by a blank for the acknowledgment of the same in accordance with the following form:

"The Certificate of Transfer of the membership of

A. B. from the
Church in

copal Church in

is hereby acknowledged.

has been duly received as a Member

of this Church and thereby ceases to be a Member of the Church which issued the Certificate.

Pastor."

§ 4. A complete record of each transfer shall be kept on the stub in the Certificate book in the following form:

Name of member requesting transfer.

Charge to which Certificate is issued..

Date on which Certificate is issued.

Date of acknowledgment of Certificate and actual transfer of membership.....

Name of Pastor or District Superintendent issuing Certificate

Name of Pastor or District Superintendent acknowledging Certificate.

§ 5. When a Pastor shall have received a member on said Certificate, he shall notify the Pastor of the Church from which it was issued in the blank form which accompanies Certificate, as provided in § 3.

§ 6. If the residence of a member who has removed cannot be ascertained for one year, the words, "Removed without Certificate," shall be written against his name in the Record of Church Membership; and such name shall not be counted in the returns of statistics. But membership in the Church can be terminated only by the withdrawal, expulsion, or death of the member. Any member of our Church

having united with another Denomination without a Note of Recommendation shall be recorded as "Withdrawn."

¶ 56, § 1. A Certificate of Membership may not be refused, if demanded by a member removing his residence, except for reasons that justify and require judicial proceedings against such member.

§ 2. A Certificate of Membership shall not be given unless a change of the place of holding membership is actually intended.

§ 3. A Pastor may give a Note of Recommendation to any member who wishes to unite with any other Evangelical Denomination.

§ 4. Whenever a Pastor is appointed to another Charge he may complete the record of his Pastorate by entering in the Church Record opposite the names of the members of his family who are Church members: "Member of Pastor's family, transferred to "; and enter the names on the Record of his new Charge with the note: "Member of Pastor's family, transferred from

.....

¶ 57. When any member in good standing proposes to withdraw from the Methodist Episcopal Church he shall communicate his purpose in writing to the Pastor of the Church. On receiving such notice of withdrawal, the Pastor shall enter the fact of withdrawal upon the Record of Church Membership; and such withdrawal cannot be retracted except by consent of the Pastor and the Quarterly Conference.

IV. Classes and Class Meetings

¶ 58. The design of the organization of Classes and the appointment of Leaders is:

§ 1. To establish a system of pastoral oversight that shall effectively reach every member of the Church.

§ 2. To establish and keep up a meeting for social and religious worship, for instruction, encouragement, and admonition, that shall be a profitable means of grace to our people.

§ 3. To aid, when desired, in carrying out the Financial Plan of the Church. ¶ 299.

¶ 59, § 1. The primary object of distributing the members of the Church into Classes is to secure the subpastoral oversight made necessary by our itinerant economy.

§ 2. Let the Classes, wherever practicable, be composed of not more than twenty persons, and let the Leader report at each Quarterly Conference the condition of his Class as follows:

1. Number of Members in the Class.

2. Number of Probationers.

3. Average attendance.

4. Number habitually absent.

5. Number of Class Meetings held

6. Number who contribute to the support of the Church.

7. Number of visits made.

8. Number of heads of families in the Class, and how many of them observe family worship.

9. Number of Church papers taken by Class members.

10. Miscellaneous matters.

§ 3. Let each Leader be careful to inquire how every member of his Class prospers; not only how

each person outwardly observes the Rules, but also how he grows in the knowledge and love of God.

§ 4. Let the Leaders converse with their Pastors frequently and freely.

¶ 60. In order to render Class Meetings interesting and profitable, let the Pastor remove improper Leaders and see that all the Leaders are of sound judgment and truly devoted to God.

¶ 61. In the arrangement of Class Meetings two or more Classes may meet together and be conducted according to such plan as shall be agreed upon by the Leaders in concurrence with the Pastor.

¶ 62. Let care be observed that Class Meetings do not fall into formality through the use of a uniform method. Let speaking be voluntary or the exercises conversational, the Leader taking such measures as may best assist in making the services fresh, spiritual and of permanent religious profit.

¶ 63. Let the Leaders be directed to such a course of reading and study as shall best qualify them for their work. Especially let such books be recommended as will tend to increase their knowledge of the Scriptures and make them familiar with those passages best adapted to Christian education. Whenever practicable let the Pastors examine the Leaders in the studies recommended. Appendix, ¶ 70.

CHAPTER II

SPECIAL ADVICES

I. Slavery

¶ 64. We declare that we are as much as ever convinced of the great evil of Slavery. We believe that the buying, selling, or holding of human beings, to be used as chattels, is contrary to the laws of God and nature, and inconsistent with the Golden Rule, and with that Rule in our Discipline which requires all who desire to continue among us to "do no harm," and to "avoid evil of every kind." We therefore affectionately admonish all our Ministers and people to keep themselves pure from this great evil, and to seek its extirpation by all lawful and Christian means.

II. Dress

65. Let all our people be exhorted to conform to the spirit of the apostolic precept, not to adorn themselves "with gold, or pearls, or costly array" (1 Tim. 2. 9).

III. Marriage

¶ 66, § 1. We do not prohibit our people from marrying persons who are not of our Church, provided such persons have the form, and are seeking the power, of godliness; but we are determined to