renewal of License annually by the Presiding Elder, or Preacher having the Charge, if approved by the District or Quarterly Conference.

Deaconesses.

¶ 207. The duties of the Deaconesses are to minister to the poor, visit the sick, pray with the dying, care for the orphan, seek the wandering, comfort the sorrowing, save the sinning, and, relinquishing wholly all other pursuits, devote themselves, in a general way, to such forms of Christian labor as may be suited to their abilities.

¶ 208. No vow shall be exacted from any Deaconess, and any one of their number shall be at liberty to relinquish her position as a Deaconess at any time.

¶ 209. In every Annual Conference within which Deaconesses may be employed, a Conference Board of nine members, at least three of whom shall be women, shall be appointed by the Conference to exercise a general control of the interests of this form of work.

T210. This Board shall be empowered to issue certificates to duly qualified persons, authorizing them to perform the duties of Deaconesses in connection with the Church, provided that no person shall receive such certificate until she shall have served a probation of two years of

continuous service, and shall be over twenty-five years of age.

1211. No person shall be licensed by the Board of Deaconesses except on the recommendation of a Quarterly Conference, and said Board of Deaconesses shall be appointed by the Annual Conference for such term of service as the Annual Conference shall decide, and said Board shali report both the names and work of such Deaconesses annually, and the approval of the Annual Conference shall be necessary for the continuance of any Deaconess in her work.

T 212. When working singly each Deaconess shall be under the direction of the Pastor of the Church with which she is connected. When associated together in a home all the members of the home shall be subordinate to and directed by the Superintendent placed in charge.

127

PART III.

ADMINISTRATION OF DISCIPLINE.

CHAPTER I.

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

The Trial of a Bishop.

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

¶ 214. 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 thereof, 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 five neighboring Conferences. And the said Judicial Conference shall have full power

to try the accused Bishop, and to suspend him 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.

¶ 215. The accused shall have the right of peremptory challenge, yet not so as to reduce the number of the Judicial Conference below twenty

one.

1216. In case of imprudent conduct, the Presiding Elder within whose District the alleged offense occurred 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 214, 215.

¶ 217. In case the alleged immorality or imprudence has been committed without the bounds of any District, the Presiding Elder within the bounds of whose District the Bishop may reside shall proceed as hereinbefore specified.

T218. 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 ¶¶ 214, 215.

T219. The President of such Judicial Conference shall, at the commencement of the trial ap

point 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.

¶ 220. 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.

T221. Complaint against the administration of a Bishop may be forwarded to the General Conference, and entertained there: provided, that in its judgment he has had due notice that such Complaint will be made.

The Method of Proceeding against accused Traveling Ministers or Preachers.

T222. 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 between the sessions of the Annual Conference the Presiding Elder shall call