1. THE TRIAL AND APPEAL OF A BISHOP. II. THE TRIAL OF A MEMBER OF CONFERENCE. III. PROCEEDINGS AGAINST A PREACHER ON TRIAL. IV. THE TRIAL OF A LOCAL PREACHER. V. THE TRIAL OF AN ACCUSED MEMBER. VI. THE JUDICIAL CONFERENCE. VII. APPEALS OF MINISTERS. VIII. APPEALS OF LOCAL PREACHERS. IX. APPEALS OF MEMBERS. X. RESTORATION OF CREDENTIALS. CHAPTER I. THE TRIAL AND APPEAL 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, appointed as hereinafter provided, 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. 216. The President of such Judicial Conference shall, at the commencement of the trial, appoint a Secretary, who shall make a correct record of the pro ceedings, and of all the evidence in the case, which, when read and approved, shall be signed by the President and Secretary. ¶ 217. In case of imprudent conduct, the Presid ing 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 ¶¶ 214-216. ¶ 218. 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 resides shall proceed as herein before specified. ¶ 219. 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 ་་ 214-216. ¶ 220. A Bishop shall have the right of Appeal to the ensuing General Conference, if he signify his intention to appeal within three months of the time when he is informed of his conviction. And in case of an Appeal, the record 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 record and documents only shall be used in evidence in the trial of the Appeal. The General Conference may, at its discretion, hear the Appeal by a Judicial Committee of its own number. 221. 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 would be made. NOTE.-For Amenability and Trial of a Missionary Bishop, see ¶¶ 182-188. CHAPTER II. THE TRIAL OF A MEMBER OF CONFERENCE. ¶ 222. 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 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. He shall preside throughout the proceedings, and shall certify and declare the verdict of the Committee; and he shall cause a correct record of the charges, specifications, proceedings, and evidence in the investigation to be kept and transmitted to the Annual Conference. § 2. But if the accused be a Presiding Elder, three of the senior Ministers of his District shall inquire into the character of the report, and, if they judge it necessary, they shall call in the Presiding Elder of any adjoining District of the Conference, who shall appoint a Committee of not less than five or more than nine Elders of the Annual Conference of which the accused is a Member, to investigate |