevertheless, if a Preacher requests such a transfer to a Conference not to meet for some time after his transfer, he cannot complain if he does not receive work till the next ensuing session of the Conference after such transfer.-Journal, 1884, p. 372.

§ 2. An action of the General Conference changing the boundaries of an Annual Conference does not of itself affect the Membership of Supernumerary and Superannuated Preachers, their Membership remaining as before such action till adjusted by mutual agreement of the Conferences affected by such change of boundaries.-Journal, 1884, p. 374.

§ 3. Absentees from the session of an Annual Conference may not vote in the election of Delegates to the

General Conference, nor upon proposed amendments to the Constitution.-Journal, 1896, p. 274.

¶ 39. Orders

§ 1. The question of electing a Preacher to Orders who has not passed an examination on the Course of Study prescribed for Preachers applying for Órders may not be submitted to a vote of the Conference. A Bishop may not submit to the vote of an Annual Conference the question of obedience to a law of the Church.-Journal, 1884, p. 376.

§ 2. The Orders of a Roman Catholic Priest may not be recognized by an Annual Conference.-Journal, 1884, p. 373.

¶ 40. The Pronouns "He," "His,"

"Him"

The pronouns he, his, and him, when used in the Discipline with reference to Stewards, Class Leaders, and Sunday School Superintendents, shall not be so construed as to exclude women from such offices.-Journal, 1880, p. 339.

¶ 41. Licensing and Ordaining Women

1. The Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church does not provide for nor contemplate the licensing of women as Local Preachers; and therefore the action of a Quarterly Conference, and of a District Superintendent as the President thereof, in granting such license is without authority of law, is not in accordance with the Discipline as it is, and with the uniform administration under it.-Journal, 1880, pp. 353, 354.

§ 2. The law of the Church does not authorize the ordination of women to the Ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and a Bishop is not at liberty to

submit to the vote of the Conference the question of electing women to Orders.-Journal, 1880, p. 353.

§ 3. The General Conference judges it inexpedient to take any action on the subject of licensing women to exhort or to preach; and that it is also inexpedient to take any action on the subject of ordaining women to the Ministry. Journal, 1884, p. 317.

42. Quarterly Conferences

§ 1. The Quarterly Conference may remove Trustees at any time for cause, where statutes of the State do not prevent.-Journal, 1892, p. 490.

§ 2. Supernumerary and Superannuated Ministers residing out of the bounds of their Annual Conferences are members of the Quarterly Conferences where they reside, and are entitled to vote therein.—Journal, 1892, p. 490.

¶43. Annual Conferences Continuous

1. Individual members come in and go out; but the Conference itself continues. It may adopt rules for its government and Rules of Order for its Annual Sessions, the same to continue at its pleasure and to be amended or repealed as it may provide. In short, it is a permanent body. Journal, 1904.

§ 2. The status of an Annual Conference is not affected by the fact that its membership falls below the number required by the Constitution for the organization of an Annual Conference. But the General Conference should so exercise its undoubted constitutional powers in this matter as to provide that such Annual Conferences as fall below the required number shall be by consolidation or otherwise brought up to that number, or that they shall be reduced to the status of Mission Conferences.Journal, 1904.

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