233. In case any Member of an Annual Conference be deposed from the Ministry without being expelled from the Church, he shall have his Membership in the Church where he resides.

¶ 234. After a Minister shall have been regularly tried and expelled he shall have no privileges of Society or Sacraments in our Church, without contrition, reformation, and confession, satisfactory to the Conference from which he was expelled.

¶ 235. When a Traveling Preacher is accused of immorality and desires to withdraw from the Church, the Annual Conference may permit him to withdraw, in which case the record shall be, "Withdrawn under complaints." If formal charges of immorality have been presented, he may be permitted to withdraw, in which case the record shall be, "Withdrawn under charges:" and if thus withdrawn under "complaints," or under "charges," the relation to the Church of the Preacher thus withdrawn shall be the same as if he had been expelled.

CHAPTER III.

PROCEEDINGS AGAINST A PREACHER ON TRIAL.

¶ 236. A Preacher on Trial in an Annual Conference is, in reference to Amenability and Appeal, considered as a Local Preacher; but in his case the Presiding Elder shall perform the duties which are prescribed to the Preacher in Charge in the case of an accused Local Preacher.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TRIAL OF A LOCAL PREACHER.

¶ 237. When a Local Preacher (ordained or unordained) is reported to be guilty of some crime expressly forbidden in the word of God, sufficient to exclude a person from the kingdom of grace and glory, the Preacher in Charge shall call a Committee of investigation, consisting of three or more Local Preachers, before which it shall be the duty of the accused to appear, and by which, if the charge is sustained, he shall be suspended from all Ministerial services and Church privileges until the next District or Quarterly Conference. If the accused refuse or neglect to appear before said Committee, the investigation may proceed in his absence. And the Preacher in Charge shall cause exact minutes of the charges, testimony, and proceedings in the investigation, together with the decision of the Committee, to be laid before the District or Quarterly Conference, where it shall be the duty of the accused to appear for trial.

238. Should the Conference order a trial, its President shall appoint a Secretary, who shall make a correct record of the proceedings and evidence in the case, and if the accused be found guilty, the Conference shall affix a penalty to the offense, according to 197.

239. Should. the District Conference having jurisdiction in the case of an accused Local Preacher judge it expedient to try him by a Select Number, it

may appoint not less than nine nor more than fifteen of its members for the purpose, the accused having the right to challenge for cause; which Select Number, in the presence of a Bishop or an Elder whom the President of the District Conference may appoint, and with a Secretary appointed by the District Conference, shall have full power to consider and determine the case according to the rules which govern District Conferences in such cases: and the Secretary shall make a faithful report in writing of all the proceedings and evidence to the Secretary of the District Conference, and shall deliver up to him all the papers in the case.

1240. In case of improper tempers, words, or actions, the Local Preacher so offending shall be admonished by the Preacher in Charge. Should a second transgression take place, one, two, or three Members of the Church are to be taken as witnesses. If he continue to offend, he shall be tried at the next District or Quarterly Conference, and, if found guilty and impenitent, he shall be expelled from the Church.

241. When a Local Preacher disseminates, publicly or privately, doctrines which are contrary to our Articles of Religion or established standards of doctrine, let the same process be observed as is directed in ¶¶ 237, 238.

¶ 242. When a Local Preacher fails in business, or contracts debts which he is not able to pay, let the Preacher in Charge appoint three judicious Members of the Church to inspect the accounts, contracts, and circumstances of the supposed delinquent; and if, in their opinion, he has behaved dishonestly, or contracted debts without the probability of paying, let the case be disposed of according to ¶¶ 237, 238.

¶ 243. When, in the judgment of the Presiding Elder, a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in the Quarterly Conference where the accused holds his membership, the Presiding Elder may refer the case to some other Quarterly Conference within the bounds of his District for trial.

CHAPTER V.

THE TRIAL OF AN ACCUSED MEMBER.

I. Immoral Conduct.

¶ 244. A Member of the Church accused of immorality shall be brought to trial before a Committee of not less than five Members of the Church who are not members of the Quarterly Conference. They shall be chosen by the Preacher in Charge, and, if he judge it to be necessary, he may select them from any part of the District; and the parties may challenge for cause. The Preacher in Charge shall preside in the trial, and shall cause a correct record of the proceedings and evidence to be made.

¶ 245. If the accused person be found guilty by the decision of a majority of the Committee, and the crime be such as is expressly forbidden in the word of God, sufficient to exclude a person from the kingdom of grace and glory, let the Preacher in Charge expel him.

¶ 246. But if in view of mitigating circumstances and of humble and penitent confession the Committee find that a lower penalty is proper, it may either

impose censure on the offender, or suspend him from all Church privileges for a definite time, at its discretion.

¶ 247. If the accused person, after sufficient notice given him, shall refuse or neglect to appear before the Committee, he may be tried in his absence, and, if found guilty, he shall be expelled.

II. Imprudent and Unchristian Conduct.

or

¶ 248. In cases of neglect of duties of any kind, imprudent conduct, indulging sinful tempers words, the buying, selling, or using intoxicating liquors as a beverage, signing petitions in favor of granting license for the sale of intoxicating liquors, becoming bondsmen for persons engaged in such traffic, renting property as a place in or on which to manufacture or sell intoxicating liquors, dancing, playing at games of chance, attending theaters, horse races, circuses, dancing parties, or patronizing dancing schools, or taking such other amusements as are obviously of misleading or questionable moral tendency, or disobedience to the order and Discipline of the Church-first, let private reproof be given by the Pastor or Leader, and if there be an acknowledgment of the fault, and proper humiliation, the person may be borne with. On the second offense the Pastor or Leader may take one or two discreet Members of the Church. On a third offense let him be brought to trial, and if found guilty, and there be no sign of real humiliation, he shall be expelled.