LIBRARY OF THE University of California. GIFT OF r Class " ^/:a CcZf^^^ ''<^~^.M -,„ /. ^^?. 4. A Cdongrpgattonal Hanual THEORY AND PRACTICE FOR THE USE OF MINISTERS, CHURCHES AND DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLIES GOVERNED BY CONGREGATIONAL USAGE BY WILLIAM E. BARTON, D. D. n Pastor of the First Congreeational Church of Oak Park ^ Of THE \ UNtVSRSITY 1 Of J 1310 V^ Copyright 1910 By WILLIAM E. BARTON VYTN - Of THE UNIVERSITY OF PREFACE. For several years the writer has conducted the ''Pas- tors' l>epartment" of **The Advance," to which department come frequent letters concerning ques- tions of Congregational polity, and repeated inquiries where a book may be found containing a comprehen- sive statement of Congregationalism as it exists at the present time. To this question no satisfactory answer can be made. In 1865 Rev, Henry Martyn Dexter, D. D., published his "Congregationalism — What It Is, Whence It Is, and How It Works. ' * It was a monumental work, and one which entitles his memory to lasting regard. In 1880 he issued his pocket ** Handbook of Congregation- alism." A few years later Rev. Dr. A. Hastings Ross issued his ''Church Kingdom," following it with a briefer "Congregational Manual," the best expression of that type of Congregationalism then developing in the Central and Western States, and prophetic of the larger Congregationalism which is yet to be. All these books, excellent in their day, are now out of print, nor has anything since published taken their place. The nearest approach to it was ' ' The Congregational Way, ' ' by Rev. Dr. George M. Boynton, published in 1903. In 1892 the National Council authorized the publication of "A Concise Manual of Congregationalism, for the Facilitating of the Organization of New Churches." This little book appeared in 1896, and is an excellent pamphlet superseding earlier booklets of the same character by Dr. James Tompkins and Dr. Joseph E. Roy. AH these books, each of distinct value, make plainer the need of a book containing much more information than the Council Manual, yet issued in a volume small enough to be carried in the pocket. In previous books of this character, the subject of Parliamentary Law has been treated in a single brief chapter, and for more extended information the reader has been referred to general manuals, prepared for legislative assemblies, debating societies, and women's 91K«5d P B E r A C E clubs. These are valuable, but inadequate. Thomas B. Keed wrote: "Parliamentary bodies ^liffer so much in their nature that it would be impossible that they should be governed with equal advantage by a common system of parliamentary law." (Heed's Eules of Order, p. 49.) It is time for a manual based on ecclesiastical prece- dents. The present volume gives primary recognition, not to the rules of Congress, but to those of the National Council, and other ecclesiastical assemblies. Our recent changes have necessitated some new forms; and these, after conference with a number of men of experience, are here provided. I acknowledge the courtesy of Rev. J. A. Adams, D.D., of The Advance; Rev. A. E. Dunning, D.D., of The Congregationalist; Rev. E. F. Williams, D. D., Lecturer on Congregational Polity, and Prof. C. E. Beckwith, D.D., of Chicago Theological Seminar}^, for valuable suggestions, ancl of many friends whose en- couragement has been of substantial service. For advice in legal matters touched upon, I am indebted to Hon. T. C. MacMillan and to Mr. John L. Pearson, attorney for the Illinois Home Missionary Society. It was the good fortune of the author to study Cen- gregational polity under Dr. A. Hastings Ross, and to hear from his lips the whole of his volume on "The Church Kingdom," and later to come under the some- what intimate influence of Dr. A. H. Quint, the fore- most authority in his day on Congregationalism. The author had the further advantage of beginning his ministry in a field where a number of little churches had to be organized and maintained; and in subsequent years has had a somewhat Avide experience in councils and denominational assemblies East and West, Our polity is midway of a notable evolution. We cannot wait for current movements to bring forth their full fruition. "We know in part and we prophesy in part." This volume attempts to be a handbook of our polity as it now is, and is issued in hope that it may be a contribution also toward that more perfect polity which is yet to be. William E. Barton. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I THE LAW OF DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLIES I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 1. The Government of Assemblies 19 2. Special and General Rules lU ;>. Parliamentary Law liO 4. The Government of Ecclesiastical Bodies 120 o. Congregational Law 21 tt. The Purpose of All Rules '21 7. General Remarks 22 II. ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS 8. Organization of Informal Meetings 2.'» y. The Organization of Permanent Bodies 24 10. Temporary and Permanent Organizations 25 11. Quorum 25 12. Business After Quorum Is Lacking 20 lo. Doing Business Before Quorum Is Complete 20 14. Temporary Organization Without Quorum 20 15. Checks Upon Business Without Quorum liT 10. Debate Without Quorum 28 17. Officers 28 18. Duties of the Moderator 28 11). The Part of the Moderator in Facilitating Business 2!» 20. The Moderator's Vote 29 21. The Moderator in Debate ;>0 22. Calling Another Member to the Chair iiO I'M. The Necessity for Decision oO 24. The Scribe ;51 25. Other Officers ;J1 20. General Remarks o2 III. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS 27. Members 33 28. Credentials 33 21). Corresponding Members '33 .■;i). Discussion bv Those Not Members 34 .'.1. Rights of Members 34 ;;2. Duties of Members 34 .!.■!. Special Duties 35 34. General Remarks 35 IV. THE INTRODUCTION OF BUSINESS .'!5. Methods of Introducing Business 30 :'.0. The Form of a Motion •. 30 37. Reducing a Motion to Writing 30 38. Seconding a Motion 37 39. Motions That Do Not Require a Second 37 40. Motions That Require More Than One Second. ... 38 41. Oneral Remarks 38 V. RULES GOVERNING DISCUSSIONS 4L'. When Discussion Is in Order 39 43. Opening and Closing Arguments 39 44. Number of Speeches by One Member ^9 45. What Constitutes an Address . oi)- 40. Speaking Before the Motion Is Made 40 47. Motions Undebatable -40 48. General Remarks 40 TABLE OF CONTENTS VI. THE RIGHT TO THE FLOOR 49. Gaining the Floor 41 50. Wtiom the Moderator Shall Recognize 41 51. Yielding the Floor 41 52. Yielding for One Purpose or for All 48 53. Speaking to the Question 4o 54. General Remarks 44 VII. THE CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIONS 55. Main Question 46 56. To What Motions the Main Question Yields 46 57. Subsidiary, Incidental and Privileged Questions.. 47 58. Subsidiary, Incidental and Privileged Questions — Continued 47 59. Unanimous Conseut 48 VIII. MODIFYING MOTIONS 60. Classes of Modifying Motions 49 61. Amendments 49 62. The Amendment of an Amendment 50 63. Substitutes 50 64. Division of the Question 50 65. Effect of Subsidiary Motions on Amendments.... 51 66. Motions That May Not Be Amended . , 51 67. Filling Blanks 51 68. What Is Germane 52 IX. SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS 69. To Commit 53 70. To Postpone to a Certain Time 54 71. To Postpone Infle'finitely 54 72. To Lay on the Table 54 73. The Abuse of the Motion to Table 55 74. To Take From the Table 56 75. To Limit Debate 56 76. To Extend the Limits of Debate 56 77. The Previous Question 56 78. No Previous Question in National Council 57 79. ' To Reconsider 58 80. To Rescind 59 X. INCIDENTAL MOTIONS 81. Concerning Rules and Orders 60 82. The Orders of the Day 60 83. To Make a Subject a Special Order 60 84. To Amend or Suspend the Rules 60 85. To Take Up a Question Out of Its Proper Order. . 61 86. Concerning the Priority of Business 61 87. The Suppression of the Question. 61 88. The Reading of Papers 62 89. Parliamentary Inquiries 62 90. The Withdrawal of a Motion 62 91. Appeal From the Decision of the Chair 63 92. Points of Order 63 XI. QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGE 93. An Important Distinction 05 94. What Are Privileged Questions? 65 95. What Are Questions of Privilege? 65 96. Questions of Personal Right 65 97. Questions of the Rights of the Assembly 66 —8— TABLE OF CONTENT J)8. Precedence in Questions of Privilege 66 •J9. Restriction on Questions of Privilege 66 100. To Whom Questions of Privilege Are Addressed. . . 67 101. Leave to Continue Speaking After Indecorum 67 102. Questions Incident to Questions of Privilege 67 103. General Remarks 68 XII. THE VOTE 104. Methods of Voting 69 105. Voting by Sound, Show of Hands or Rising 69 106. Voting by Ballot 69 107. Election by Ballot 69 108. Majority Required for Election 70 109. Electing by a Single Ballot 70 110. Voting by Ayes and Noes 71 111. Question Open Till Both Sides Have Voted 72 112. Changing Votes 72 113. Announcement of the Vote 72 114. Making a Vote Unanimous 72 115. All Must Vote 73 116. Personal Interest Excludes From Vote 73 117. Forms of Putting Motions 74 XIII. CLOSING THE MEETING 118. To Take Recess 76 119. To Adjourn 76 120. The Effect of Adjournment on Unfinished Business 77 121. To Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn 78 122. General Remarks 78 XIV. COMMITTEES 123. Reason for Committees 79 124. Special Committees 79 125. Standing Committees 80 126. Committees Should Be Representative 80 127. Reports of Committees 80 128. Majority and Minority Reports '. . . . 81 129. Reports Upon Reports 81 130. Section by Section 81 131. Committee of the Whole 81 PART II CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE I. THE ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES The Organization of a Church Without Council 85 The Organization of a Church With Aid of Council 88 The Association Acting as Council 89 The Recognition of a Church 89 The Disbanding of a Church 90 Uniting Two Churches 91 Dividing a Church 92 Receiving Churches From Other Denominations 92 The Incorporation of a Church 93 Corporation Seal ' . . 95 II. THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH MEETINGS The Call of the Meeting 96 The Presiding Officer 96 —9— TABLE OF CONTENT Records 97 The Financial Management of the Church 98 Annual Church Meetings 98 III. THE PARISH OR SOCIETY. Reasons for the Parish . 99 Powers and Limitations 99 Disadvantages of the System 101 IV. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. Conditions of Membership 102 The Rights of Members 104 The Majority Rule 105 The Rights of the Minority 106 Duties of Members of the Church , 107 Dismission 107 What is Good and Regular Standing? 108 When May a Church Refuse u Letter? 108 Status of iJismissed Members 108 Dropping Names f »-om Roll 109 Letters Without Dismission 110 Dismission to Organizations Out of Fellowship 110 Discipline of Church Members Ill Testimony at Church Trials 112 The Expulsion of a Member 113 The Right of a Church to Discipline Its Members 113 The Law of Libel 113 V. THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER His Twofold Relaiion < , 116 An Ancient Inconsistency 116 The Value of Installation 120 The Termination of a Pastorate 120 The Legal Value of Ministerial I{ei)Utation 123 The Prerjogatives of the Pastor 126 VI. THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION Uniform Terminology 127 The Churches in Association .' 127 Association Not Voluntary 128 Licensure and Ordination 128 Incorporation 129 Growing Responsibility 129 The Orgauizations of the Association 129 Ministerial Members of Associations 130 Shall the Minister Vote? 131 Problems in Process of Solutiou 133 An Early Association 135 The National Council on Ministerial Standing 137 Licensure for the Ministry 141 Seminary Licenses 142 The Ordination of Ministers 143 Forms for Licensure and Ordination 144 Right of an Association to Accept or Reject Members. . . 144 Absent Members 145 Deposition from the Ministry 145 VII. THE ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL. The Invitation of the Church 151 The Call of the Association 152 Ordination by a Special Meeting 152 — ]0— TABLE OF CONTENTS Ordination at a Regular Meeting of the Association .... 153 The i'liblic Service 154 Becomes a Member , 155 As to Dismi.ssion 156 In Other Matters 156 VIII. THE STATE CONFERENCE. The Name 157 Conferences and Associations 157 Right to Determine Membership 158 Incorporation for State Worli 158 Conferences and State Boundaries 159 IX. THE CONDUCT OF THE ASSOCIATION OR CON- FERENCE. * The Call of the Meeting 160 The Moderator 160 Temporary Organization 160 Permanent Organization 161 The Introduction of Business 162 The Time for Business Sessions 162 The Real Coucera of the Assembly 163 X. ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS TRO RE NATA. Who May Call a Council 166 1. A Local Church 166 2. Two or More Churches 166 3. A Church and One or More of Its Members 167 4. A Minister or Other Member or Group of Members. 167 5. An Association or Conference 168 How to Call a Council 169 The Quorum of a Council 169 How to Organize a Council 169 The Moderator 170 The Scribe 171 The Executive Session of the Council 172 The Dissolving of a Council 172 The Authority of a Council 173 Ex Parte Councils 173 May a Council Increase Its Membership? 174 Who Compose a Council 175 Individuals in a Council 176 Evidence 176 XL THE NATIONAL COUNCIL. Early Councils -. . - . 178 The National Council 178 Membership 179 Active Members 179 Honorary Members 180 Corresponding Members 181 Constitution, By-Laws and Rules 181 Officers 182 The Moderator 182 The Larger Life of the Council 184 Councils or The Council 184 The Custodian of Denominational Interests 184 a. Statid Meetings of the Council 186 b. Special Meetings 187 Temporary Organization 187 Permanent Organization 188 —11— TABLE OF CONTENTS XII. CONSTITUTION AND RULES OF NATIONAL COUNCIL. Constitution 190 By-laws 191 Rules of Order 195 XIII. THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL Past Councils 197 Future Councils 107 Membership 197 The Constitution of the International Council 198 Rules for Meetings in America 199 _ XIV. THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH Th7 Christian Church in the World 200 The Church Universal 201 The National Council and the Larger Fellowship 201 Forms of Christian Union 202 The Evangelical Alliance 202 The Tri-Church Union 202 Federal Council of Churches 204 XV. THE NEWER CONGREGATIONALISM Our Progress and a Forecast 209 PART III COMPENDIUM OF FORMS FORMS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES. The Licensing of Candidates for the Gospel Ministry. . . 217 The Ordination of a Minister of the Gospel 220 The Installation of Deacons 224 The Installation of Officers Other Than Deacons ^ 225 CONGREGATIONAL STATEMENTS OF DOCTRINE. The Burial Hill Declaration 225 The Creed of 1883 227 A More Simple Creed 229 Constitution of a Church 231 FORMS OF LETTERS MISSIVE. From Individuals Desiring Help in Organizing a Church. 239 For the Reception of a Church Into Fellowship. ...'.... 240 For the Ordination and Installation of a Pastor 241 For Ordination Without Installation 242 For the Installation of a Pastor 243 For the Dismissal of a Pastor 244 For Advice in Special Cases 244 For Advice in Cases of Internal Dissensions 245 For a Mutual Council in Case of Alleged Grievance 240 For Ex Parte Council to Consider Alleged Grievance. . .247 For an Association Acting in Conciliary Capacity 248 For the Scribe of Association Acting as a Council 249 For an Association Called for Special Conciliary Purpose. 249 FORMS RELATING TO THE DISMISSION OF MEMBERS. Application to Unite With Church to Be Formed 250 Dismission to Form New Church 251 Application for Dismission from One Church to Another. 251 Dismission and Recommendation : 2ol Certificate of Reception 252 Dismission to Organizations Not in Fellowship 252 —12— fart 1 ®J|F Earn of ^tlxbnutxm AHB^mbtoB Subfl nf O^rbrr Jl^ur OIl|urrI|?0 an& (itljpr O^rgantzatimifi TABLE OF MOTIONS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR PRECEDENCE. (Letters refer to rules opposite.) Order of Precedence — The motions below numbered 1 to 9 take precedence over all others in the order given, and any one of them is in order while a motion of a lower rank is pending, 9. The Main Questions. To Modify or Amend. 8. To amend, substitute, or divide K To Refer to Committee. 7. To commit (or recommit) D To Defer Action. 6. To postpone to a fixed time c . . . . .C 4. To lay on the table A E G To Suppress or Extend Debate. 5. For the previous question A E M To limit, or close, or extend debate A M To Suppress the Question. Objection to consideration AHM N 4. To postpone indefinitely B E 4. To lay upon the table A E G Q To Bring Up a Question the Second Time. To reconsider debatable question D E F I P To reconsider undebatable question. , . A E F I P Concerning Orders, Rules, Etc. 3. For the orders of the day. A E H N To make subject a special order M To amend the rules M To suspend the rules A E F M To take up question out of its order A E M To take from the table A E G Q Questions touching priority of business A Questions of Privilege. Leave to continue speaking after indecorum. . .A Appeal from decision touching indecorum. A E H L Appeal from Chair's decision generally. .E H L Question upon reading of papers A E N The withdrawal of a motion A E O For the Closing of a Meeting. 2. To adjourn (in committees, to rise), or to take a recess, without limitation. .A E F Q E 1. To fix the time to which to adjourn B —14— TABLE OF MOTIONS A. Undebatable, but remarks may be tacitly allowed. B. Undebatable if another question is before the as- sembly. C. Limited debate allowed on propriety of postpone- ment only. D. Opens the main question to debate. Motions not so marked do not allow of reference to main question. E. Cannot be amended. F. Cannot be reconsidered. G. An affirmative vote cannot be reconsidered. H. In order when another has the floor. I. A motion to reconsider may be moved and entered when another has the floor, but the business then be- fore the house may not be set aside. This motion can only be entertained when made by one who voted orignially with the prevailing side. It takes prece- dence of all others, excepting motions relating to adjournment. Only one reconsideration is permitted. K. A motion to amend an amendment cannot be amended. L. The Chair may give reasons for his decisions, even when the appeal is not debatable. A tie vote sus- tains the decision. M. Eequires two-thirds votes unless special rules have been adopted, N. Does not require to be seconded. O. A motion may be withdrawn before it is seconded; if seconded the consent of the second must be se- cured, and usually the request of these two is granted by unanimous consent; but M the request to with- draw is contested after the motion has been seconded and stated, a majority vote is required to permit the mover to withdraw his motion. P. A reconsidered motion cannot be reconsidered. Q. Cannot be renewed until other business has inter- vened. E. Motion to adjourn can be amended when there is no other business before the house, but when modified in any form, loses its privilege. S. In order only when no other business is before the house. May be debated or amended and yields to all subsidiarv motions. —15— A, B, O OF PARLIAMENTARY LAW— TABULAR SUMMARY OF MOTIONS IN ALPHABET- ICAL ORDER. With References to the Sections in Which They Are Fully Treated. Adjourn. (§118-120.) Cannot be amended or reconsidered: undebatable except when it would dissolve the assembly, leav- ing business unfinished, when limited discussion may be permitted. Loses its privilege if in any way modified. Adjourn: to Fix the Time. (§ 120.) Has precedence over every other motion; may be amended as to the time to which adjournment is to take place; undebatable if another question is before the assembly. Amend. (§61.) Debatable; may^ be amended; has same privilege as the motion which it is proposed to modify, and takes precedence of it. Amend an Amendment. (§62.) Same as to amend, except that it cannot be amended. Appeal from Decision of Chair. (§95.) Debatable; one speech from each member, except when relating to indecorum or transgression of the rules, when it is undebatable. PJven if unde- batable, the Chair may state his reasons for deci- sion. Cannot be amended when it relates to inde- corum. Call to Order. (§97.) Undebatable; does not require a second; cannot be amended; in order when another has the floor; may be decided on ruling of the Chair, subject to appeal, or submitted by the Chair to vote with- out formal motion. Commit (or Recommit). (§69.) Debatable, and opens the main question to debate. Takes precedence of motions to amend or post- pone indefinitely. Can be amended. —16— OF PARLIAMENTARY I*AW Close, Extend or Limit Debate. (§75-76.) Undebatable, and requires a two-thirds vote. Divide the Question. (§64.) Same as amend. May be debated and amended. Filling Blanks. (§67.) Same as amendments, but less formal. Fix the Time of Adjournment. (§121.) Has precedence over every other motion; may be amended as to the time when adjournment shall take place; undebatable if another question is before the house. Indecorum— Request to Continue Speaking After. (§97.) Undebatable. Lay on Table. (§72.) Undebatable; cannot be amended; an affirmative vote cannot be reconsidered. Lay on Table (When Used to Limit Debate). (§73.) An abuse of the question. Limit Debate. (§75.) Undebatable, and requires a two-thirds vote. Main Question. (§85:) Can be made only when no other business is before the house. Yields to all subsidiary and privileged questions. Objection to a Question. May be made when another has the floor; cannot be amended,* p^-ivileged, debated or reconsidered; must be made when question is first introduced; requires two-thirds vote. Orders of the Day. (§82.) Motion for order of the day is in order when an- other has the floor; does not require to be sec- onded; cannot be amended, and is not debatable. Order, to Take Up a Question Out Of. (§85.) Not debatable; cannot be amended; requires two- thirds vote. Parliamentary Inquiry. (§89.) Privileged; undebatable; does not require second. Personal Right, Question Of. (§96.) Does not require second; highly privileged. Points of Order. (§97.) Do not require second; undebatable. Postpone to a Fixed Time. (§70.) Limited debate permitted on the propriety of post- ponement; may be amended only as to the time. —17— B, C OF PARLIAMENTABY LAW Postpone Indefinitely. (§71.) Cannot be amended, but is debatable, iind opens main question to discussion. Previous Question. (§77-78.) Undebatable; cannot be amended; requires several seconds and two-thirds vote. Not in order in National Council. Priority of Business, Questions Touching. (§86.) Undebatable, but remarks may be tacitly allowed. Reading Papers, Request For. (§88.) Undebatable; cannot be amended. Reconsider. (§79.) Cannot be amended or reconsidered. Is not de- batable if original question was not debatable, but if original question was debatable, the motion to be reconsidered may be debated, and the main question is also opened for discussion. Can be made and entered upon record, but not discussed while another has the floor. Must be made on day, or session following, the vote to be reconsidered. Refer to a Committee. (§69.) May be amended ^nd is debatable, and opens main question for discussion. Rescind. (§80.) May be amended or discussed; and opens main question for discussion. Not privileged. Special Order. (§83.) To make a question a special order requires a two- thirds vote. Substitute. (§63.) May be amended and discussed. Suspend or Amend the Rules. (§84.) Cannot be amended, debated or reconsidered; re- quires two-thirds vote. Table, to Lay On or Take From. (§72-74.) Undebatable, and cannot be amended; an affirma- tive vote cannot be reconsidered. Take Up Question Out of Proper Order. (§85.) Undebatable; cannot be amended; requires two- thirds vote. Withdrawal of Motion. (§90.) Cannot be amended or debated; if opposed, after question has been stated, requires consent of the house. -18— CONGREGATIONAL MANUAL PART I. RULES OF ORDER L GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1. The Government of Assemblies. A body of people convened for the consideration of business of common concern is called a deliberative assembly. Deliberative assemblies are so many, and of such varied character, that in a country like America nearly all people have occasion to inform themselves concern- ing the principles accepted by common consent and established custom for the government of these bodies. Any gathering where there is to be discussion and an expression of the judgment of the body in terms suitable for publication or record, however informal its proceedings, has need of the general guidance of these principles. Every assembly may be said to meet subject to the implied understanding that it will be so governed; and in the absence of specific rules adopted by the assembly itself, these general i^rinciples may always be appealed to with confidence. 2. Special and General Rules. Wherever an assem- bly has adopted special rules for its own government, these rules take precedence of general rules; but special rules are likely to be few in number and lim- ited in their content; and even in the matters which they are designed to cover they require frequent ref- erence to the general principles which they have —19— RULES OF ORDER undertaken to embody. As for questions arising in every assembly not specifically provided for in its own rules, these are to be determined by the accepted principles and precedents of what is known as Par- liamentary Law. 3. Parliamentary Law. The name and general idea of Parliamentary Law have come to us from the Parliament of Great Britain. The antiquity and high etanding of that body have given to us a large body of principles and precedents which have been com- monly adopted by deliberative bodies. These have been much modified in the British Parliament itself, and still more so in America in Congress and in tlie various State legislatures; and they are still in process of modification. The modification in America has been in many respects distinct; and it is now no longer accurate to refer to Parliament as furnishing prece- dents in matters where different customs have been established on this side of the water. 4. The Government of Ecclesiastical Bodies. Eccle- Biastical bodies vary in their government according to their differences in denominational custom; yet in America every Church tends somewhat toward democ- racy in the forms which govern its business meetings. With liturgical forms for the conduct of public worship this volume does not concern itself; but in meetings of churches for the transaction of business, appeal may always be made to parliamentary law. Yet rules derived from Parliament or Congress are not to be forced arbitrarily upon bodies of quite another char acter. It needs to be recognized that religious bodies have been building up for themselves a body of prece- dents that have come to the status of standing laws for their own government. This is a fact of particular importance to a body like that composing the Congre- gational Churches of America. —20— GENERAL PRINCIPLES 5. Congregational Law. The Congregational Churches are not fond of the word Law as applied to themselves by any authority outside themselves; and this section does not so apply it. Yet there is a Law of Congregational Usage. It has not been derived from Congress, for it was before Congress, and has grown out of its own root. Yet it is rooted in the same soil with the political life of the nation, and m of close kin to it. A Church, Association, Conference or Council is a deliberative assembly; and excepting as its own rules, or the precedents of the denomination, make provision for the transaction of business accord- ing to particular methods, it is subject to ordinary parliamentary rules. The purpose of this volume is the interpretation of the general rules that govern discussion and business in all deliberative bodies, with special reference to the needs of self-governing churches and the assemblies in which these churches are represented; as these rules have found expression in the usage of our Churches, Councils, Associations, Conferences, and especially in the National Council. 6. The Purpose of All Rules. In all deliberative assemblies, and particularly in religious gatherings, it is to be borne in mind that the purpose of rules of order is to facilitate the will of the assembly. ''The letter killeth, and the spirit maketh alive," even in the most precise and formal of deliberative assemblies. All members should bear in mind that the real thing to be accomplished is the transaction of necessary busi- ness in a manner expeditious and orderly, and without needless technicalities. In the meeting of a church will be found some members quite unaccustomed to parliamentary procedure, whose opinions are entitled to consideration, and who should not be held unreason- ably to the mere lette-r of rules of order. Matters under discussion should be considered in a brotherly —21— RULES or ORDER manner, and decided in a simple and courteous fashion. The following rules are therefore to be applied in their spirit, always remembering that needless debate over technicalities is to be avoided. 7. General Remarks. Parliamentary law is not a series of arbitrary rules, imposed upon assemblies by the mandate of external authority; but is the mere application of common sense, experience and courtesy to the requirements of deliberative assemblies. Kules change, but these three abide, and by these all rules stand or fall. And the greatest of these is courtesy. —22- II. ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS. 8. Organization of Informal Meetings. Special meetings having a single purpose may proceed with very simple organization. Some member of the body calls the gathering to order and nominates a chairman or moderator. If there is no other nomination he puts the question to vote, and if a majority of those present approve, he declares the nominee elected. The person so elected takes the chair, calls for the election of a secretary or scribe, and the organization is completed. Such an assembly as this would be, for instance, a mass meeting called to consider the wisdom of pur- chasing an organ for the church. It would not be necessary to give it the formality of a church meet- ing, or to restrict the voting to members of the church, it being assumed that others than church members would be interested; and the svibsequent formal action of the church would depend somewhat on the interest shown in the special meeting. The discussion could proceed with any desired degree of informality, and the record would j^robably be a mere recommendation to the church that an organ be purchased, together with the assurance that the persons participating in the meeting would lend to the enterprise financial aid and encouragement. • Informal meetings of this character may frequently be of service; yet it is better for the interests of good order that they should proceed under the auspices of some accredited body, as for instance, in the ease above cited, of the Music Committee or the Board of Trustees. Such meetings should not be called for pur- —23— RULES OF ORDER poses other than those which tend to promote harmony and good order within the church, but may be em- ployed for the informal consideration of some question of public policy, where it is not yet deemed expedient that the church itself shall take formal action. 9. The Organization of Permanent Bodies. In meet- ings of the Church the organization continues from meeting to meeting, and the pastor and clerk assume their particular duties by virtue of their offices, except as special provision is made for another presiding officer. In permanent bodies whose officers hold over the meeting is called to order by the moderator. In bodies where the moderator's term of office expires with the session for which he was elected, but where no other provision is made for a call to order, it Is customary, and in the case of the Natioi^al Council it is provided, that the last elected moderator shall call the assembly to order. In the case of councils the call to order is commonly by one of the older pastors, but may be by an officer or other representative of the inviting church. It is not necessary that the person who calls the meeting to order should be a member of the body. In case a meeting is called by a committee, the chair- man of the committee may with propriety call the body to order. If the meeting convenes in response to a call or petition, one of the signers of the call may perform this service. As soon as the organization is effected and the body is in order and ready to proceed, prayer should be offered, generally by the moderator. All religious meetings for the transaction of business should be opened with prayer. Unless the secretary is one of the standing officers, he should be elected at the beginning; and as soon as the meeting is in order the other officers who have —24— ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS immediate duties should be chosen by the body. If the order of business has been prepared by a com- mittee, tlie report of the committee, with its proposed order of business, should be presented and adopted, together with any special rules necessary for the gov- erning of the body. 10. Temporary and Permanent Organization. In representative assemblies where credentials are to be presented and a roll of voting members made up, a temporary organization is a convenience. The first National Council held at Oberlin in 1871 proceeded for several days under its temporary organization, pending the making up of the roll and the preparation of a constitution. In meetings of the Council as now con- ducted and in our Congregational bodies generally, the temporary organization is very brief, and is designed merely to determine the list of members, to ascertain if a quorum be present, and to insure the prompt com- pletion of a permanent organization. The temporary organization may be effected on the simple lines indicated in Section 7. A member calls the meeting to order and in the absence of any other rule or custom may himself nominate a temporary chairman. Other nominations are in order, and oppor- tunity for them must be given before the first nomina- tion is put to vote. If such additional nominations are made, however, they are not in the nature of amend- ments, and are not entitled to a vote prior to that upon the first nomination. The names are put to vote in the order in which the nominations were made. A ballot may he called for by any member and should never be refused if demanded in the election of permanent officers. 11. Quorum. Mass meetings have no stated quorum. Church constitutions generally provide a definite num- —25— RULES OP ORDER ber necessary to the transaction of business. In coun- cils a majority of invited churches , is necessary to a quorum. 12. Business Tliat May Be Done After Quorum Is Lacking. If a quorum has been present, it is .iudgecl to be present to the end of the session unless the question is raised. At a council, the business having been completed and the records approved, a public service having been arranged may proceed and com- plete the work assigned to its various members by the council, even if the question of quorum be raised, and a quorum found to be lacking; but such a body must confine itself strictly to the business which the council approved before the quorum was found to be lacking. 13. Doing Business Before Quorum Is Complete. A council, having practically a quorum, and being assured that a sufficient number of additional dele- gates are on their w^ay to coinplete it, may, at the advertised hour, proceed to organize, and if the mem- bers arriving later complete the quorum and approve the work begun, the business transacted may be re- corded as if a quorum had been present throughout. An association, assembling at an advertised hour, and having routine business to transact, and lacking one or two members of a quorum, may organize, if the question of quorum is not raised; but if it attempt any business not approved by the entire membership pres- ent, any member may raise the question of quorum; and the body itself when a quorum is present may refuse to record the acts performed as the acts of the body. But in all such instances it is necessary that the work performed prior to the arrival of the quorum have the unanimous consent of those present, and the ap- proval of the fully organized body when a quorum is present. 14. Temporary Organization Without Quorum. A —26— ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS meeting having less than a quorum may effect a tempo- rary organization and adjourn; but can transact no business that is binding on the body. 15. Checks Upon Business Without Quorum. What- ever is done without a quorum has these three checks: First, it must meet the unanimous will of those present, else one member will call for a count, and show that no quorum is present; secondly, as soon as a quorum arrives the formal organization may refuse to concur in any previous action; and thirdly, when the minutes are presented for adoption at the next session, the body may refuse to approve the minutes. With these ample checks it would be folly to insist that a quorum must be visibly present at every moment when routine business is under consideration. No legislative body requires it. In some of the State legislatures the journal shows a large day's business to have been done when in reality only one member is actually present, dictating to a stenographer the ad- vancement of bills previously agreed upon, the body reserving the right to save its record from abuse of this arrangement when the journal comes up for ap- proval. No final action can be taken in this way; but it is a device much in vogue in some States for the gaining of a legislative day, and the pushing forward of routine business for which a separate day is re- quired, but which if actually spent at the Capitol would prevent members from spending the week-end at home. The custom is not commended for Congregational usage; but may serve as a sufficient precedent to justify a body barely lacking a quorum in proceeding with routine business, when the hour of meeting has arrived, assured that if the assembly does not approve what they have done, it can easily reverse it without affecting the records. It goes without saying that no business should be introduced in such a meeting that is RULES OF ORDER not practically certain to be approved by the whole body, or before the advertised time of beginning. 16. Debate Without Quorum. It is sometimes held that no discussions are in order without a quorum; but this rule, which obtains in some English assemblies, is not held in America, If, however, a discussion ap- pears to be important, and the discussion of it without a quorum likely to bias the later action of the body, any member present may stop discussion by calling for a quorum. 17. Officers. Deliberative bodies may elect such officers as they require for the conduct of their busi- ness; but for the purpose of public assembly and the transaction of business the necessary officers are a Chairman or Moderator and a Secretary or Scribe. In religious assemblies the presiding officer is usually known as the Moderator, and the keeper of the records as the Scribe. In the local Church the Scribe is known as the Clerk, 18. Duties of the Moderator. The following are the duties of the moderator: To call the assembly to order, if it be not already in order when he takes the chair, and again after each adjournment or recess during the period in which he holds office. To ascertain the presence of a quorum. To call for the reading of the call of the meeting, or of the minutes of the last meeting. To lay before the meeting the order of business. To receive memorials, petitions, motions and reports as they are presented to the body. To secure attention and preserve order duviug tlie discussion of all questions. To put all motions to vote and to declare the results of the vote. —28— ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS To decide all questious of order and to give or cause to be given answers to questions for information upon business then pending. To authenticate with his signature such records and papers as may be required by the rules. To preserve an impartial bearing toward both sides d to facilitate the will of the assembly. 19. The Part of the Moderator in Facilitating Busi- ness. The moderator can often facilitate the business of a meeting, and that in an entirely orderly manner. Often a motion blunderingly made can be so stated by the Chair as to preserve its meaning and relieve the member making it from embarrassment. Not infre- quently a member offers a good suggestion and takes his seat. ''Does the brother desire to jjut his sugges- tion in the form of a motion?" is a question which the moderator may properly ask, and one that often will result in bringing the question directly before the house. The moderator is never to usurp the rights of members, but can often assist the inexperienced by tactful suggestions, and at the same time facilitate the progress of business. Such suggestions are to be avoided, however, when- I'ver the business is of such a nature that a suggestion from the chair will appear to be offering assistance to one side. The moderator must offer only such assist- nce as is consistent with strict impartiality, and it is etter to err by helping too little rather than too much. ;20. The Moderator's Vote. The moderator retains 11 his rights as a member of the body and may vote on any question, but usually does not vote excepting when yeas and nays are called for, or when the house is equally divided. In case a motion would prevail by a majority of one and the moderator not having previ- ously voted votes against it, thus tying the house, the motion is lost. When a two-thirds vote is required —29— i RULES OF ORDER and the moderator voting in the negative brings the vote of that side above one-third, the motion is lost. 21. The Moderator in Debate. The moderator may participate in discussions, but not from the chair. Any suggestions which he may make from the chair should be confined to those designed to facilitate the business of the meeting, and not to assist one side as against the other. It is the parliamentary right of the moder- ator to debate any and all questions from the floor, and there can be no rule excepting his own good judg- ment as to when he shall exercise that right, but while all things are lawful not all things are expedient. The moderator should be impartial and seem impartial; and the occasions in which he engages in discussion should be infrequent. Whenever the moderator engages in discussion he must call another member to the chair and speak from the floor subject to all the rules and restrictions that govern othor'members in debate. 22. Calling Another Member to the Chair. The moderator on leaving the chair for the purpose of dis- cussion or for the purpose of temporary retirement may call another member to the chair. Ordinarily the person so called should be the assistant moderator, if there be one, but for any brief absence this is not mandatory. It is the right of the presiding officer on leaving the chair for a brief interval to call any other member of the body to his place. But if the house so desires, it may elect its temporary presiding officer," or insist that the assistant moderator take the chair. When the moderator is absent at the beginning of a session, he maj^ not appoint a substitute. The assistant moderator presides, or if there is no assistant the as- sembly elects its own presiding officer. 23. The Necessity for Decision. Vacillation on the part of a moderator is very nearly an unpardonable sin. When he is called upon for a decision, if he is in doubt, —30— ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS he may ask the house to decide upon its own course, or give its interpretation of a proposal. But when he must make a decision, it is better for him to rule and iiile mistakenly than to hesitate and waste time. If he is wrong, the house can correct his decision on ap- l)eal; but it will not be likely to do so unless he is very far w^rong. If a presiding officer is fair, courteous, in- telligent and generally right, the house will almost invariably accept a faulty ruling without complaint, if it leaves the assembly free to go on with the busi- ness. 24. The Scribe. The duties of the scribe in general are the following: To prepare and preserve a roll of members. To call that roll whenever a vote of yeas and nays is demanded. To record all motions and resolutions for permanent preservation. To keep on file all documents, reports, and papers referred to in the minutes, whose nature does not require their full incorporation into the records. To read all papers demanded by the body. To furnish to the chairman of each committee a full list of its members. To publish or send out seasonable notices of meet- ings as the rules of the body may require. To sign all papers and records, usually with the moderator, and to authenticate the proceedings of the body. When the duties of the scribe are arduous he may request an assistant, and it is his privilege to require that any motion which is not entirely simple in its character be furnished him in writing. 25. Other Officers. A President and a Recording Officer are all that are strictly necessary for the con- duet of a deliberative assembly, but other ofiicers, —31— RULES OF ORDER such as tellers, sergeant-at-arms, messengers and com- mittees, may be chosen whenever the business of the assembly requires it. 26. General Remarks. When the assistant modera- tor or another member is presiding, he is invested with all the authority of the moderator. III. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS. 27. Members. The conditions of membership in an assembly depend upon the nature of the assembly. In an informal meeting for the consideration of a topic of general interest, any person present desiring to be heard and speaking in an orderly manner, may be con- sidered a member. A temperance meeting, though under the auspices of the church, might be considered a mass meeting of all citizens interested in the measure. In a meeting of a church, the roll of the church limits the privilege of voting. 28. Credentials. In representative denominational gatherings credentials should be furnished members by the bodies electing them. In the smaller groups, however, as local councils or district associations, formal credentials, while regular, are not usually called for; a member in good standing in some local church, present and representing himself as a delegate from that church, is seated without a call for written docu- ments, unless his claim is contested. In case of con- test, a committee on credentials is usually appointed, A member thus challenged, and unable to show cre- dentials may retaliate and demand that all other mem- bers show credentials such as are required of him; but the body need not accede to this demand if it is satis- fied of the standing of the members whose seats are not contested. 29. Corresponding Members. Strictly construed, the privilege of the floor is restricted to the voting membership; but the body is master of its own pro- ceedings in this matter, and may extend the liberty of discussion to those who have no right to vote. An —33— RULES OF ORDER association may elect as honorary members, or members by courtesy, speakers on its programme, invited guests, ■ visiting ministers and prominent laymen, and local pastors of other denominations in the place where the •meeting is held. These members have the privilege of the floor by courtesy, but not the right of voting. The National Council makes all speakers and the mem- bers of its provisional committee honorary members. 30. Discussion by Those Not Members. A church may freely entertain petitions from persons not mem- bers, and permit them to speak. In matters of public concern, the church raay extend the privilege of the floor to persons outside its membership. This commonly will not require a specific vote, but may be done by invitation of the pastor, unless there is objection, or by unanimous consent. 31. Rights of Members. In every Congregational assembly, the rights of all members are equal. No member, unless under censure or suspension, can be deprived of his seat, voice or vote. He may introduce business, and speak in favor of or in opposition to any debatable question, and is entitled to the recognition of the moderator, and the courteous attention of every other member. He has a right to rise and call another member to order, being careful that the manner of his call does not add to the disorder. 32. Duties of Members. The duties of each member grow out of the rights of his fellow members. It is the duty of each member to do all that it is his right to expect that his fellow member will do. We are one body, with one Spirit, and having many members we are to be considerate of one another. Each member is required to give courteous attention to the motions and addresses of his fellow members, to refrain from disorder, and in general to do by his fellow members as he wishes to be done by. —34— ^sJ* RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS J 33. Special Duties. In church assemblies it is not i|enough that members exercise toward each other mem- bor the formal courtesy of parliamentary law. A cer- tain added consideration grows out of the relations of Christian brotherhood. This may not be defined in rules, for it inheres in that gracious quality which the spirit of the Gospel adds to mere legality. It is for riich member to add this to other graces, and in this spirit to interpret all formal rules, 34. Greneral Remarks. All who become members of an organization thereby assume all the duties which are implied in the purposes of the organization. These obligations are reciprocal, and continue until regular dismission from the organization. -.35— IV. THE INTRODUCTION OF BUSINESS. 35. Methods of Introducing Business. Thero are three ways of introducing business; first, by the report of a person or committee calling the meeting or ap- pointed to present business to the body; secondly, by a communication addressed to the body in the form of a memorial, petition or protest; thirdly, by a motion made and seconded. Keports, memorials, protests and jtetitions may be received from persons whether mem- bers of the body or not, but the persons making and seconding a motion must be members of the body. In the case of petitions or reports, the report or petition having been read is not properly before the assembly for action until a motion has been made and seconded by members. In general, therefore, any business to be discussed is properly brought before the assembly by a motion. 36. The Form of a Motion. When a member rises to introduce a matter of business, he should reduce his proposition to the form of a motion or resolution. If it is a simple matter, easily understood and free from details, it may be stated verbally, and the member will say, ''I move " and will state his proposal briefly, concisely and clearly. If the motion extends to consid- erable length or is liable to be misunderstood, or to be difficult for the scribe to record, it should be reduced to writing before it is introduced. It may be introduced as a motion, or as a series of resolutions, each begin- ning with the words ''Resolved, That ". 37. Reducing a Motion to Writing. The chair may direct that a motion be reduced to writing, and the member introducing it must write it if so directed. —36— THE INTRODUCTION OF BUSINESS The motion is not proi^erly before the house until it is placed in form, but preliminary discussion, while tech- nically out of order, may be permitted while the mover is writing his resolution, particularly if the discussion take the form of brief suggestions concerning the word- ing of the motion. If such suggestions appear to assist in bringing the business before the house in concrete form, the chair may permit it, but should rule out of order any discussion of the main question until the matter is sufficiently before the body for members to understand what they are discussing, 38. Seconding a Motion. The rule that a motion must be seconded is based upon the assumption that at least two members must be sufficiently interested in a matter to vouch for it, or it is not worthy the attention of the assembly. But this does not imply that there must be a long awkward pause after routine motions waiting for a formal second. If the chair is in any doubt concerning the matter he will ask, ''Does the motion receive a second?" But where a large amount of business is being done, and mostly of a formal nature, the delay for a second is pedantic and a waste of time. A good parliamentarian does not waste time in this manner. The directions to the chairman in Kob- ert's ** Rules of Order" are eminently wise, "Never wait for mere routine motions to be seconded" (p. 161); and ''Often in routine work the chairman puts the question without even waiting for a motion; as few persons like to make such formal motions, and much time would be wasted in waiting for them; but the chairman can only do this as long as no one objects' ' (p. 194). 39. Motions That Do Not Req.uire a Second. There are four motions that do not require to be seconded: the objection to a question; a call for the orders of the —37— RULES OF ORDER day; a call to order, and a request for information or for the reading of papers. 40. Motions That Require More Than One Second. A motion for a ballot muSt bo supported by at least four members in addition to the one making the motion. A motion for the yeas and nays must be sup- ported by a majority of those voting. 41. G-eneral Remarks. A mover may modify his motion before it has been seconded; and may do so after it has been seconded if the second agrees. If the second does not agree, he may withdraw his second, and the motion fails unless another member seconds it. —38— V. RUIiES GOVERNING DISCUSSION. 42. When Discussion Is in Order. Diseussion of a motion is not in order before the motion is made and seconded, and stated to the assembly by the moderator. A member who has introduced a motion must be seated immediately and give reasonable time for a second. If the motion is not seconded, the assembly may pro- ceed to consider another question. 43. Opening and Closing Arguments. When a motion has been made and stated, the member who made the motion has the first right to the floor, even though others rise before him. He also has the right to make the closing speech before the vote, and the right belongs to him even if the assembly has voted to close the debate. When the business is introduced in the form of the report of a committee, the chairman of the committee has the right to open and close the discussion of the report. 44. Number of Speeches by One Member. In the National Council and in our ecclesiastical bodies gen- erally, no member is permitted to speak more than twice on any question, nor more than once if others who have not spoken desire to speak; but if the mover of a resolution or chairman of a committee has partici- pated in the discussion, this cannot be held to deprive him of his right to present the closing argument in favor of his motion, or of the report of his committee. 45. What Constitutes an Address. The request for information if made without argument, or the answer- ing of such a request, or an informal suggestion con- cerning a resolution or report, is not considered an —39— EUXES OF OBDEB — — i address. An address, to be counted as such, need not extend to any great length, but must be more than a request or response offered as such in good faith. 46. Speaking Before the Motion Is Made. A mem- ber who proposes to introduce a motion sometimes desires to give the reasons for his motion in advance. This may be permitted by general consent, but the member should state on rising the purpose of the motion he is about to make, and then, if permitted, he may give briefly the reasons for it, ending with the motion. He may not, however, make a second speech when the motion has been seconded, but he is entitled" to close the discussion. 47. Motions Undebatable. The motions that may not be debated are: To refuse to consider a question; the previous question; to adjourn (when another ques- tion is before the assembly) ; to extend, limit, or close debate; to amend or suspend the rules; to take up a question out of its order; appeal from decision of the chair touching indecorum; the reconsideration of an undebatable motion; parliamentary inquiries; call to order; call for the orders of the day; the reading of papers; and questions of the priority of business. But even the most undebatable motions frequently permit limited discussion by unanimous consent. 48. General Remarks. A member lias no right to introduce a motion nor to begin an address until he has risen in his place, addressed the moderator by his proper title, and been recognized by the moderator's calling his name. When so recognized, and not before, he is said to have the floor. This subject will be treated in the next chapter. VI. THE EIGHT TO THE FLOOR. 49. Gaining the Floor. A member who wishes to introduce a matter of business or to discuss a question before the house, must first obtain the floor. Kising in his place, he should address the chair by his proper title, '*Mr. Chairman," ''Mr. President," or *'Mr. Moderator," as the case may be. The moderator will recognize the member who he thinks is entitled to the floor, calling him by his name. The member thus recognized is said to have the floor. 50. Whom the Moderator Shall Recognize. If two or more members desire the floor at once, the moderator must decide which member is entitled to it. In Con- gress there is no appeal from this decision, but this rule cannot be held to apply to ecclesiastical bodies. The ehair, as a rule, should recognize the member whom he hears first, but if the chair has knowledge of the side on which members intend to speak, he should recog- nize the two sides in alternation. In some assemblies when two members desire the floor the moderator recog- nizes the member who is farther from the chair. 51. Yielding the Floor. A member who has ob- tained the floor must yield it, — (a) For an objection to the consideration of the question. Such objection can only be made when the matter is first introduced. If objection is made, the member who has the floor takes his seat, and the moderator asks, "Will the Church (or Association, Conference, or Council) consider the business pro- posed?" If two-thirds of the members present vote not to consider the question, it is dismissed for that session. Otherwise the question is in order, and the member who introduced the business has the floor. —41— RULES OF OBDEB (b) For a motion to reconsider. If a member who has voted in favor of a motion that has passed rises on that day or on the day or at the session next following and moves a reconsideration of the motion, the member who has the floor must yield it until the motion to reconsider is recorded. It is unusual, however, in ecclesiastical bodies, for a member to claim the privilege of interrupting a speaker to record a motion to reconsider, and it should not be done except in an emergency. (c) For a point of order. If a member is speaking, and another rises and says, "Mr. Moderator, I rise to a point of order," the member speaking must yield the floor until the point is decided. The point of order may be that the business is out of order, or that the member is not discussing the business before the house, or that he is using improper language. If the business is ruled out of order, the member does not regain the floor. If the ruling is that his remarks are not germane to the question, he may continue, but must discuss the question; and failiflg to do so yields the floor. If he is using improper language, he must desist, and if he fails to do so, must be required by the moderator to sit down. (d) For an appeal. If, while a member has the floor, the chair renders a decision which results in an appeal, the member must be seated until the appeal is decided. If the appeal relates to alleged indecorum in his remarks, or to the relevancy of his argument, the decision of the appeal is binding upon him as well as on the chair. (e) For the Orders of the Day. If while a member is speaking the time arrives which the assembly has set for the close of debate, or for the consideration of other business, a member may call for the orders of the THE BIGHT TO THE FLOOB day, and the member must yield the floor, unless the H assembly votes to permit him to continue. i> (f) For a question of privilege rectuiring immediate attention. If a member believes that his or another member's rights have suffered serious invasion, or that any action past or pending threatens such invasion, he may rise to a question of privilege, and the moderator will decide whether it is a question of such high privi- lege as to justify its consideration at that point. If it is so decided, the member who has the floor must yield it until the question of privilege is decided. He may then resume. (g) For adjournment at a time set. A member who holds the floor must yield it if the hour set for adjournment arrives while he is speaking, unless the assembly permits him to continue. But if the time for adjournment has not been set in advance, the member who holds the floor cannot be required to yield it for a motion to adjourn, nor, without his consent, for a motion to fix the time at or to which to adjourn. 52. Yielding for One Purpose or for All. The prin- ciple that a member who yields the floor for one pur- pose yields it for all is true within certain limits. But in three important cases it 'is not true. If a member is speaking when the time arrives to take recess, and has not exceeded the time allowed for a speech, he may resume after the recess or when discussion of that question is resumed, as though he had not yielded the floor. And if he yields for the asking of a ques- tion, his yielding implies the right to answer it, and thereafter to continue as if he had not yielded. And finally, if he yields as a courtesy to the body, in order that it may attend to some urgent matter, he has a right to resume the floor and the house will not seek to take advantage of his courtesy. 53. Speaking to the Question. Except for these —43— BULES OF ORDER purposes a member may not be interrupted while he is in possession of the floor. But he is subject to any- special rules governing length of debate which the body has adopted, and to all standing rules, and to the requirements of decorum. It is required of him also that he speak to the question before the house. If he appear to be talking aimlessly, or to consume time, or on some other question, he may be called to order, and if he does not thereafter speak to the question, he may be adjudged out of order, and his right to the floor ceases. 54. General Remarks. A speaker must address his remarks to the presiding officer, and not to individual members of the assembly. -44- VII. THE CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIONS. Motions Unamendable: $66. To adjourn — when another question is before the house, $122. To amend an amendment, $62. To lay on the table, $72. To postpone indefinitely, $71. The previous question, $77. The suppression of a question, $87. To suspend the rules, $84. To take up a question out of its order, $85. To take from the table, $74. To withdraw a motion, $90. The appeal from the decision of the chair (as to decorum), $91. The call to order, $92. Motions undebatable: $47. To adjourn — when another question is before the house, $122. To close, or extend, or limit debate, $$75-76. To lay on the table, $72. The suppression of a question, $87. The previous question, $77. To take up a question out of its order, $85. To take from the table, $74. To withdraw a motion, $90. Appeal when referring to indecorum, $91. The call to order. Motions unreconsiderable: $79. To adjourn, $122. To suspend the rules, $84, An affirmative vote to take from the table, $74. Motions requiring a two-thirds vote: $108. The suppression of a question, $87. To suspend the rules, $84. To amend the rules, $84. To close, extend or limit debate, $$75-76. To make a special order, $83. The previous question, $77. To lay on table (when used to close debate) $73. To take up a question out of its order, $85. RULES OF ORDER Require no seconding: §39. The call to order, §92. The suppression of a question, $87, The reading of papers, $88. Parliamentary inquiries, $89. Objection to a member speaking after indecorum, $98. In order even when a member be speaking: The call to order, $92. The suppression of a question, $87. To reconsider (in emergencies), $79. The call for the orders of the day, $82. Require more than one second: The motion to vote by ballot, $40. Yeas and nays, $40. 55. The Main Question. Any motion introduced when no other business is before the house, and having been moved and seconded and stated by the chair, is before the house, and is entitled a Main Question. However small the business to which it relates, this title is used, and distinguishes the original motion from the incidental or modifying motions that may be made while it is under consideration, 56. To What Motions the Main Question Yields. According to the rules of the National Council, when a question is under debate, it yields to the following, and to these only, and these in reverse order of prece- dence, i. e., in the order of their numbers as given below: 6. To amend. 5. To commit. 4. To postpone to a time certain. 3. To postpone indefinitely. 2. To lay on the table (not debatable). 1. To adjourn (not debatable). To these should be added, as taking precedence of them all, the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn, and certain questions of privilege, all of which will be considered hereinafter. CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIONS 57. Subsidiary, Incidental and Privileged Questions. Taking the National Council's list of motions that may be made while a main question is pending, we may- divide them into three groups: a. Motions that, without postponing, propose in some manner to modify the Main Question, grouped under the head of Motions to Amend. These questions take precedence of the Main Question and of no other. b. Motions that defer action, either by putting the Main Question aside, or by referring it to a committee. These are the motions to commit, to postpone to a time certain, to postpone indefinitely, and to lay on the table. c. Motions that do not in any way relate to the Main Question, but which may rise while it is being considered, and to which it must yield. These are the motion to adjourn, and certain other privileged ques- tions. 58. Subsidiary, Incidental and Privileged Questions, Continued. The classification in the previous section is adequate for most religious assemblies. In strict parliamentary law the classification is somewhat more elaborate. 1. Modifying motions, in.cluding all motions to amend, substitute, strike out, fill in blanks, etc. 2. Subsidiary motions, which include motions, — to commit; to postpone to a time certain; to postpone indefinitely; to lay on the table; to limit or extend debate; for the previous question; the suppression of the question, and to reconsider. 3. Incidental motions, being such as arise out of the Main Question, or of some subsidiary motion, including — Suspension of the rules; appeal from the decision of the chair; liberty to read papers; leave to withdraw motion, and generally those questions relating to or- ders and rules. —47— RULES OF ORDER 4. Questions of privilege, being those that relate to the rights of the assembly or its members. The foregoing classes will be considered in successive chapters. 59. Unanimous Consent, Motions are sometimes passed by uninimous consent without the formality of a vote. An assembly by unanimous consent may do anything which it is competent to do, and all con- trary rules, either general or special, are set aside in the process. A body cannot do an unconstitutional act by unanimous consent, but it may suspend its by- laws. —48- VIII. MODIFYING MOTIONS. 60. Classes of Modifying Motions. A motion hav- ing been duly made, seconded, and stated by the chair, is before the house, and the or.der is upon its passage. Unless it is an undebatable motion, it is open for dis- cussion, and at the close of the discussion may be voted upon and dismissed from the order of the day. While the motion is pending, however, it may be disposed of in any one of several ways. The motions for these various dispositions other than by direct vote are those over which confusion mostly arises. They are there- fore to be avoided unless necessary. The question ought, in general, to come before the house for a fair vote on its own merits; and the member who has given thought to the preparation of a resolution is entitled to a fair consideration. But inasmuch as not every motion as originally made expresses the will of the body, while often a modifica- tion of the motion might express it, and inasmuch as sometimes a motion as made is complex, and one part may be acceptable and another not, three kinds of motion are in order as to the modification of a question: (a) To amend; (b) to substitute; and (c) to divide. 61. Amendments. Every debatable motion except that to postpone indefinitely, and that to amend an amendment, may be amended. No undebatable motion can be amended, except that to fix the time to which to adjourn. The motion to amend takes precedence of the main question, and of this only. Amendments may be of three classes, — (1) To strike out; (2) To insert; (3) To strike out and insert. Any of these three forms may themselves be amended. —49— , RULES OF ORDER 62. The Amendment of an Amendment. An amend- ment may be amended, but an amendment to an amend- ment cannot be amended. As the main question yields to the amendment, so in turn the motion to amend yields to the motion to amend the amendment. When the motion to amend the amendment has been put to vote, if the vote is in the affirmative, the motion is on ^*the amendment as amended." This motion is debatable, and if carried, opens to discussion *'the motion as amended." If the amendment to the amendment is lost, the question recurs on the amendment; and if this is lost the question is on the original motion. The passage of an amendment does not carry with it the passage of the main question as amended. A sepa- rate vote is required. 63. Substitutes. A substitute motion is to be used when the subject matter is not directly germane, or involves too wide a departure to be easily embraced in an amendment. It is not intended, however, to be used in introducing a wholly different matter of busi- ness. 64. Division of the Question. A motion to divide is intended to bring the parts of a motion before the house separately; and when it prevails discussion should be limited to the part of the motion under im- mediate consideration. A motion to divide can be amended by an amend- ment germane to itself; that is, by a motion to divide differently. The United States Senate holds to the rule that the motion '*to strike out A and insert B," is indivisible, but this rule ought not to be followed in ecclesiastical bodies, in which it is much simpler to treat this motion as divisible; and the division does not count as an —50— MODIFYING MOTIONS anieudment to the amendment, but each division of the amendment may itself be once amended. 65. Effect of Subsidiary Motions on Amendments. If the previous question is voted while an amendment is pending, it applies both to the amendment and to the main question unless limited to the amendment. But a vote to lay an amendment on the table carries with it the main question. 66. Motions That May Not Be Amended. The mo- tions that are not amendable are: To refuse to con- sider; to lay on the table; to postpone indefinitely; for the previous question; to adjourn; and all incidental questions. An amendment to an amendment may not be further amended. A motion to adjourn may not be amended except when no business is before the house; in which case it is amendable, especially if adjournment would dis- solve the assembly. 67. Filling Blanks. Where a resolution is adopted having blanks to be filled, the filling of the blanks may be done either before or after the consideration of the resolution itself; and the same applies to a more formal instrument, as a constitution. The filling of blanks is not subject to the formal restrictions that belong to amendments; and motions to insert different names or numbers may be considered in any con- venient manner. If, for. instance, a blank is to be filled with a date, the Chair may entertain any number of suggestions concerning a convenient date, and ask, not for a formal vote for or against each, but informally, "How many regard January 1 as the most suitable of the dates proposed?" and the other dates in order, beginning usually at the most remote date proposed, and so arriving at length at an expression of judgment that will finally take shape in a formal motion. —51— RULES OF ORDER 68. What Is Germane? An amendment must be germane to the main question. It may greatly modify or even directly oppose the intent of the main question, but it must not relate to entirely different matter. The question "What is germane F' is not always easy to answer. It does not of necessity imply that the amendment shall express the same idea, but only that its substance shall in some proper manner relate to that of the main question. If a motion is made "That this body condemn the higher criticism," an amendment to strike out "condemn" and insert "ap- prove" is entirely germane; but to strike out "higher criticism" and insert "the sale of liquor" would not be germane. At a meeting of the Methodist General Conference, when the question of forbidden games was under dis- cussion, one facetious member moved to. amend by in- serting after "dancing, card-playing and theater- going," the words, "croquet, one old cat," and certain other games. His amendment was ruled out of order as not being offered in good faith; but it was certainly germane. Often an amendment that is germane may be so offered as to reduce the motion to an absurdity, and make the original mover glad to vote against it; and some comical instances of this have occurred; but these belong ratlier to the wiles of the politician than to the brotherly atmosphere of religious assemblies. --52— I DC. SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS. 69. To Commit. This motion may be made con- cerning a main question at any time during the discus- sion, and if the matter has already been before a com- mittee, a motion to re-commit is in order, taking precedence over motions to amend or postpone. This motion is useful when the discussion relates to trouble- some details which are likely to consume time, and which can better be settled in a smaller body which shall bring the question before the house in simpler and more orderly form. The motion to commit is de- batable, and within certain limits, opens the main ques- tion for discussion, if the interests of the main ques- tion are likely to be affected by committing. For instance, it is in order for a member to show how he supposes the interests in the question will be affected by committing, and so far forth, to discuss the main question under the motion to commit. The member is not permitted, however, to transcend these limits, nor to argue at length the merits of the main question. Discussion is also in order on an amendment of the motion concerning the composition of the committee, as to whether it shall be referred to the committee that may previously have acted upon it, or to a new com- mittee, or to one of the standing committees of the body, or to the committee of the whole. If several amendments are offered and the chair desires to know quickly the will of the house, he may put the motions on the question of the composition of the committee in the following order: First, to refer to the committee of the whole; second, to refer to a standing committee of the house; third, to refer to a special committee. —53— RULES OF ORDER 70. To Postpone to a Certain Time. This motion permits of limited debate, confined to the question of the time to which it is proposed to postpone. It is not in order to postpone a matter to a time beyond that session, or to the time of unfinished busi- ness in the next session. If more questions are post- poned to a given time than can be considered at that time, they take their place in order as unfinished busi- ness. 71. To Postpone Indefinitely. The motion to post- pone indefinitely is debatable, but cannot be amended. It opens the main question to discussion. If it pre- vails, the entire question is removed from the assembly for that session. If the previous question is moved while the motion to postpone indefinitely is before the house, the previous question applies only to the post- ponement, and not to the main question. The effect of this motion is to remove entirely for that session the question, before the House. It may be moved concern- ing a main question, amendment, or question of privi- lege. It yields to any motion except a main question or a motion to amend. 72. To Lay on the Table. This is an undebatable motion; it cannot be amended, and an affirmative vote upon it cannot be reconsidered. It is a motion of high privilege which carries with it the original motion and all subsidiary motions. Its purpose is to enable the house instantly to put aside one phase of its busi- ness and take up another. If it prevails, the business so postponed cannot be brought up again until other business has been transacted, but the motion may be taken from the table by a majority vote, and is then before the house in the exact status M'^hich it possessed when laid on the table. Although a motion to lay on the table is undebatable and may not be amended, the chair may recognize a SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS iiuMiibcr of the house if he rises to a question of privilege, when a motion to table has the effect of finally disposing of a question. 73. The Abuse of the Motion to Table. As religious bodies other than local churches meet infrequently, and commonly with full programmes, the motion to lay on the table very commonly is equivalent to casting the whole matter out of court in the most summary and arbitrary manner. As thus used it is hardly a courteous motion, and in the hands of a restless majority may become tyrannical. Designed in its nature for the quick clearing of the docket because of some pressing business that requires instant attention, and not finally to dispose of the matter tabled, it then becomes by reason of its high privilege an oppressive measure. It is a loaded weapon which an assembly can use in self- defense against filibustering and the consideration of profitless business; but it should be used only as a weapon is used, in extreme and desperate cases. It is much more drastic than the previous question. If the National Council has deemed it wise to rule out the previous question, it cannot have intended to make frequent use of a motion much more arbitrary and also undebatable. The motion to table, therefore, except as used in good faith to make temporary provision for a matter of importance, is an ill-mannered motion, which re- ligious assemblies should vote down as an invasion of personal rights and a breach of Christian courtesy. On this point Kobert well says: ''This is an abuse of the motion that often interferes with the harmony of voluntary organizations. The reasons for giving it sucli high privileges are based on the theory that the question is laid aside only temporarily. The mo- tion is very valuable if used for its legitimate purpose, but if used habitually to suppress questions, then it —55— RULES OF ORDER should r;?quiro m tAvo-tliirds vote.'' Robert's Kulcs of Order, p. 54. 74. To Take from the Table. A motion that has been laid upon the table may be taken from the table by majority vote at any session following that on which the question was tablefl. The motion is not debatable, cannot be amended, and cannot be recon- sidered. 75. To Limit Debate. This is an undebatable mo- tion, and requires a two-thirds vote. Its effect is to set a time at which the vote shall be taken, or to limit the length of time that any one member may speak upon the question. The same effect is often produced by an announcement from the^ chair at the beginning of the discussion suggesting that the dis- cussion be limited to an hour, or to some other definite period, and that no member be permitted to speak more than three or five minutes. Such a suggestion made by the chair and not opposed, may be considered as adopted by unanimous consent, without the for- mality of a motion. 76. To Extend the Limits of Debate. The house having set a time at which debate shall close, the time may be extended by the same vote required to close it, namely, two-thirds. A motion to extend the limits of debate is not debatable, but the chair might recognize a member, as for instance, the chairman of the business committee, or some other officer, having in mind the business' to be done, stating briefly and without argument, the nature of the business yet to be accomplished, the knowledge of which might assist the members in determining whether discussion should be extended. Such remarks would be out of order, however, if made in the interests of either side, or of having the effect of a discussion of the main question. 77. The Previous Question. The effect of the i)re- —56— i SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS vious question is to dose discussion and to bring the main question to an immediate vote. It requires a two-thirds vote. It is undebatable, cannot be amended, and an affirmative vote upon it cannot be reconsidered. It is a motion of high privilege, and should not be made until it is apparent that all the important issues have been fully canvassed in the discussion and that the discussion itself has reached a wearisome stage. Although the previous question is undebatable, the chair would be justified in recognizing a member of the minority if he arose and stated briefly and without argument, that important considerations still remained to be presented, and that the rights of the minority would be seriously hampered by the passing of the motion. Such a member, however, would have no right to speak at length, nor to argue in favor of his posi- tion, but could be heard on a question of privilege con- cerning the rights of those for whom he assumed to speak. The previous question should be put in this form, ''Shall the main question be now put?" If the motion is lost, discussion proceeds as if the pre- vious question had not been moved. If the previous question prevails, the main question must be put to the house with its amendments in their parliamentary order. The previous question takes precedence of every debatable question, but yields to a motion to lay on the table, and to questions of privilege. 78. The Previous Question Not in Order in the Na- tional Council. It will be noted that in the National Council's standing rules, there is no provision for the previous question. As that portion of the Eules of Order which provides for subsidiary motions belongs to the original draft, presented at Oberlin in 1871 by Dr. Quint, it doubtless was done with intent. To this motion and all others restricting the freedom of speech, except by a vote adopted in advance that the discus- —57— RULES OF ORDEE sion should not continue beyond a given hour, Dr. Quint had strong objections. The writer remembers an occasion when the previous question was moved in the Massachusetts State Association, and Dr. Quint rose to a question of privilege in opposition to it, saying that it never had prevailed in that body, and calling on the house not even to permit the withdrawal of the motion, but squarely to vote it down. The original rules of business of the National Council were very brief. Other rules have been added to them, but these remain unmodified from the beginning. Under them the previous question is never in order in the National Council, and it should seldom be tolerated in religious bodies. These original rules, which should be ade- quate for religious bodies, are these: **The rules of order shall be those found in common parliamentary use, not modified by local legislative practice, with the following explicit modifications: — **When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received except the following, namely: to amend, to commit, to postpone to a^time certain, to postpone indefinitely, to lay on the table, and to adjourn — which shall have precedence in the reverse order of this list — the motions to lay on the table and to adjourn, alone, being not debatable. **No member shall speak more than twice to the merits of any question in debate, except by special permission of the body, nor more than once until every member desiring to speak shall have spoken." 79. To Beconsider. A vote that has been passed by an assembly may be reconsidered provided the re- consideration is moved and seconded by two members who voted in favor of it. A vote to reconsider cannot itself be reconsidered. While a motion to reconsider is before the house, no other motions are in order excepting those which relate to adjournment. If the —58— SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS motion which it is proposed to reconsider was itself undebatable, the motion to reconsider is undebatable, but if the original motion was debatable, the j>roposal to reconsider opens the whole question to discussion. A motion to reconsider may be made and entered on the records even when another member has the floor. The reason for this privilege is that the time within which reconsideration is permitted is limited to the day, or the day or session following that on which the vote to be reconsidered was passed. But while a member may interrupt another for the purpose of recording a motion to reconsider, he ought not to do so unless there is real need that he should do so by reason of limitation of time, or for other urgent and evident reasons. If the motion to reconsider prevails, the original motion is before the house. The high privilege belonging to the motion to reconsider does not apply to the reconsidered motion itself, but this becomes subject to all subsidiary motions to which it was originally subject. 80. To Rescind. The motion to reconsider is limited in point of time, and must be made by one who has voted in favor of it. A motion to rescind can be made at any time when no other business is before the house. It is not privileged in any way; is subject to amend- ment and discussion, and opens the main question for discussion. ^59— X. INCIDENTAL MOTIONS. 81. Concerning Rules and Orders. The term inci- dental motions is used with some variety of meaning in various treatises. As here employed it applies to questions that not being amendments still relate inci- dentally to the main question without directly affecting its merits, and that concern in some fashion rules and the conduct of business. 82. The Orders of the Day. A motion for the order of the day requires no second. It may be made by any member even when another member has the floor, and is in order only when the time has arrived which the assembly has set for certain business. Whatever is pending at the time this motion prevails is postponed if the motion is adopted, but may be taken up as un- finished business at the conclusion of the orders of the day. 83. To Make a Subject a Special Order. An item of business which the house does not wish to consider immediately may be made a special order for a given hour. If the motion is contested a two-thirds vote is necessary to adopt it. 84. To Amend or Suspend the Eules. In almost all bodies this requires previous notice and a two-thirds vote; but not in the National Council, where a ma- jority can amend the rules without previous notice. A motion to suspend the rules may be made when it is the desire of the assembly to consider a matter which is technically out of order. It requires a two- thirds vote, is undebatable, though limited discussion strictly confined to the propriety of the suspension may be tacitly allowed. It cannot be reconsidered. The —60— INCIDENTAL MOTIONS rules can be suspended only for a definite purpose to be stated in the motion. 85. To Take up a Question out of Its Proper Order. Where it is desired to take up a question out of its proper order a motion to this effect may be made and seconded. A two-thirds vote is required to pass it, and it is undebatable and cannot be amended. 86. Questions Concerning the Piority of Business. Such questions may be submitted upon formal motion or presented by the chair with a request to know the will of the assembly concerning the order in which it shall consider business yet to be done. In such case the formality of a motion may be dispensed with and the chair may state to the house, concisely, the nature of the business, and submit the question of the order to direct vote. If made in the form of a motion it may be amended, but is undebatable, though sugges- tions as to the wisdom of the proposed order may tacitly be permitted. 87. The Suppression of the Question. This is an undebatable motion, does not require to be seconded, and is in order when a member has the floor. It should be employed only when the matter proposed is clearly out of order and usually only when the matter proposed is beyond the jurisdiction of the body. The objection calls for a ruling from the chair whether the business proposed is in order, and is irt effect a point of order raised against the proposed business. It can be introduced only before there has been dis- cussion, and when the question is raised the chair may rule upon it, or may refer it to the house without the formality of a motion, asking, "Will the house con- sider this matter!" Unless the chair is sure of his position, it is better for him to put the question in this form than to rule upon it, as in case of dissatis- faction his decision might be appealed from, and the —61— EULES OF ORDEB question would still have to be decided by the house. If there is any probability that this will occur, the presiding officer should throw the responsibility upon the house at the outset. A two-thirds vote is required to carry this motion. The motion to refuse to consider is not a measure to close debate, but an effective method of not beginning it. It is a summary method of casting out an irrele- vant matter without discussion. 88. The Reading of Papers. When papers are laid before an assembly, it is the right of any member to have them read once before voting. But no member has a right to call for such reading after they have been recently read, nor for delay, nor for any other pur- pose than for information. The call for the reading of papers does not require a second; but if the papers have been once read, and subsequent reading is called for and opposed, the question may be put to the house without discussion. 89. Parliamentary Inquiries. A member desiring information on a matter pending may ask for it, and the moderator will reply, or refer the question to the scribe, the mover of the main question, or the chair- man of the committee whose report is before the house. Or if the inquiry relate to a question of order, and the moderator prefers, he may call for the will or judgment of the house before ruling. A parliamentary inquiry is a privileged question, to be used in good faith for the obtaining of information pertinent to the matter in hand; and the moderator will not hesitate to rule it out of order when it is apparent that the motive is delay or covert argument. 90. The Withdrawal of a Motion. A member who has made a motion may withdraw the motion provided the second consents, unless objection is made. If, however, there is objection, it is necessary that there —62— INCIDENTAL MOTIONS be a motion granting leave to withdraw. This motion cannot be debated or amended, and if permission is granted and the motion is withdrawn the effect is the same as if it had not been made. A motion once made and seconded belongs to the whole house and may not be withdrawn if a majority of the house desire to continue the consideration of it. 91. Appeal From the Decision of the Chair. Any member who is dissatisfied with the decision of the chair may appeal from that decision. If the appeal is not seconded it fails, but if the appeal is seconded, the chair states the question at once, repeating his ruling and stating briefly his reason for the same if he desires, and asks, "Shall the decision of the chair stand as the decision of the housed" If there is a tie vote, the decision is sustained. An appeal from the decision of the chair cannot be amended, and if it relates only to transgressions of the rules of the assembly, indecorum, or the priority of business, or if it is made while the previous question is pending it is undebatable. In other matters limited debate is per- mitted, members speaking briefly, and no member speaking more than once. 92. Points of Order. A point of order may be raised by any member; and the chair will recognize a member rising for this purpose even when another member has the floor. Such a member addressing the chair should say, "I rise to a point of order." The chair should answer, "The gentleman will state his point of order." The point of order being stated, the chair will rule whether the point is well taken. If the point of order relates to the right of a member to intro- duce a given motion, the sustaining of the point of order declares the motion out of order and the member will resume his seat. If the point of order relates to indecorum in speech, the member against whom the —63— RULES OF OBDEIt point of order is raised may continue to speak after the point of order has been decided against him, but must desist from offensive remarks and may be re- quired to retract them before he proceeds and may not have the privilege of the floor until he has made reparation. —64— XI. QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGE. 93. An Important Distinction. Questions of privi- logo are not the same as privileged questions. 94. What Are Privileged Questions? Privileged questions are those which from their nature must be permitted to be acted upon in advance of the main question. They are of six classes, and excepting the motion to adjourn have already been considered as subsidiary motions, namely: To adjourn, including the more highly privileged motion to fix the time to which to adjourn; the previous question, and motions to limit or extend debate; to lay on table; to postpone, either indefinitely or definitely; to commit, and to amend. As here stated they are in the order of their privi- lege. 95. What Are Questions of Privilege? Questions of |)rivilege are those which concern the rights of the house or of its members. And as personal rights are more sacred than those of business, so questions of privilege are more highly privileged than privileged (piestions, 96. Questions of Personal Right. A member who feels that his personal rights have been infringed upon, or that he has been unjustly accused or misun- derstood may rise to a question of privilege, and hav- ing stated the question, the chair will rule or may call upon the house to determine whether it shall hear the member further. Such a question is in order even when another member has the floor, if it relates direct- ly to words which he has just spoken, or to a matter so grave and so serious that injustice would be done by delay. — 65 — RULES OF ORDER 97. Questions of the Rights of the Assembly. In an^ grave matter affecting the riglits or dignity of the assembly, a question of privilege may be raised, and the house will determine whether th6 situation is so serious that it will attend to the matter then or at some later time, or not at all. 98. Precedence in Questions of Privilege'. In ques- tions of privilege * * those affecting the rights of the as- sembly collectively, its safet}^, dignity and the integrity of its proceedings" take precedence over questions of "the rights, reputation and conduct of members in- dividually." For instance, if a member were to rise to a question of privilege, and should insult the as- sembly, the consideration of his own misconduct would have higher privilege than that of the injury of which he complained, 99. Restrictions of Questions of Privilege. It is hard to set definite limits to questions of privilege. A personal explanation is not a question of privilege, though the house may so regard it if it desire, particu- larly if the explanation be an apology, or offered mani- festly in the interests of peace. The right to rise to a question of privilege does not entitle a member with a grievance to interrupt important business with his complainings, nor to indulge in violent language nor tedious harangue. The theory of questions of privi- lege is that individual rights are so sacred that a member must not suffer by reason of the machinery of the assembly; and therefore in case of real grievance he may be heard briefly and courteously, even when no motion is before the house; or if the case be more urgent, while other business is pending; and if the matter be a wrong through the words of a member who is speaking, then even while that member has the floor. But this large liberty is limited in many ways, —66— QUESTIONS OF 1>RIVILEGE ;iud the house will not fail to hold a member re- sponsible for finy abuse of high privilege. 100. To Whom Questions of Privilege Are Ad- dressed. A question of privilege must be addressed to the chair, who, as soon as the question is stated, will decide whether it is a question of privilege or not. If he decides that it is not a question of privilege, the discussion continues at the point where it was in- terrupted. The moderator, as representing the assembly, may as- sert a privilege on behalf of the house, and refuse to recognize a motion that manifestly is impertinent or trivial. Pells' ''Decisions" says, "If Mr. Speaker deems the motion an abuse of the rules of the house, he declines to put it." This privilege is subject to appeal. 101. Leave to Continue Speaking After Indecorum. If a member is called to order for improper words, and ])eing called to order immediately desists, unless the offense is flagrant he may be permitted to proceed. But if any one objects to his continuing he cannot continue without a favorable vote of the assembly. The motion requires no second and is not debatable; except that the member objecting briefly and with- out argument may state what the words appear to imply, and the member making the remark that has given offense may accept or deny the implication, or withdraw the words. If the explanation is satisfac- tory, the member may proceed. If the objecting mem- ber persists in his objection, and the member speaking asks to proceed, the chair shall immediately put the question, ''Shall the member be given leave to pro- ceed f" A majority vote shall determine his right to continue. 102. Questions Incident to Questions of Privilege. A question of privilege carries with it a proper dis- —67— RULESOF ORDER position of the matter. The assembly may act at once upon the matter, or refer it to a committee, or set a time at which to attend to it; and any of these mo- tions carries with it the privilege to which the matter relates. 103. General Remarks. An ordinary motion will sometimes rise through a sudden emergency to the place of a question of privilege. For example, a mem- ber might be speaking in order, and another member rise and say: "Mr. Moderator, I ask the brother to yield the floor for a question of privilege. A house is on fire and our help is needed. 1 move we take re- cess for one hour." The motion to take recess, which ordinarily is a privileged motion, becomes in such an emergency a question of privilege. .68— Xn. THE VOTE. 104. Methods of Voting. Five methods of voting are t'ommon among religious bodies — by sound, show of hands, rising, ballot, and by yeas and nays. 105. Voting by Sound, or Show of Hands, or Rising. Voting by sound and by show of hands are two forms which are essentially the same method. In routine business where no division is expected, the viva voce vote is most common. A common form is '*As many as are in favor of the motion will say aye. " "As many as are opposed say no;" "The ayes have it, and the motion is carried." Or the form is varied thus, "As many as are in favor will raise the hand; as many as are opposed by the same sign." "The motion pre- vails." Voting by the uplifted hand is very ancient and ap- pears to have been employed in the New Testament churches. It may be employed in connection with a viva voce vote where the chair is in a doubt. A vote having been taken viva voce the moderator may say the chair is in doubt and then call for another vote by the uplifted hand. A rising vote may be employed when the division is so close as to make voting by show of hands uncer- tain. It is also used to give emphasis and impressive- ness to a vote, as in the adoption of resolutions of respect or thanks. 106. Voting by Ballot. Voting by ballot is in order in all matters of importance, and is desirable in the election of officers. It may be demanded by five members on any main question of importance. 107. Election by Ballot. Where the efection is by RULES OF OBDEB ballot it is common to nominate by an informal ballot in order that every person present may express his desire and put in nomination any member whom he prefers. An informal ballot has only the value of a nomination. It sometimes happens that on the in- formal ballot a majority of votes will appear in favor of a single candidate. In such cases it is common to vote viva voce that the informal ballot be declared formal. This is both legal and desirable, for when the house has shown a clear majority in favor of a candi- date on the nominating ballot, it would be a waste of time to take a formal ballot. It is not required that members shall confine their votes to persons nominated. Whether the nominations be by committee or from the floor or by informal bal- lot, every member is fully at liberty to vote for any other member for any office for which he is eligible. 108. Majority Required for Election. A majority of all votes is necessary to determine the will of the assembly. A plurality cannot elect an officer nor com- mit the body to any proposed action. Some motions require a two-thirds vote; the sup- pression of a question, the suspension of the rules; the amendment of the rules (except in the National Council); the .limitation or extension of debate; the previous question; the making of a special order, or taking up of a question out of its order; and also, properly, the motion to lay on the table, when it is used to limit debate or suppress a question. (See Sec- tion 73). 109. Electing by a Single Ballot. The custom has grown common of electing officers by a single ballot cast by the clerk or scribe. This- has been declared illegal in some states as defeating the purpose of a ballot and therefore should not be employed. In cases where a norftination has been made and after oppor- —70— THE VOTE t unity for other nominations has been given and no other nominations follow, the chair may entertain a motion that the ballot containing the nomination be cast by the scribe or the chairman of the commit- tee. The moderator should announce that this can be done only by unanimous consent and inquire whether any other person desires to vote. If any other person expresses a desire to vote tellers must be appoinfed and a ballot collected from the whole house, but if no other vote is offered the single bal- lot may be cast and the candidates declared elected. The record, however, should not show that the secre- tary was instructed to cast the ballot of the house, but that the house proceeding to ballot a unanimous vote was cast in favor of the candidate or candidates. The motion that the secretary cast the ballot of the house, should not be put to vote nor appear upon the records. There should be a bona fide ballot. If ('very member without exception is willing that his vote should be merged in a single ballot, the purpose of the ballot has not been destroyed, and the ballot is legally valid. 110. Voting by Ayes and Noes. In determining the findings of councils and the other matters of large importance, it is usual to take the vote by ayes and noes. The purpose of this vote in religious bodies is somewhat different from that of political assemblies, it being less to put each man on record than to give each man an opportunity to express a judgment. The names being called in order each member responds, giving his judgment in the affirmative or negative, and if he desires with a few words of explanation of his vote, but unless the vote explicitly requires it the members' votes are not recorded opposite their names. This may be done, however, when for any reason the assembly desires that each member shall go on record. BULESOF ORDER Yeas and nays may be called for and recorded on any question by a majority vote. 111. Question Open Till Both Sides Have Voted. Until both sides of a vote have been taken, a member is at liberty to continue the discussion or to offer amendment. If a member rises and addresses the chair after the affirmative vote, and the chair not recognizing him hastens to put the negative, the mem- ber still may claim the floor. 112. Changing Votes. After a vote has been cast and until the time when the moderator announces the result, any member is at liberty to change his vote. In doing this he is not expected to reopen the discus- sion, but if the question is debatable he may briefly give his reason for changing, and even in case of an undebatable motion might be heard briefly on a ques- tion of privilege. This, however, could only be asked in a grave situation where the change had come about through some unusual and unfamiliar conditions, such that the member in changing his vote would be justi- fied in feeling compelled to explain his reason. 113. Announcement of the Vote. The vote becomes a matter of record only when announced by the chair. 114. Making a Vote Unanimous. A clear majority having voted in favor of a candidate or resolution, the vote may be made unanimous. The motion to make a vote unanimous should be made, if at all, by some lead- ing representativ'e of what has been the opposition, and should be entered into heartily, if at all. A single vote against such a motion would defeat it, nor can it truthfully be said that a vote has been unanimous when the defeated minority merely tacitly permits the pass- ing of such a vote. If a vote is recorded that a certain election was made unanimous it should mean that the minority heartily concurred in the judgment of the majority and themselves proposed this united expres- —72— I THE VOTE sion. This motion should never be passed with intent to coerce a minority. 115. All Must Vote. In matters of importance every member may be required to vote, and where a division is called for and members vote neither way, they may be counted in the affirmative. The rule here laid down is diametrically opposite to that now recognized in Congress, in which members present and not voting are counted in the negative. Tho distinction is important, and the present rule is sound as applied to ecclesiastical bodies. A member of a legislative body, present and refusing to vote, may be presumed to be opposed to the measure and seeking by his silence to break a quorum. He is not per- mitted to prevent a vote, and cannot complain if he is counted in the negative, and so since the days of Thomas B. Eeed, he is counted in Congress, and in- creasingly in legislative bodies. But the case is quite otherwise in religious assemblies.. The member not voting either for or against a measure must be under- stood as acquiescing in the vote of the majority. If a pastorate seems to be going badly a member cannot escape his share of the responsibility by asserting that he did not vote in favor of the call. If he was silent while the majority so voted, he must assume his share of the responsibility as fully as if he had voted with the rest. 116. Personal Interest Excludes From Vote. No member may vote on a matter affecting himself. If, however, the matter concerns himself and others, he may vote. For instance, if a vote of censure includes only one name, the member named may not vote; but if it includes two or more names all the members named may vote. When personalities are involved, a member whose case is under consideration should leave the room, and may —73— RULES OF ORDER be required to do so, during the discussion and vote upon his ease, but may make his personal statement before withdrawing. 117. Forms of Putting Motions. Viva Voce. *'As many as are in favor of the mo- tion, say Aye. Those opposed, No. The Ayes have it; and the motion prevails. ' ' Show of Hands, Followed by Rising Vote. *'As many as are in favor of the motion will manifest it by the uplifted hand. Those opposed by the same sign. The Chair is in doubt. Those who are in favor of the motion will rise, and stand until counted. You may be seated. Those who are opposed will stand. The vote is 35 in favor of the motion, and 37 opposed. The mo- tion is lost." Receiving and Adopting the Report of a Committee. **It is moved and seconded that the report of the Committee be received. As many as are in favor will say, Aye. Opposed, No. The report is received. It is moved and seconded that the report be adopted. As many as are in favor of the adoption of the report will say, Aye. Opposed, No. The Noes have it. The motion to adopt the report is lost." Objection to the Consideration of a Question. (Not in order if there has been any discussion). ''There is objection to the consideration of the question. Will the Association consider it? Those in favor will say, Aye. Opposed, No. The objection does not receive a two-thirds vote, and is^lost. The main question is before the Association for discussion." Appeal From the Decision of the Chair. ' * Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the judgment of the Conference? As many as favor sustaining the decision of the Chair will say. Aye. Contrary, No. The decis- ion of the Chair is sustained." Adjourn. ''It is moved and seconded that we do now adjourn. Those who are in favor of adjournment will say, Aye. Opposed, No. The Ayes have it; but before the Chair announces the vote he would remind the House that we have set no time to which we shall adjourn. It is moved and seconded that when we ad- journ, we adjourn to meet at 9 o'clock tomorrow. As many as are in favor will say. Aye. Contrary, No. It THE VOTE is a vote. A renewal of the motion to adjourn is in order. Those who favor adjournment will say, Aye. Opposed, No. The Ayes have it. The House stands juljourned to 9 o'clock tomorrow." The Previous Question. '^ Shall the main question be now put? As many as are in favor of closing the discussion will say, Aye." To sustain an Examination. (When Council is by itself). ''It is moved and seconded that the exam- ination be sustained, and that we proceed to the service of ordination. The Scribe will call the roll, and the members will vote as their names are called." -75— XIII. THE CLQSING OP THE MEETING. 118. To Take Recess. Where it is intended to close a meeting temporarily and to resume it at an- other hour of the same day, a motion to take recess until a given time is in order. It is undebatable, but brief remarks may be permitted by general consent, and the motion may be amended as to the time at which it is proposed to reassemble, and limited discussion may be permitted on this point. 119. To Adjourn. A motion to adjourn, if carried, dissolves the assembly, unless a time is fixed to which adjournment is to be taken. The motion should be in this form, "That we do now adjourn," or in the case of a committee, "That the committee rise." This motion is undebatable and cannot be reconsidered or amended, unless the motion contains subsidiary mat- ter, in which case amendments are in order, and debate is permitted on all matters included in the motion beyond that of simple adjournment. It is commonly said that a motion to adjourn is never debatable arid always in order. Neither of these statements is strictly correct. JEven the motion "That we do now adjourn ' ' sometimes permits limited discus- sion, particularly when the assembly is to hold no other session. A member rising at such a time to call the attention of the house to business that has not been transacted is in order even if the motion to adjourn has passed, provided the result has not yet been stated* by the chair. To hold that a motion to adjourn can never be debated would sometimes make it impossible for a body to transact important items of business that had been overlooked by the majority. Discussion of —76— THE CLOSING OF THE MEETING tlie motion to adjourn, however, must be strictly con- iined to important items of information bearing di- rectly on the advisability of the motion. When there is no other business before the house a motion to adjourn may admit of amendment for the purpose of bringing before the house other business, and to prevent a restless and uninformed majority from dissolving the assembly without completing its work. And upon such amendment, if it is seconded and stated, there may be limited discussion. A motion to adjourn loses its privilege if in any way modified. But the amendment to a motion to adjourn is itself a privileged motion, and allowable to prevent the abuse of the privilege of the motion to adjourn. It must not itself be permitted to be abused. Neither is it strictly true to say that the motion to adjourn is alwa^^s in order. Even when a motion to adjourn is before the house it may be set aside tem- porarily by a motion to fix a time to which to ad- journ. A motion to adjourn, having been defeated, may not be renewed until other business has been transacted. **When an assembly has not fixed the day to which it shall adjourn and it is not otherwise limited by law, an adjournment would be equivalent to a dissolu- tion. The motion to adjourn would then have no privi- lege whatever over other motions. Indeed [if other business remains to be done], it should not be enter- tained by the presiding officer [and far from being undebatable], it opens up a wide field for debate." Reed's Parliamentary Rules, p. 126. 120. The Effect of Adjourament on Unfinished Busi- ness. When an adjournment closes a session that will be resumed or followed at a stated time within the year by a session of the same body, unfinished business should be taken up at the next session in advance of —77— RULES OF ORDER new business. But where an assembly meets but once a year, unfinished business ends with the session. 121. To Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn. A mo- tion to fix a time to which to adjourn takes precedence over every other motion. It is debatable unless an- other motion is before the house. It may be presented as a question of privilege even when important business is before the body, but in that case it cannot be de- bated and can only be amended as to the time which it is proposed to adjourn. 122. General Remarks. After the motion to ad- journ has been lost, it may be renewed after a reason- able time, even if no votes have been taken. The motion **that we do now adjourn*' is not precisely the same at 10 o'clock p. m. that it is at 11 p. m. More freedom of discussion of the motion to adjourn is permitted when no business is before the house. It' the assembly is discussing a question and the motion to adjourn is made, it is assumed that the only ques- tion bearing upon the wisdom of adjournment is the question before the house. But if there is no other business pending limited discussion may be jiermitted; and also amendment. If the* motion to adjourn is qualified it cannot be made while another question is before the house. The motion to adjourn cannot bfe reconsidered. An important church meeting having completed its business, a motion to adjourn was made and seconded. The minister rose, stated the motion, and before put- ting it to vote, attempted to say a word of satisfaction concerning the business that had been done, when an officious member called out, '*A point of order! A motion to adjourn is not debatable!" He was as un- parliamentary as he was rude. — 7S— XIV. COMMITTEES. 123. Reason for Committees. To save the time of the assembly aud to give opportunity for investigation and the careful preparation of reports, committees are of great service. An increasing volume of the business of deliberative assemblies is performed by committees. Committees are of three kinds: Special committees, standing committees and committees of the whole, 124. Special Committees. A motion to refer to a committee is the freest of all subsidiary motions, ex- cepting that to amend. It is amendable, debatable, and opens the main question to discussion. Special committees consist of three members, unless the number is specified by vote. The chair may ask, "Of how many shall this committee consist, and how shall this committee be appointed?" and it is not usually necessary that a formal vote should be taken in answer to these questions. If some member answers ''three" or ''five" and there is no opposing sugges- tion, the chair announces, "Unless the chair hears other suggestions the committee will consist of five." And when the question is asked, "How shall this com- mittee be appointed?" if members answer "Chair," and there is no other suggestion, the chair appoints the committee. Where there is a nominating committee it is usual for that committee to nominate committees as well as officers. If the moderator has any reason to believe that a committee of lii^ appointment would be consid- ered partial, he will do well to call for nominations from the floor and put the names to vote in the order of their nomination. The member moving the appoint- —79— RULES OP ORDER inent of a committee is often made chairman of it, but he has no reason to expect that this will be done. If he is made chairman it should be only because of his eminent fitness for the place, and it is not desirable that a member moving the appointment of a committee should be understood as soliciting a place upon it. 125. Standing Committees — For the consideration of matters that may be grouped under convenient heads and are likely to be presented from time to time and to need coordinate consideration, standing committees are of large value. In appointing committes to investigate and report, it is not necessary that the members of committees should be members of the appointing body. It is not usual that church committees should include persons who are not members of the church, but Associations, Conferences and the National Council are at liberty to place upon their standing committees any member of a Congregational Church within their respective terri- tories. 126. Committees Should Be Representative. In the appointment of committees care should be taken to make them truly representative. If it is known that a difference of opinion exists, it is by far better that the minority should be represented upon the com- mittee. 127. Reports of Committees. Eeports of committees belong to the unfinished business ot an assembly and so constitute a special order upon its calendar. Those having in charge the shaping of programs for repre- sentative gatherings should confer with committee chairmen and provide sufficient time for the report of all standing committees. Committee reports should be in writing and signed by the chairman, and in matters of considerable im- portance signed also by all members of the committee. —80— COMMITTEES 128. Majority and Minority Reports. The commit- tee should seek to bring in a report which all its mem- bers can recommend. If the committee cannot agree it will be practically certain that the assembly also will be divided, and one of the purposes of a commit- tee is to determine a course upon which the assembly can probably unite. However, if a committee having earnestly sought a united report finds itself unable to agree, there may be presented a majority report signed by those members who agree to it, and a minority report signed by the minority. The assembly may accept either report or it may receive both and proceed to the consideration of the whole, but having voted to receive both the majority and minority reports, a motion to adopt one or the other would be the usual basis of further discussion. The usual form of such a motion is that the majority report be adopted; the minority report may then be brought before the house upon a motion to substitute the minority report for the majority report. 129. Reports Upon Reports. When a report is re- ferred to a committee the committee is not at liberty to alter the text of the report, but may recommend changes on a separate sheet, which changes have the force of a motion to substitute. 130. Section by Section. When the report of a committee is considered section by section, one motion to receive the report is sufficient, and the question may be put on each section without a distinct motion for each. If there is a preamble it is adopted last, and the final vote is upon the report as a whole. 131. Committee of the Whole. When a subject is under consideration and it is desired to discuss and amend it with greater freedom than is usual in deliber- ative assemblies, the house may resolve itself into a committee of the whole. When the matter is referred —81-- BULBS OF ORDER to the committee of the whole the moderator rises and calls another member to the chair. His choice is almost invariably concurred in, but the assembly may elect a chairman of the committee if it desires. The moderator takes his seat among the members, having no other right than that belonging to one of the rest. The scribe keeps his place and is secretary of the com- mittee, but only for the purpose of furnishing docu- ments, receiving papers and keeping such informal min- utes as may assist the committee. The records of the committee do not become a part of the record of the assembly, but only its report. When the committee of the whole has completed its work it does not adjourn. The proper vote is ''that the committee rise." When this motion prevails the moderator resumes his seat and the chairman of the committee of the whole presents to the assembly the result of the work of the committee. In the committee of . the whole any member is en- titled to speak as often as he can get the floor, unless the committee places limits upon discussion. The as- sembl}' in resolving itself into committee of the whole may set a time at which it shall resume its own ses- sion. If the time arrives and the committee is not ready to report it cannot extend its time, even by unanimous vote. It cannot alter the text of any resolution submitted to it, but may report to the house a form of resolution which it approves. The committee of the whole is of comparatively little use in church gatherings, but now and then is found to be a convenience. —82- fart 2 dnttgr^gatumal ®Il00ra mh f rartto Wxtli Bxxi^ttXmB for PART II. CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE. I. THE ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES. Any company of believers living sufficiently near to each other to meet statedly for worship and to unite in Christian activities may organize themselves into a self-governing church. This church, if approved by the neighboring churches affiliated in council or asso- ciation, may be recognized on behalf of the denomina- tion, and entitled to fellowship as a Congregational Church. The right of organization is inherent in the local body of believers. The right of recognition be- longs to the sisterhood of churches with which the local church. expects fellowship. It is important that in the organization of a Congre- gational Church careful attention should be given to local conditions which seem to call for the organization, and also that from the beginning the advice and fellow- ship or neighboring churches should be sought. A Congregational Church may be organized with or without the aid of the council, or of an association acting in a conciliary capacity. Mistakes are some- times avoided if the council or association is called for the purpose of organization, but where a different method is adopted, advice should be sought from the advisory committee of the local association, or from a neighboring pastor of standing and experience. The Organization of a Church Without Council. Tlie —85— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE neighborhood should first be canvassed, and a list of prospective members should be obtained. It is ad- visable that these should have signed in advance a simple preliminary covenant which will afford the basis of a temporary organization. The following has been used successfully in cases of this kind: "For the glory of God, for the service of oi\j fellow men, and for mutual assistance in our Christian life, the "undersigned agree to become charter members of a Congregational Church. ' ' The extreme brevity and freedom from teclinicality of such a statement is an advantage. A preliminary meeting may be held and a committee appointed to present a constitution, covenant and articles of faith. Where such a preliminary meeting is inexpedient these documents may be prepared in ad- vance by the leaders of the movement or by a neigh- boring pastor. The Council Manual prepared by a com- mittee of the National Council in 1895 contains forms which may serve as models for such an organization, and which appear somewhat modified in this volume. A formal call should be issued for the organization, and should become a part of the minutes of the meet- ing. It may be published in a local paper or sent in- dividually to prospective members. On the ajjpointed date the meeting may be called to- order by a neighboring pastor, or by a representative of the advisory committee of the association. A tem- porary clerk should be elected ^nd the call for the meeting read. The names of the persons who have signified their intention of uniting with the church should be read, and if a sufficient number are found to be present, the business of the meeting may pro- ceed. A permanent moderator and scribe should now be chosen, and prayer offered by the presiding officer or some person whom he may appoint. —86— ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES The persons who are to join by letter from other ( Imrches should produce their credentials, and these [lapers should be submitted to a committee. The per- sons desiring to unite on confession of faith should also present their names and requests. If there is ob- jection to any name proposed, the prospective members Jiave a right by vote to refuse to associate that person with themselves as a charter member of the church; but if no objection is raised, the names need not be voted upon separately. If the committee finds the letters to be in due form, and the persons uniting on confession to give reasonable evidence of faith in Christ, they may report favorably upon the prospec- tive membership as a whole. A motion is then in order, and may be in substance as follows: "Voted that we now proceed to take the necessary steps toward the organization of a church of the Lord Jesus Christ to be known as the Congregational Church." This motion being open for discussion, it should be made clear that such a church is needed; that the field is not already cotered by neighboring churches, that it has good prospect of reaching self-support within a reasonable period and that those who are to constitute the church represent the best interests of the com- munity in the undertaking. These matters being estab- lished the motion may be adopted. The covenant, statement of doctrine, form for the reception of members and constitution and by-laws may now be presented and adopted. The election of officers will then be in order. If deacons and trustees are to be so chosen that terms of office do not all expire at once, one officer should be elected for one year, another for two, and another for three, as the constitution may direct. It may be wise to adjourn the meeting at this point —87— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE and to complete it at a Sunday eovenaut service, hold- ing the charter membership open until that date. In that case the persons to be received into the fellow- ship of the church who were not present at the business meeting should present themselves and be accepted by vote as charter members of the church, and the whole body then going forward as their names are read, may receive the right hand of fellowship. This service may appropriately be followed by a communion service. This method of effecting an organization in two meetings, one called especially for the transaction of business, and the second called upon a Sunday for the purpose of joining in the covenant, possesses some marked practical advantages. Where it is employed there should be a formal vote at the second service ratifying the proceedings of the previous meeting, and the covenant service should be considered an ad- journed session of the meeting for organization. The Organization of a Church With the Aid of Council. Formerly most Congregational churches were organized in this way. The prospective members hav- ing held a preliminary meeting, and agreed upon their desire to organize a church, may join in issuing a let- ter missive to be signed by a committee of the brethren, inviting the Congregational churches of the vicinage, or the Association of said churches, to con- vene for the purpose of organizing a Congregational church. The council being duly organized, the list of the prospective members should be submitted, and such statements made as shall convince the council with the necessity of proceeding with the organization. The council may then be by itself, and if it approves the organization will return with the report of ap- proval. The organization of the church will then proceed, the council being present, and its officers presiding and —88-- ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES conducting the proceedings of organization. The mod- erator of the council will act as chairman of the meet- ing, and the scribe of the council will incorporate the proceedings of the new organization into the records of the council. The voting, however, after the re- port of the council favorable to the organization of the eliurch will be by the prospective members. The constitution, covenant,- and confession of faith being adopted, the council will resume its session and on behalf of the churches represented approve the organization and receive the new church into fellow- ship and commend it for membership in the Associa- tion. It is altogether fitting that the business session should be held in the afternoon, and the public cove- nant service in the evening; or that the business of organization should be transacted upon a week day and the covenant service be held upon a convenient Sunday. The Association Acting as Council. In all states where Associations have incorporated in their consti- tutions the right of ordaining ministers and of organ- izing churches, councils may be dispensed with and the business of the council may be transacted by the Association, Where a council has been called to recognize the church, the admission of the church to the Association constitutes a separate act, and the proceedings of the council form a separate but important step in the process of recognition. Recognition of a Church. A Congregational Church organized as herein directed will seek recognition either through a council of neighboring churches or a meeting of the district Association. If a council is to be called, the advice of the advisory committee of the district Association should be sought and the council should represent fairly the churches of the vicinage. —89-- . . CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE A letter missive should be sent out iu form aud in substance like that contained in the appendix. The council convening on the day appointed, and being duly organized, should first have presented to it all the records of the church from the beginning, together with the constitution, creed and covenant. Any further statement concerning the admission of such a. church may be made, and the council may be by itself to consider the wisdom of the undertaking. If it appear to the council that the organization is advisable, it should vote first, to approve the organ- ization, articles of faith, and covenant of the church; and, secondly, to recommend the church to the fellow- ship of the district Association. Two copies of the minutes of the council should be prepared, signed by the moderator and scribe. One of these should be furnished to the registrar of the district Association and the other to the clerk of the church. The letter should be entered in the record book of the church and permanently preserved. At the next meeting of the district Association the church should be represented by its pastor and a delegate, and formal application should be made for admission. Eesolutions to this effect may be sub- stantially in the following words: ' ' Voted that the Congregational Church in , organized 19 . . , and recognized by the council of the vicinage on hereby applies for admission to the Association, as a Congregational Church in fellowship and regular standing." The Disbanding of a Church. Sometimes through changes in the population of a community it becomes advisable to disband a church, or to combine it with another church. In such a case competent advice should be sought to secure all legal rights in the prem- ises. If money has been invested in the church —90— ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES work by the Home Missionary Society, or in the build- ing by the Church Btiilding Society, care should be taken to secure all the legal and moral equities in- volved. Public notice should be given that all mem- bers may have knowledge of the proposed action. In any case of doubt a council should be called, or the advice of the Association should be sought. If any considerable number of the members still believe the church to be needed, and are willing to continue its responsibilities, respectful heed should be given to their desires and promises, without, however, jeopard- izing important interests for what may be a too con- fident hope. If it should finally appear that the church is no longer needed the following steps may be taken: First, it may be voted that this church proceed to take the necessary steps to dispose of its property and to disband. Secondly, the trustees should be directed to dispose of the property either by deed to the Congregational Church Building So- ciety, or such other way as to provide for the proper securing of the interests of the denomination. A bill of sale of the personal property should also be authorized. IMiirdly, it should be voted that the clerk have author- ity to grant letters to all members now on the rolls of this church to any church with which we are in fellowship. Fourthly, it should be voted that the rec- ords, when completed, be deposited with the registrar of the Association. Finally, all necessary business being completed, it should be voted that this church do now disband. Uniting Two Churches. Two churches, both being incorporated, and owning their own property, may unite by majority vote of both churches, and take the name and organization of either, or agree upon a new name. Tlie choice of the new name does not FKM'essitate the overthrow of the older organizations, ;iii(l the united church under a new name may so con- —91— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE duct its business as merely to effect a reorganization of both churches under the one new name. Kegard- less of the name chosen, the original date of the older organization should be retained as the date of the organization of the united church. To bring this to pass without sacrifice of any vested interest a good Christian lawyer should be consulted; and the matter should be considered carefully by some one with ex- perience in such matters. In some of the older states a special act of the Legislature has been necessary to effect mergers and preserve historic and vested rights. Members voting against the merger are still mem- bers of the united church, in good standing; but should be given letters if they insist upon it. Dividing a Church. A church may divide by vote. But this action is quite different from that of uniting two churches, in that the church cannot by majority vote dismiss a group of members against their in- dividual choice, nor set them apart as those to form the new church. By unanimous consent the parish might be divided geographically, and, one organiza- tion taking a new name, each could date its records from the beginning of the united church. But usually a new church is formed, composed of such members as request letters of dismission for the purpose of joining it. Receiving Churches From Other Denominations. An undenominational church may by vote become Congregational by voting to unite with the Congre- gational Association within whose bounds it is situated, and being received by that bo^y. The same would be true of any other self-governing church applying for membership. If desired, the church applying for membership may first call a council, and the coun- cil's recommendation would be an appropriate intro- duction to the association. —92— ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES If any members in such a church vote against unit- ing, they are not thereby cut off from membership in the church, but are entitled to consideration if they continue in fellowship. In the case of a church not hitherto orthodox, coming into fellowship, the minority are not subject to discipline if they decline to ac- cept new creed tests. They still have all their rights as members of the church, and may be dismissed as members in good standing if they request letters, or may continue in fellowship with the church in its new relations. A further word on this subject will be found in the chapter on Church Membership. The Incorporation of a Church. The incorporation of a church is a very simple matter. The laws of the several states are framed to conform to the usages of the various denominations; so that the directions here given will, with slight adaptations, fit the require- ments of most states. In case of any doubt it would be well to consult a Christian lawyer, who would furnish the form as required in the statutes of the state in which the church is situated. The following directions are adequate for most cases: Prepare a written notice to be signed by the num- ber of members required by the rules of the local church, and preferably by its Board of Trustees, an- nouncing that at a regular mid-week meeting on a certain date the church will be asked to vote upon the question of becoming incorporated. Let this notice be read from the pulpit one or two Sundays before the date of meeting, according to the rules of the church. This call should bo incorporated in the minutes of the meeting. A resolution substantially in the following form may then be presented: ''Kesolved, that this church apply for incorporation —93— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE under the statutes of this state; and that Messrs. A. p., C. D., and E. F., now serving as trustees, be the trustees of this incorporation; and that they and the chairman and secretary of this meeting be authorized and instructed to act for the church in the preparation and filing of the necessary papers. ' ' The papers to be filed, which should be ready in advance, require in some states the signatures of all the incorporators, who must not be less than three in number. In other states the chairman or secretary of the meeting may make oath to the papers, and merely name the trustees. The following is the form of oath prescribed in some of the states: State of County. 3S. I, John Doe, do solemnly swear, that at a meeting of the members of the Church of , held at on , Messrs. A. B., C. D., and E. F. were elected trustees, according to the rules and usages of such church. And said church adopted as its cor- porate name, ''The Congregational Church of " and as its corporate seal, the following words: "The Congregational Church of ," with the following motto and devise: , the whole to be inclosed in a scroll, and to be either written, stamped or printed. And at said meeting this affiant acted as chairman (or secretary). (Name) Subscribed and sworn to before me this . . day of , 19-- Notary Public. This affidavit, with a copy of the constitution of the church, should be filed with the recorder of deeds, or such other officer as the state appoints for tins purpose. Corporate Seal. In some of the states a corporate seal is positively necessary. Seal presses such as notaries use are very inexpensive, and a specially de- —94— ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES signed seal, with a motto or device, or both, costs very i'ow dollars, and is appropriate. Nearly every church has occasion now and then to execute legal documents, and in addition to this it is appropriate that letters missive, church letters, and similar documents should bear a seal. As illustrations of somewhat elaborate designs made simple and effective, two seals are here given. The First Church of Oak Park is the mother of six daugh- ters; and has adopted as its symbol the seven-branched laudlestick. But as the number seven is itself symbolic, of completeness, it would not become inappropriate if another daughter should enter the family. As in Revelation, so in this seal, there are seven stars, the light of heaven mingling with that of earth in the Church of Christ. And the candlestick is placed upon a rugged rock, trebly symbolic of God, the Rock of Ages; the Church established upon a Rock; and the Congregational movement related to Plymouth Rock. The whole is inclosed in a border of acorns and oak leaves. Hhawmut seal employs the ancient and beautiful symbol which places X, the Greek initial of Christ, in the intersection of a cross inclosed in a circle — Christ for the world — and in the four arms the Latin words Rex, Lex, Dux, Lux — Christ, our King, Law, Captain and Light. The Greek motto signifies, "Xot to be ministered unto, but to minister. ' ' ,MC//. n. THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH MEETINGS. The Call of the Meeting. The ordinary business of the church may be transacted at any mid-week meet- ing, or in case of necessity at any Sunday service, without previous notice. It is customary for constitu- tions to specify the number of members who must be present in order to constitute a quorum. No ques- tion involving the appropriation of money, or im- portant change in the policy of the church, or amend- ment to its system of doctrine or rules, should be undertaken without previous public notice. In general, propositions contemplating the expenditure of money should previously be considered by the trustees, and matters affecting the policy and doctrine of the church should be considered in advance by the deacons. This is not legally necessary, but is a courteous recognition of those in office; and almost invariably a motion gains greatly in favor if the person proposing it is able to say that this has received the approval of the of- ficial board whom it most nearly concerns. When special meetings are called by a group of mem- bers, or by one of the official boards, the call signed by the members who have drafted it should be read from the pulpit on the Sunday previous to the meet- ing and incorporated into the minutes of the meet- ings. The Presiding Officer. Unless the coijstitution of the church provides otherwise the pastor is the moderator of all business meetings of the church, excepting those which relate to his own work or salary, or which may have been called for the consideration of some mat- ter in which he has a personal interest. In the absence —96— CONDUCT OF CHURCH MEETINGS of the pastor the senior deacon may call a meeting of the church to order and call for the nomination of a moderator, or if the meeting be one especially for the consideration of financial business the chairman of the board of trustees, instead of the senior deacon, may call the meeting to order. The church may pro- vide in its constitution for an elected moderator other than the pastor, and in some states the moderator must be elected annually. Records. The clerk of the church should keep a correct record of all business transacted by the church, and should record it in a permanently bound book pro- vided for that purpose. It is not necessary that he should record motions made and lost, nor the names of those who participate in the discussions, nor in general the number of votes cast for or against a mo- tion or a candidate for office. The important items to be entered upon the records are: First, the time and place of the meeting, with a copy of the call, if a special call has been issued. Second, the devotional service with which the meeting is opened. Third, the name of the moderator. Fourth, the reading of past records and their approval by the church. Fifth, the business • transacted, including reports of committees, which need not be copied in full, but which should be referred to and kept on file and whose formal recommendations should be included in the minutes. Sixth, the full text of all resolutions or motions passed by the church. Seventh, adjourn- ment. Eighth, signature of the clerk. Unless there is a demand for a yea and nay vote the names of persons favoring or opposing a measure should not be recorded. It is not generally necessary or expedient to record the names of persons making routine motions, but formal resolutions should be re- corded with the name of the member proposing them, —97— CONGREOATIONAIi THEORY AND PRACTIOil or the committee or board by which they are pre- sented. All motions that are formal in their nature and whose full substance may not easily be gathered by the clerk when verbally stated, should be submitted in writing. The Financial Management of the Church. The of- ficers who have charge of the finances of the church should be men of unquestioned probity. The trustees should be men of experience and of recognized char- acter, and should attend to the business affairs of the church with promptness and accuracy. The treasurer should be a man of blameless honesty, and should be protected by all the safeguards that would be em- ployed in any business of like responsibility. If there is a local bank he should deposit all money of the church and pay all bills with checks, retaining vouchers for each expenditure, and having all his accounts thor- oughly audited. He should keep all the benevolent funds of the church separate from those for current expenses; and of course should keep all church moneys entirely separate from his own money. These are simple suggestions and ought to be needless. Annual Church Meetings. Annual meetings of the church, and meetings for- the election of officers, should be conducted with special care to express the will of the church, and to preserve its records. The reports of the treasurer should be audited and approved. The records of the clerk should be certified. All branches of the church work should be heard from, and the officers should be elected with care to conform to all the requirements of the church constitution and rules. All things should be done decently, and in order, and with a view to edifying. —98— III. THE PARISH OR SOCIETY. Reason for the Parish. Many of tlie older Congrega- tional churches have societies affiliated with them for the purpose of holding and managing the church prop- erty. This double system of church and society, or church and parish, is a legacy from old days in New England, when a church could not become incorpo- rated, and the parish owned the church property and provided for the support of public worship. It is a system not without its advantages. It enables men of good judgment, who are well-disposed toward the church and are supporters of it, to assume definite responsibility with reference to the business affairs of the church, in which affairs their judgment is often of real worth. But it is a cumbersome arrange- ment, involving occasional embarrassment, and few of the new churches adopt it. Many churches that for- merly employed the system have changed to a single organization. Powers and Limitations. Where the society exists, it is a holding corporation, managing the business in- terests of the church. It owns the church property, subject to the use of the church, but can have no power to alienate the property, or to use it for pur- poses contrary to the welfare of the church. It can, however, refuse to j)rovide means for the repair of the building or for the support of its minister, and this it sometimes has been known to do, though happily not frequently. Both church and society must concur in the call of a pastor. The action must originate with the church, the society having no power to begin proceedings look- ing toward the securing of the minister. The church having issued an invitation to a pastor, first notifies —99— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE the society of its proposed call, and the society consid- ers whether it will concur in the call, and provide the support of the minister. The society has sole power to fix the compensation of the pastor, and is the only body that can be sued. The church alone is responsible for the conduct of the pastor, who is not commonly a member of the society, but should be a member of the church. Should the minister displease the society, he cannot be expelled by that body without the con- sent of the church. The society can, however, refuse to support him. If he is installed by council or has a contract for a definite period, his salary can be col- lected from the society by civil process. Should the church desire to terminate the pastorate, the concur- rence of the society must be secured, and if the minister is installed by council both church and society must join in the call. It is rather remarkable that so complicated a sys- tem has not given rise to more frequent friction. Usually the arrangement has worked well, although it is an unequal yoking together of things unlike. In nearly if not all the States now a church can incorporate as a corporation not for profit. As such a corporation it has full power to hold its own property, and conduct its own business. Where the double sys- tem of organization exists, and it is desired to simplify the arrangement, the church should first secure incor- poration. The society then at a special meeting in whose call the purpose of the meeting is definitely, stated, should transfer all its property to the church, the land and building by deed and the personal prop- erty by bill of sale. The transfer being completed. the society may disband. In case of any question of property rights the guidance of a^ lawyer may be sought, but the process is a simple one where all par- ties are in agreement. —100— THE PARISH OR SOCIETY Disadvantages of the System. Out of abundant ex- perience, and with no bias in favor of the newer way, T^r. Dexter wrote words of wisdom: "Could the subject now be arranged in view of the 'xperienee of the past, and in disregard of all other considerations, I can hardly conceive it possible that any intelligent and hearty Congregationalist would ad- vocate the common New England joint church and parish system as abstractly best for the church, or for the interests of vital godliness in the land. Such being the fact, it would seem to be an easy inference that the true policy to be pursued is to discontinue the Ecclesi- astical Society altogether, wherever it prove to be legally possible without detriment to the safe adminis- tration of the pecuniary interests of the church; and in all cases where a society be still on the whole advisa- i)le, to mitigate its evils by putting it as closely as pos- sible under church control, or at least augmenting as largely as may be church influence within it. ' ' In all cases where the question becomes a practical one, then it is to be recommended that the advice of a < hristian lawyer familiar with the local laws be taken, .tud that where, in his judgment, a society be indis- jx'usable, if it be possible, make it one of its funda- mental laws that membership in it be limited to mem- ])ors of the church." — Congregational Manual, pp. !».l-96. In view of these manifest disadvantages, and of the passing of the condition which in the beginning made necessary the organization of the parish or society, it is earnestly recommended that new churches avoid this needless complication; and that wherever condi- tions are favorable to such action, the society convey its property to the inieorporated church with which it is affiliated, and disband. —101— IV. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. A Cougregatioiial church is a democratic body. All adult members have equal privileges. In the older churches only adult male members voted in matters pertaining to the business of the church, and many churches fix a minimum age below which children are not entitled to vote. In all matters relating to im- portant changes in the constitution or transfer of property, votes should be cast only by persons of legal age, or of an age specified in the constitution. Except for these simple restrictions all the members of a Congregational church stand upon an equal basis. All officers are chosen by the body of the church, and the final voice is that of the people. Conditions of Membership. The conditions of mem- bership in a Congregational Church are assent to its covenant, and the affirmative vote of the majority of the members present and voting at a meeting of the church where such business may properly be trans- acted. The covenant should be brief and simple, and have embodied in it a brief confession of faith in Christ, an assent to the substance of the doctrine expressed in the articles of faith of the church, and the promise to submit to the govern^nent and discipline of the church, to walk with the members of the church as Christian brethren and to promote the edification, purity and peace of the church until regularly dis- missed therefrom. Assent to the creed is not a necessary condition of church membership. The creedi is an attempt to embody the substance of that faith in which the church interprets the Word of God, but the Wor/i of God itself and not the creed offers the final test. The creed, _102— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP however, is not to be disregarded by any member of ' the church, although it admits of a very wide latitude of interpretation, and is always adopted as a document subject to revision. A person desiring membership in a Congregational church is first examined as to his fitness for member- ship. This examination may be conducted before the whole body of the church, or it may be delegated to a committee composed of the pastor and deacons, or of such other members as the church appoints. It is not the purpose of such an examination to break the bruised reed nor quench the dimly-burning light; but he that is weak in the faith is qommonly received, and not to doubtful disputations. An examination conducted in a spirit of Christian kindness is of value in protecting the church against unworthy members, and also affords ;i profitable introduction to new members. A candidate having been examined as to his fitness for membership, and having been approved by the <\-a mining body, is propounded for membership in the church, the names being read from the pulpit a week or more in advance. The object of this process is to give opportunity for objection if any is to be made. The vote of the church is taken at a meeting after the propounding, and before the admission of members. 1'lie usual time is at the preparatory lecture. The names of those who have been propounded, being again lead, the pastor or presiding officer inquires if there is desire that these names be voted upon separately. Jt is the right of any member to demand a separate vote, and five members, or a number designated in the constitution, may demand a ballot. Unless a ballot is (ailed for, or a separate. vote demanded, the names may Ix' voted upon viva voce on motion duly made and seconded. All the persons so elected to membership become members on their assent to the covenant. —103— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE Most churches provide a form for the reception of members. This commonly is read immediately before the communion service. The names of the persons who have been elected to membership being read from the pulpit, the candidates go forward, and the pastor, or in his absence the preacher of the day, reads the form for the admission of members, including the church covenant; and the candidates assent to the same. The church then rises while the pastor reads the covenant of the church. In some churches the congregation joins in unison in the reading of this covenant. It is usual for the minister to extend to each of the new members the right hand of fellowship, and to ad- dress to each one a word of greeting and encourage- ment. A benediction being pronounced, the new members resume their seats, and the Lord's Supper is administered. Most churches provide, and those that do not should do so, for the reception of members who are unable to attend a public service. The pastor and deacons, or other persons designated, may represent the church in such a service, held for the convenience of invalids and of persons providentially unable to be present at the church. The Rights of Members. Each member of a church has a right to share in its public worship, to participate in its meetngs for conference and prayer, to discuss proposed measures and changes, to vote in the trans- action of its business, and to participate in the election of its officers. Each adult member is eligible to any office in the gift of the church, the church having full authority to constitute one of its own members a trustee, a deacon, or even a minister; and the minister, whether elected from the membership of the ehurcli or —104— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP called from another church to become its minister, is a member of the church with rights the same as those of the laity. Each member of the church is sole custodian of his own conscience, having a right to interpret the Scrip- tures and to determine his own conduct in the light of that interpretation, so long as his conduct does not infringe the rights of others, nor disturb the peace or impugn the good name of the church. It is not essen- tial to Christian fellowship that all members of the church should think alike, or that the creed should be held in such complete uniformity of interpretation as to fetter the conscience of the members. The member who has come to differ from the creed of the church need not too hastily assume that he has no further right to be a member of the body. He has the right to in- duce the church to change its creed if he can; and if he fails in this endeavor, he still may consider whether his own change of faith is such as to prevent his con- tinuing in fellowship with his brethren in the spirit of the church covenant. By that covenant he is bound to seek the edification, purity and peace of the church. He has no right to disturb the church by wearisome, profitless discussion, nor has the church a right to im- pose upon him any undue tests in the name of Chris- tian faith, nor to call unclean and common that which God has cleansed. The final test is that of Christian character. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." ''He that doeth righteous- ness is righteous, even as He is righteous." The Majority Rule. Yet it is desirable that the unity of the Spirit shall be preserved in the bonds of peace. An inconsiderate majority, determined to rule by mere force of numbers, and a peevish, vindictive ininoritj'-, have neither of them any proper place in a Christian church. We cannot all think alike; but we -.105— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE can all love alike; and the majority vote is of value, not in determining who may "rule" in arrogant do- minion, but what is the mind of the Spirit expressed through the united membership of the church, which is the Body of Christ. The Rights of the Minority. The principle that in a Congregational Church the majority rules, is not to be understood in such a sense as that a member is de- prived of any right on account of being in the minority. It is his indisputable right to be in the minority if he chooses to do so. He is to hold his opinion and express it freely, but always in charity; and so long as he does this, he cannot be censured for not voting with the majority. When a church adopts new methods or creed tests and a minority refuse to accept them, they are not thereby disfellowshipped, or subject to any disability. As to the rights of the minority in such cases. Dr. Dexter 's words are those of great wisdom and of unquestioned Congregational usage. In answer to a question concerning the status of the minority members in a Unitarian Church which had become Congrega- tional by majority vote, he replied, — "All the members of any church which changes its creed and covenant by majority vote remain members of it until they die, ask letters of dismission to other bodies and use them, or are excluded in due course of discipline. Nor can they be disciplined because they do not accept the new articles of faith and covenant. They remain in good and regular standing so long as they do and are all which they agreed to do and be in their assent to the articles which they originally signed. If other members of the church, if a majority, are pleased to assent to new articles, it cannot affect them so long as they remain faithful to the old. And —106— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP they have u right not only to that legal status in the church, but to great consideration and kindness from those who differ with them, so long as they remain in the exercise of their inalienable right of continuing to he members of the body. While no new member could be received whose orthodoxy is not sufficient to assent heartily to the new creed and covenant, those old mem- bers cannot be turned away because they withhold tlieir assent. " Duties of Members of the Church. It is the duty of every member of the church to perform faithfully the letter and spirit of its covenant, to separate himself from sin and the appearance of evil, to make the rule of ( "hrist the test of his worldly business and amusements, and to live a life of prayer and obedience to the Word of God. It is his duty to attend the services of the rhurch as regularly as may be, and to contribute to its support, and to its benevolent agencies, in proportion to his ability and to the point of personal sacrifice. It is his duty to exercise toward his fellow members a spirit of Christian courtesy and consideration, bearing with the weak and manifesting toward all the spirit of Christian brotherhood, which is the Spirit of Christ. I]ach member should find some sphere of activity in which he may perform some duty peculiarly his own. Dismission. A member of a church removing to another locality or desiring for any other good reason to change his church relations, may apply for a letter of dismission from the church of which he is a member and. of recommendation to another church with which it is in fellowship. Such letters are granted by all Congregational churches to churches of our own or any evangelical denomination. Letters of dismission should be requested in person or by writing. A letter requesting dismission may —107— CONGEEGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE properly convey to the church some expression of Christian fellowship, of happy memory, and of con- tinued interest. A letter of dismission granted to a member must be addressed to a particular church. It is not orderly to give letters not designating the church to which they are to be presented. What Is Good and Regular Standing? A letter certi- fying that a member is in good and regular standing merely testifies that there are no charges against him. It does not certify that he is in all respects what those voting for the letter could wish him to be. The ex- pression ''good and regular standing" is technical, and is that which describes the status of all members who are not under discipline. When May a Church Refuse a Letter? A church may always refuse a letter to a member under disci- pline, or to one who is concerned in a recent scandal or misdemeanor, and who applies for a letter to protect himself from discipline. But a church that has carried on its roll the name of a member who is negligent or unfaithful to duty, and has long been known as such, and which has neglected to discipline him, may not bring him to trial for long-past offenses after he has applied for his letter. But it may refuse him a letter if in addition he has been guilty of recent and more gross offenses; or if the failure of the church to bring him to trial has been by reason of a desire to labor with him in private in the hope of bringing him to repentance. Status of Dismissed Members. Members dismissed by letter remain members of the church until the letter is accepted by another church. The period of a letter's validity is commonly limited to six months. After that time it lapses, and the member remains in the church —108— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP of his former membership. After an absence of one year or of two years, as the ehurch may provide in its constitution, the name of the absent member may ho placed on the absent list. Letters granted to such members should be on condition that the member shall account for his conduct in the interval. Dropping Names from Roll. Persons who have been absent from a church for a period of years and have not been heard from, may be dropped from the mem- bership of the church by vote of the church, the names having been read at a previous meeting. The custom of dropping names is comparatively modern and has been much opposed, many good authorities contending that in such case the church has no alternative but excommunication. The custom, however, has attained recognized standing, and is certain to be established because of its manifest usefulness. A church cannot be compelled to cumber its rolls indefinitely with the names of persons long absent, who may be no longer living, nor can it be compelled to excommunicate mem- bers against whom it has no positive knowledge of unchristian conduct. The practice of dropping names, while needing to be kept free from abuse, is one that deserves recognition as an established Congregational custom. Questions sometimes arise concerning the granting of a letter to a person whose name has been dropped from the roll. Cases have been known where members, after a long interval, have requested letter after their names had disappeared from the roll. If the former member shows reasonable evidence that he has con- tinued to live a Christian life, or if he gives evidence of recent conversion, the church has option of two courses. First, it may reinstate him for the purpose of granting him a regular letter. This can be done at any business meeting of the church, the proposed action •—109— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE having been previously announced from the pulpit that objection, if any, may be raised. Secondly, the church may issue a certificate that he became a member on a certain date and remained in fellowship with the church until a certain time when he removed from the vicinity of the church; that during that period he was a member in good standing; that on account of long absence his name had been removed from the roll; and that the church, while unable to grant him an ordinary letter of recognition, rejoices to know of his desire for a renewal of church relations. Letters Without Dismission. A member of a church contemplating prolonged absence and desiring to estab- lish relations with Christians in other places may ask the church for a letter of recognition without dismis- sion. Such letters have the force of a vote of con- fidence and of Christian introduction. They may be granted by the pastor or the clerk of the church with- out especial votes of authorization. Such letters have become common in churches in the vicinity of colleges where young people desire to establish church relation- ship during the years of their college course without terminating their membership in the home church. Such letters are useful and the custom deserves to be more widely adopted. Dismission to Organizations Out of Fellowship. If a member of the church in good standing requests dismis- sion to an unevangelical body, he should be labored with in love, and every right endeavor put forth to retain him in the fellowship of the church. But if he insists, he should not be thrust out harshly, nor merely dropped from the roll. While a letter cannot be ad- dressed to the unevangelical body, the member may be given a certificate that up to the time of his dismis- sion he was a member in regular standing, and that his — liO— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP membership is terminated at his own request. A suit- able form for such letters is given in this volume. Discipline of Church Members. Any member of a church who is guilty of gross irregularity of conduct may be disciplined by the church. In all such cases the usual rule to be followed is that laid down by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 18. Where the offense is private between two members of the church, these two should seek by all reasonable means to settle the matter amicably between themselves. If this fails they may call in one or more Christian brethren, through whose counsel, prayer and admonition they may hope for a brotherly settlement of their differences. Very rarely should it be necessary to bring such matter up before the body of the church. Where the matter is private but does not directly involve another member of the church, yet is known to one or more members, he who has knowledge of the fault should go in a Christian spirit to the offender and endeavor to secure his acknowledgment of the wrong he has done and of his promise to forsake it. If he fails in this endeavor he may invite two or three members of the church in the hope that they may effect a penitence and reconciliation. Where the matter involves grave public scandal, any member of the church, but preferably the officers, may at once approach the offender and request him to protect the good name of the church and to save the name of Christ from dishonor, by forsaking his evil way and making public confession of his fault. If these measures fail, the matter may be presented To the church in a formal complaint, specifying the wrong that has been done and relating the steps that have already been undertaken in the hope of reconcili- ation. The chui'ch may appoint a time to hear the —111— CONGREGATIONAIi THEORY AND PRACTICE complaiut aucl furnish notice of the time and a full copy of the charge to the person accused. If it is inexpedient that the trial should be conducted by the church as a whole, the church may appoint a committee to inquire into the case and to make its report to the church. If the offending brother ignores the invitation of the church or its committee and refuses to attend the meet- ing of inquiry, the church may proceed without him, and hear the evidence and deal with the case as shall seem best. In that case, however, a member should be appointed to represent him and to secure his inter- ests against haste or prejudice. Testimony at Church Trials. A church has no authority to compel witnesses nor to administer oaths. It must secure its evidence as it may. On the other hand it is by no means bound to the narrow limits of court procedure. In the absence of opposing testimony it must assume that actions mean what they seem to mean, that conduct springs from such motives as gener- ally result in those acts, and that associations involve the relationship and acts which they seem to imply. The frequenting of improper places without a manifest good reason with the result of scandal must be held to involve the conduct which those places suggest. What is called '* common fame'^ or generally-accepted report must be given due weight in ecclesiastical trials, as it does not and cannot in courts of law. The man who so conducts himself as to incur the appearance of evil and to bring discredit upon the name of the church, and who is persistent and obdurate in that offense, and who offers no reasonable explanation, can- not compel the church to prove him guilty of specific acts of immorality. The church may properly act upon the appearance which he has chosen to give to his conduct. —112— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP The Expulsion of a Member. A ineuiber of a church may be publicly reprimanded, suspended for a period or excommunicated. The common form of the vote of excommunication is expressed in the words that the church *' withdraw fellowship" from such a member. It is a motion happily not often employed, and should be used, when at all, with prayer and tears. The Right of a Church to Discipline Its Members. The ehuieh has an inherent right belonging to all deliberative bodies to enforce its own laws and jDunish offenders against them. It has no power of punish- ment, however, beyond that of expulsion from its mem- bership. It has no right to establish a boycott against his business, nor to persecute him in his subsequent efforts to establish church relationship or to earn a living. It has the right, however, to give official in- formation in response to inquiries to other churches, or to those who have a right to know, for their protec- tion, the character and history of the man. A member of a church can recover damages even when the truth is told against him, if that truth is told vindictively and without a manifest necessity. An official communi- cation, however, from an accredited officer of one church to another for its protection against an evil doer is privileged, and not subject to the law of libel. The Law of Libel. A man's reputation as a present or former member of the church is a very sacred thing; and the courts will not lightly regard any attempt to defame or persecute an excommunicated member, even though he is guilty. In general the principle is that the right of a church to discipline its members holds only within the sphere of his church membership. If a church has withdrawn fellowship from a member, it should not publish the fact to his harm unless it is impelled to do so for its own protection, or for the pro- tection of sister churches. It has an inherent right to —113— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE purge its own roll from unworthy members, to free its good name from the dishonor of their scandals, and to protect other churches from dishonor. But it has no right to libel him, even with the truth. "A libel is a malicious defamation expressed either by writing, or printing, or by signs, pictures, effigies, or the like, tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead, or to impeach the honesty, integrity, virtue, or reputation, or publish the natural or alleged defects of one who is alive, and thereby expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy; or to cause him to be shunned or avoided, or to injure him in his office, business or occupation, ' ' The above definition is taken from the American and English Encyclopedia of Law, and is attributed by its author to no single authority, but is rather the result of the examination of many authorities, and is believed to set out all the essential elements of libel. At common law in civil actions the truth of the charge will be a sufficient justification apart from any question of good faith or want of malice on the part of the defendant, and independently of the time when the knowledge of the truth came to the defendant. But under constitutional or statutory provisions in some jurisdictions the defendant cannot exempt him- self from liability for publishing a libel simply by showing that the charge was true, but must go further and show that the publication was made under such circumstances as to justify the conclusion that he acted with good motives and for justifiable ends. The rule laid down under statute in Massachusetts is that truth of libelous matter may be given in evidence, and forms a complete defense unless malicious intention is shown, the burden being on the plaintiff to show malice. In Illinois the statute provides that: ''In all prose- cutions for libel, the truth, when published with good —114— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP motives, and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense. ' ' The burden of proof is upon the defendant to estab- lish the trutjb of the charge, and matter of justification, to be of any avail, must meet and answer the substance of the libelous charge. The letter and form of the charge are not required, but the essence is indis- pensable. -115- V. THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER. His Twofold Relation. The Congregational minister is before all else a member of the local church, and as such has all the rights which belong to any other member, and is subject to its discipline. But he is also a bishop, possessed of an authority not derived from the local church, but given to him first of all in his own call from God, and confirmed in him by the imposition of the hands of the ministry of the Church at large. An Ancient Inconsistency. It is here that the older New England tlieory of the ministry was both inade- quate and inconsistent. The fathers stoutly contended that every minister was a bishop, and proved by the most conclusive array of texts the identity of presbuteros and episcopos in the New Testament. But their experience with bishops had been unhappy; and while they contended for the episcopal authority of their own ministry as against that of any other bishops, they were singularly reluctant to concede to the min- ister any standing in his own denomination aside from that vested in him by the local church. They declared their intention to preserve the episcopate; if any church has apostolic succession through bishops we have it; but they declared that the minister is a bishop only by virtue of his local church membership and the call of God to office in that church; and they balanced this honor with the declaration that outside of his own church he was not a bishop, but only a layman. Dis- mission from a pastorate they actually called "deposi- tion from the ministry. '^ The term implied no dis- honor, but it terminated all that the local church had given in ordination. —116— THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER In the Congregationalism of old Xew England, in- stallation was another ordination, and was performed with the laying on of hands. John Cotton did not bap- tize his son "Seaborn" on the voyage to America, because he held that "a minister hath no power to give the seals but in his own congregation." The Cambridge platform held that, — "Church officers are officers to one church, oven that particular church over which the Holy Ghost hath made them overseers. In- somuch as elders are commanded to feed, not all flocks, but that flock which is committed to their faith and trust, and dependeth ujion them. . . . He that is clearly loosed from his office relation unto that church whereof he was a minister, cannot be looked at as an officer, nor perform any act of office in any other church, unless he be again orderly called unto office; which, when it shall be, we know nothing to hinder, but imposition of hands also in his ordination ought to be used towards him again. For so Paul the Apostle re- ceived imposition of hands twice, at least, from Ana- nias. " — Chap. IX., Sees. 6, 7. Dr. Dexter maintained that this was still the only logical theory of tlie Congregational ministry: "Strictly speaking, and as a matter of pure logical deduction from the principles of the case, it follows that when such a pastor ceases to hold his official rela- tion to the church from which he received his elevation to the ministry, he descends into the ranks of the laity again, and is no more a minister, until some other rhurch shall have elected and ordained (or installed — as all ordinations of a man after his first, are usually (ailed) him as its pastor; when he resumes the official rank which he had demitted, rising again out of the ranks of the laity, to the function of the ministry. He has the same right to preach in this interim that he had after his licensure before his first ordination, —117— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE namely: a temporary right of courtesy and general consent, until — finding that the Great Head does not call him to any pastorship — he shall subside into a mere la^'man; or until he shall be chosen and ordained by some other church as its pastor, and become a minister again. This, we say, is the necessary verdict of the principles of Congregationalism in regard to this matter; as it was the practice of the Fathers.^' — Con- gregationalism, p. 150. But this theory, logical as it appeared, was obsolete in Dr. Dexter 's day, and had begun to be so as far back as the day of Cotton Mather; in which it was the opinion of the ministry and churches that a minister might administer the sacraments to a church witjiout a pastor, and that a minister did not leave his ordination behind him whenever he went from home. In truth, we are more nearly logical in this matter than we ever were before. Ordination is for- life, and not for a single pastorate. Installation is a wholly different thing from ordination, or if it is not, then installation must go. And membership in an associ- ation, which now has become necessary to good stand- ing in the ministry, is no longer in any proper sense voluntary. The old theory is obsolete, and it never was logical. It is the right of every church to ordain its own minister, but the minister so ordained has standing only in that church, excepting as other churches in fel- lowship may have knowledge of the act and acknowl- edge it as authoritative and orderly. For the jjrotection of the churches, however, the responsibility of ordain- ing ministers is delegated by the churches to councils or associations. Any church may delegate to one of its members authority to administer baptism or the Lord 's Supper within that church. Even the Koman Catholic church believes in the right of lay bajjtism —118— THE CONaBEGATIONAL MINISTER wlieii no jtriest cau be procured, and in the adminis- tration of the Lord's Supper the need has more fre- quently arisen, in scattered communities, that an unor- dained person, acting for the time as the spiritual leader of the church, should be empowered to admin- ister the ordinances of the church. The occasions for the exercise of such power on the part of the local body, however, are increasingly infrequent, and no church should avail itself of this liberty except in extreme emergencies. So far as orderly Congregational })rocedure is concerned we may treat of entrance into the ministry as a function of the Church at large through an association or a council the churches call for that purpose. As a matter of Congregational usage, a minister ordained by a local church to be its pastor, and having no other relation to the churches at large, would have no standing, ecclesiastical or legal, as a minister out- side that church. His name could not appear in the Year Book as a minister, but would be bracketed as being that of a layman to the denomination at large; in short he would be, in our theory, just what he was in the old New England theory, a minister within his own church, but in no other local congregation. The Massachusetts courts in a test case decided that such a man is not a Congregational minister, and is liable to the penalty of the law if he performs a marriage service. When a church ordains a minister it does more than elevate a layman to a temporary office, to be termi- nated at its pleasure. It calls for the churches that in their assembling the mind of the Spirit may be dis- cerned, and that his ministry may be built upon the foundation of the apostles and i^rophets. So neither can the local church terminate that min- istry. Even in the pastorate of that local church the —119— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE minister lias other and wider relations that are affected by his ministry. The Value of Installation. A church, therefore, in calling a minister, ought to make his settlement con- ditional upon the approval of the Association to which the church belongs, or to a council invited to ordain or install the minister. And when the pastorate is com- pleted, no mere whim based upon the theory that the minister is the hired man of the church should termin- ate the pastorate; but the churches concerned should concur, for his protection, for the good name of the church itself, and for the common interest of the de- nomination and the Church at large. Churches sometimes have been slow to install their ministers for fear they might not so easily get rid of them if their reasons must be submitted to a council. But for every church that has been oppressed by a council in such matters, ten ministers have been wronged in the unreasonable termination of their pas- torates. And for every church that suffered from the advice of a council in such matters, ten have suffered through the employment of adventurers from which a well-ordered council would have saved them. The Termination of a Pastorate. That the termina- tion of a pastorate so seldom occasions trouble in the church is gi-eatly to the honor of the ministry, and somewhat to the honor of the churches as well. For, while a majority vote is necessary to dismiss a min- ister, and in case of his installation the concurrence of council or association as well, still there are few churches in which a small determined minority cannot force a pastor's resignation. Churches with practical unanimity spend their entire revenue and have little financial margin from year to year; so that the mere refusal of a very few people to continue their support is often suflSeient to occasion a feeling of restiveness on —120— THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER the part of those who bear the financial burdens. It is disheartening to remember how a single sermon that offends a few influential families may terminate a most useful pastorate, or how a single untactful act or un- wise utterance on the part of the pastor may destroy the usefulness of a good man in the ministry. On the other hand it is to be confessed that many churches have shown great patience with the infirmities of their ministers. Legally, there are three causes, and only three, that can drive an installed Congregational minister from his pulpit. These are, — 1. Gross immorality, which the courts have declared must mean not a mere inadvertence or trivial misdeed, but something inconsistent with ministerial character. 2. Important change in doctrinal views. That a minister is a heretic is not a legal ground for his removal if the church knew him to be such when he came, and if his heresies remain of the same sort. Nor is it necessary that he should prove that he has mad© no change in his beliefs, but only that he has continued to be able to assent to the creed of the church of whieli he is pastor in the same essential spirit in which he signified his assent on becoming its pastor. 3. Neglect of duty, which, of course, would include inability to perform the service through failing strength. A church may reduce a minister 's salary, if it can show that its attendance has so fallen off through his unpopularity that it can no longer raise his support; but if a council should find that the support had been withdrawn by reason of the minister's faithfulness to duty, then, though the salary might be reduced, it could not be lowered below a living wage; and he could col- lect a reasonable support by civil process if a council, agreed upon by both parties, declared that he ought —121— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE to stay and the eliurcli support liiui iu liis fight for truth. Possession couuts for something. A church oiico notified a minister that his pastorate would end witli a given month, and on the first Sunday of the next month (which chanced to be Communion Sunday) they employed a supply and had him in the pulpit early. The pastor entering, and finding his pulpit occupied, and risking no struggle for its possession, walked to the communion table, announced a hymn, and began the service. The intruder did not risk the legal fine for disturbing a religious service, and the church had to reckon with the minister on some other basis than forcible eviction. Locking the minister out of the church would not help matters. A Baptist church once tried it, and the minister preached from the steps, and was held to be in possession. And if he had been evicted from the steps, or refused admission to the church yard, he still could have collected his salary. The courts have repeatedly decided that a minister who is on hand, ready to discharge his duties, is in pos- session. He need not fight for physical possession; the courts will declare him the minister de jure and award him his salary until he is regularly dismissed. This applies, of course, only to installed ministers, or to those whose office is without limitation, or whoso time has not expired, and not to those ^' hired" by the year, or subject to a three or six-months' notice, unless the year is at an end, or the notice has been given and expired. So far, then, as a minister's contractual relations to a church are concerned, the installed minister has rea- sonable, and not unreasonable, protection. It is not in the power, legally, of a church to turn an installed pastor adrift at will for a mere whim, nor because —122— THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER his faithfulness has offended some overbearing man of wealth, whose contribution is esteemed by the church more sacred than its moral and legal duty to its pastor. ''Nevertheless, we have not used this power; but suffer the loss of all things, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ." So, to their everlasting honor, a multitude of brave ministers have said. And so they will continue to say. ''The servant of the Lord should not strive. ' ' And though a thousand men have left their pulpits broken-hearted, and have gone out not knowing whither they went, yet they still will go for the sake of peace. When it is apparent to a church that the time has come for a minister to resign, let the matter be taken to him kindly but plainly, and presented to him by those who love him. And let the church give him time to secure another pastorate, and in the meantime labor loyally with him. In like manner the minister should be loyal to his church. When the time comes for him to go elsewhere, he should time his removal and the notice of it so as least to injure the church, and should do all things to edifying. When church and minister have reached a united conclusion that the pastorate shall end, let them call the representatives of sister churches in council or association, that the records of the church may be certified as correct, and the minister be given clean credentials to another church. The Legal Value of Ministerial Reputation. All that has been said in the chapter on Church Member- ahi[) concerning the Law of Libel, applies with special to tee to the minister. In a peculiar sense his reputa- tion is his means of livelihood. To damage a minis- ter 's reputation is not merely to hurt his feelings, but —123— CONGREGATIONAIi THEORY AND PRACTICE is to incur the gravest responsibility by reason of the financial damage which is involved. If he has been deposed from the ministry the churches have a right to know of it for their own protection; but the publication must be without malice, and for a manifest need. A church, ordinarily, has no right to publish in a wholesale fashion its expulsion of a member. It may cause to be read from its own pulpit the vote of excom- munication, but that vote should be carefully drawn and free from reckless denunciation. Its withholding of a letter of commendation is usually a discharge of its responsibility to other churches. The case is otherwise when a minister is deposed. While his right is more sacred, because of the legal value of his reputation, the responsibility of the de- posing body to the churches is correspondingly greater. Dr. Charles B. Kiee, of the Congregational Board of Pastoral Supply for Massachusetts says: "When a minister is deposed by a council, or in states permitting it, by an association, the depos- ing body has a right to publish its findings. Other- wise the deposition might amount to nothing, since no one might know it. A minister has a public function, and his deposition is intended to prohibit his continuing to discharge such a function. * * Here, as everywhere else, wisdom ought to be used, and the bound of right- kept in mind. The direct state- ment of the charge on which the man had been tried and found guilty might be better than a general statement of immorality, and in the published findings, if it were said that the man had been deposed or expelled for theft and falsehood, it would not be well to add 'and we adjudge him to be wholly un- worthy of confidence or respect and unfit to enter into decent society. ' However true this might be, —124— THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER the publication might be an act of wantonness, not wise, and possibly not safe. **A ministerial bureau has a right to keep a list of unworthy men. It has a right to make use of the material which it has gathered under appropriate limitations. The rule which we follow, stated in somewhat varying forms in our reports, is this: 'In- tormation of an unfavorable nature, if it must ever be given, is given only to those who have a clear official right to its possession.' By 'persons having a clear official right' we mean committees or au- thorized representatives of churches looking for pas- tors, secretaries or superintendents of Home Mission- ary' Societies, and (in some cases a little more doubt- fully) authorized representatives of ecclesiastical or ministerial bodies having in their keeping matters .itfecting ministerial standing. **In all cases, too, we have waited for inquiries to come to us from any quarter, and have never volun- teered or put forth any injurious statement, without being asked. Our aim has been to keep far within the bounds of legal right, and our position has been walked about and surveyed with a purpose to find some point of assault by lawyers more than once, as we have had occasion to know. ''A man's reputation in the ministry having a money value, that money value attaching to ministerial reputation cannot be wantonly destroyed, but it may 1)6 destroyed or lessened for cause. If a minister throws away his reputation by misbehavior, he has no good claim to the property right which he might have possessed by virtue of that very reputation. The same reason which would justify and require the publi- < ation of the fact that a minister had been deposed, or expelled from the ministry, would justify the publi- cation, notwithstanding the fact that his pecuniary —125— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE interests would suffer injury. Tlie action in any case, of course, is not taken with the purpose of destroying or lessening anything that has money value, nor at all to that end, but is taken for the purpose of pre- venting injury to other interests that are involved. ' ' The Prerogatives of the Pastor. The minister is the pastor and teacher of his church and congregation; and both he and his office are to be held in due honor. He is also the executive head of an important and influen- tial organization; and has the right of initiative and general supervision belonging to that office. The ad- ministrative work of the pastorate is increasing, and in many churches forms not the least important third of a minister's duties. Constitutions of churches and of other corporations rarely attempt to define the full powers of their executive head; but a minister ought to have, and usually has, sufficient opportunity for effective leadership. He is by virtue of his office an officer in the Sunday-school, and has a rightful place in all the organizations within the church. But he has no power of veto, and his authority does not entitle him to lord it over the people, but wisely to direct, as the chief servant of the church of which he is the minister. —126— I VI. THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION. Uniform Terminology. The term '* district associ- ation ' ■ has not been in common use among us. In our confusion of terminology, we have been accustomed to speak of **the local association" in contradistinction from * ' the state association. ' ' But having now state . onferences, we do not need the word ^* local" to dis- tinguish between the two. Moreover, the word "local'* is inaccurate,. and is applied to the individual iliurch. In the present work the term '4ocal" is restricted; and reference is made to the local church; the district association; and the state conference. A Congregational association is composed of minis- ters and churches, meeting statedly for Christian fellow- ship, for maintaining ministerial standing and the pro- motion of the welfare of the churches, and assembling at the call of the churches for the organization of new churches, the licensure and ordination of ministers, and such other duties as the churches may from time to time delegate to these bodies. The Churches in Association. Congregational churches, while self-governing and subject to no eccle- siastical authority in their local affairs, are more than independent units. They meet unitedly in district, state and national bodies. The development of these bodies, their approach to uniformity of organization, and the increase in the measure of responsibility dele- gated to them by the churches, constitute one of the most significant facts in recent Congregational history. Congregational churches are grouped into local or district associations, bodies which formerly existed solely for fellowship. Originally they were purely —127— CONGREGATIONAIi THEORY AND PRACTICE voluntary, but it is no longer accurate to describe them by this term. A Congregational church has full liberty i to withhold itself from fellowship in an association < and to withdraw from the association at its pleasure, but a church so outstanding or withdrawn, while con- gregational in government, is not reported in the records of the denomination as a Congregational church. It therefore is no longer strictly accurate to speak of the association as a voluntary body. Associations Not Voluntary. It has become all but universal also that ministerial associations which for- merly existed as voluntary bodies in the New England states, have merged their membership in the associ- ations of the churches so that at the present time the association has the custody of ministerial standing. Membership in an association, therefore, is no longer a voluntary matter, if a minister expects recognition in the Congregational denomination. These patent facts of our recent. Congregational de- velopment make all the earlier literature of Congrega- tionalism obsolete so far as it relates to the life of our churches convened in representative bodies. A new definition of the Congregational association has become necessary. Licensure and Ordination. A further and important evolution in the status of the association is marked by the action of those states which have vested the asso- ciation with rights of licensure and ordination. A resolution was submitted to the Committee on Polity at the National Council in Des Moines in 1904 recom- mending the approval of this procedure. The resolu- tion received the informal approval of the committee, but was not adopted or reported to the Council because it was deemed likely to provoke discussion and wide difference of opinion. Three years later at Cleveland the Council unanimously adopted a report approving ■—128— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION the resolution that "church recognition be given to the place of the local association of churches as a con- ciliar body," and authorizing these associations to ordain ministers. Incorporation. A further step in the development of the power of the district association is found in the fact that some associations have obtained legal incor- poration with the right to hold property in the name of the churches represented in them. This is an example likeh' to be followed quite generally, and will give the churches through their district associations direct con- trol of local and city missionary operations, and such other administrative work as the churches may care to undertake. Growing Responsibility. No association has any authority over any church. Each church is competent to conduct its own affairs; but the associations have come to be the instrument for the expression of .the need which the churches feel for fellowship and orderly administration. While they have neither legislative or judicial authority, their growing influence and responsi- bility is quite distinctly out of proportion to the sphere of influence of these bodies in the earlier days of Congregationalism. The Organization of the Association. Any group of churches conveniently situated for fellowship may organize an association of ministers and churches. The territory represented in the association should be con- tiguous and so bounded as to cover the entire district. A church situated on the boundary between two asso- ciations may elect which one it shall join, and may on its own request be dismissed from one association to unite with another. No higher body has any right to define the bounds of district associations, or to declare what churches shall have membership in any association. In general, all the churches of a common —129— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE district should be represented in the same association. There is no authority to compel this arrangement, how- ever, and there have been frequent exceptions to the rule. In case the German, Scandinavian or Bohemian churches of a district desire organization in a body by themselves, they have the right to effect such an organization, even though its boundaries overlap those of district associations of other churches. A problem of peculiar difficulty and perplexity sometimes presents itself in those states which have a considerable number of colored churches, in which either the colored or white churches desire an organization of their own. There can be no doubt concerning the right of any of these bodies to form associations of their own. The organization of bodies whose membership is determined by any apparent spirit of caste is not looked upon with favor in Congregationalism, however, and it is mani- festly desirable that district associations include all the churches within a given territory. The churches of foreign immigrants may thus learn from association with their American brethren, and both white and colored churches in association may learn the wider meanings of Christian brotherhood. It is better that organizations based on nationality or race should be unofficial gatherings for social life and Christian fel- lowship, and that the official organization of the churches should be inclusive of all. Ministerial Members of Associations. Every Congre- gational minister in good standing must be a member of some district association, which should ordinarily be the association in which he resides; or if he is a pastor, in an association within whose bounds his church is located. A church and its minister should have mem- bership in the same association. Ministers not pastors are members of district associ- ations and commonly have all the privileges belonging —130— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION to pastors in the association. Au association has tho right, however, to limit the privilege of voting to pas- tors and accredited delegates from the churches. This measure has frequently been proposed in associations having considerable numbers of retired ministers. In general, however, these members have conducted them- selves with such propriety, and being men of experi- ence, have brought to the body such wisdom, that their counsel has been gladly sought and their right to vote unchallenged. Inasmuch, however, as associations are primarily associations of the churches, it has some- times been held that even a pastor, while entitled to the floor, might not be permitted to vote unless specifically authorized by his church. The right of an association cannot be questioned to provide some re- strictions of ballot, particularly for those members who have permanently retired from the pastorate and have entered into business relations. When men once active in the ministry, have entered into any secular calling, who desire for any good reason, to retain their ministerial standing, the churches may very properly restrict their membership so that it shall not include the right to vote on matters strictly relating to the conduct of the churches. The wisdom of this arrange- ment is likely to be felt more as the advice of the associations to the churches comes to be more nearly authoritative. The churches will insist that any word from the association which they are expected to heed be uttered by their own pastors and lay delegates. Shall the Minister Vote? But making the minister a member of the association does not settle all difficul- ties. Shall the single vote of the pastor in the associ- ation balance the vote of the church through its lay delegate? And, what is more important, shall the vote of the minister who is without a church be equal to —131— CONGEEGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE that of the pastor of the church, and equally binding upon the church I This is a serious question, and one which associations have been called upou to consider, particularly in cities where a large number of ministers without charge, sec- retaries, professors, editors and superannuated minis- ters, are gathered in considerable number. It has seri- ously been proposed to make these men honorary and not voting members of their associations; and there is something to be said in defense of this proposition, especially in matters relating to the government of the churches, as for instance the apportionment of denomi- national expenses among the churches. But in general it appears to be safe, and also just, that every minister should have a vote in the associ- ation of which he is a member. The churches may save themselves from being overwhelmed by the clergy by increasing the proportion of lay members, so as to coun- terbalance the membership of ministers; but, it must be confessed to the credit of the ministry, that the evils against which it is proposed to guard our churches from excess of the unchurched clergy are mostly the- oretical. One thing is certain: The ministers will not consent to a recrudescence of the fallacious theory that ministerial standing depends solely upon the pastoral relation, nor would the churches for a moment desire it. It is quite as much for the protection of the churches as it is for the welfare of the ministry that ministerial standing is lodged in associations of churches; and in the association where his standing is held, a minister cannot well be denied the right to vote on questions that touch that standing. Indeed, he may go farther, and declare that in voluntarily withdrawing his stand- ing from an association of ministers and lodging it in a body which represents the churches also, he reserves the right, in ma.tters where his brother ministers are —132— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION likel}' to be most competent to judge, to be tried by a jury of his peers. lu these matters Congregationalism still lacks some- thiijg of complete consistency; but it is only fair to lemember that the inconsistency is not wholly of our own making. We are making it less, instead of greater. Problems in Process of Solution. There are some problems to which our changing system has not yet adjusted itself in an entirely logical and satisfactory manner. Some of these relate to ministerial standing; and one of the most difficult is that of a minister's place, as a minister, in an association. In early New England there were Conferences of churches, and Associations of ministers, covering the same territory, and quite independent of each other and of the churches. In Connecticut there were Con- sociations of ministers and churches, but these met with little favor outside of that state. If our present status is not wholly consistent, it is at least a comfort to know that it is as nearly so as it ever has been. Dr. Dexter thus records the status of the Association and the Conference as it was thirty years ago: ''A ministerial association is a voluntary club of the ministers of a neighborhood. They usually meet in turn at each others' houses, twice, thrice, or four times a year, spending a day or more together in fellowship and in seeking each others' better acquaintance and mental, moral, spiritual and professional improvement. ''It is probably always laid down in their funda- mental law, that in no case shall they undertake any authority over the churches. Yet in two respects, for convenience 's sake, they have gradually come to be the depositaries of a quasi power, which when suitably managed is of most beneficial character and influence. From the early days of New England the churches, —133— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE distrusting their own qualifications to test fairly and fully the capacity and promise of young men presenting themselves as candidates for their pulpits, have tacitly agreed that it is wise for such candidates to pass under the judgment of those who are to be presumed to be experts, so that it has long been the regular Congrega- tional practice for students intending to enter our min- istry to present themselves for examination as to culture and character to some association of ministers, whose certificate of approval becomes thereafter their sufficient commendation to the churches. Of late years there has been also a disposition through these associ- ations to make ministers to an important degree the custodians of each others' professional character. Al- though an association is a purely voluntary club, it has yet the right to limit rigidly its membership to pastors, acting pastors, and ex-pastors of orthodox and unblem- ished reputation; and should one of its members lapse into irregularity of belief or looseness of life, while it cannot try or depose him, it can say that it no longer esteems his professional character regular, his presence desirable, or his membership agreeable, and can turn him out. And by including in the annual officially pub- lished lists of Congregational ministers, only those whose names are returned from each State as being in good and regular standing in the Congregational asso- ciations of that State, some approximation at least is made toward a list weeded of pretenders and repro- bates; inasmuch as each man stands substantially upon the indorsement of his ministerial neighbors, as one re- garded by them as worthy to be, and to abide, in their fellowship. **The several district associations are in most of the States affiliated in State associations, meeting once a year. **As neighboring pastors are joined in district associ- -^134— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION ations, so their churches are joined in district confer- ences; usually meeting twice a year for mutual ac- quaintance, discussion, advice, prayer, and praise. It is always a first principle of such a conference, that there shall be no interference in the way of attempted control with the churches." — Congregational Hand- ])ook, pp. 123-124. An Early Association. In searching for the earliest preserved constitution of an association of ministers, Dr. Dexter found one in manuscript in the Congrega- tional Library, dating from 1761, and thought it suffi- ciently modern for 1880, and for the future: ' * Eules for an Association of Ministers, adopted in 1761 in the Old Colony in Massachusetts, and very good for the uses of the present day. [From Orig. MSS. in Cong. Lib., Boston.] ' ' We do now solemnly form ourselves into a Eelig- ious Association — ^after ye laudable practice formerly used by ye Body of ye Ministers in this county — and severally agree and determine by ye will of God to associate ourselves together four times in ye compass of a year, viz: The 1 Wednesday in Feby,; ye 1 Wednesday in May; ye 1 Wednesday in August, and ye 1 Wednesday in November, with a view to promote Keligion in ourselves & among our People; & we agree that ye Association shall be under ye following regula- tions, in general: ' ' 1. We will endeavor to order ye Business of our families & of our particular callings in such a manner before hand as that we may attend ye Association at ye time & place appointed, with as little Inconveniency as may be. ''2. At each meeting we will choose a Moderator & also a Scribe to keep the minutes of ye Transactions of ye Association. "3. In as much as ye revival of Eeligion depends —135— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE upon ye outpaurings & gracious Influence of ye Spirit of God, for which He hath said yt He will be enquirM of by ye house of Israel, therefore we will (if other nessary Buisness dont prevent) spend a very Consid- erable part of our time in prayer therefor. **4. We will have at least one publick Sermon preach 'd for ye Benefit of ye people in ye Town where we shall meet, by such of our Number as we shall nomi- nate. "5. We will consult from time to time what meas- ures we Judge will most Conduce to revive Religion in our selves & among our people, & also assist one an- other in difficult Cases. "6. "If any Candidate for the Ministry shall apply to us for approbation, we will take pains to know & to satisfie ourselves as to his qualifications for ye Sacred Work. **7. We will hear & consider any regular Complaints or Petitions that shall be preferred to us, & give our best advice thereon; not assuming any authoritie, but with a view to promote Christian Purity and Peace, ''8. We will endeavour to strengthen the hands, preserve the Reputation & promote ye Usefulness of each other upon all proper occasions; & also use that plainness & faithfulness with one another, which will best tend to keep us watchful & attentive to our Duty; that so we may recommend Christ and His holy and benevolent Religion by our Lives as well as Doctrine. "Finally. We commend ourselves to 'God & to ye word of His Grace which is able to build us up & to give us an Inheritance among all them that are sancti- 'fied. [Slgne Association. Associations may also refuse to receive —144— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION by transfer from another Association any minister whom they believe to be unworthy or to have been liastily ordained. Absent Members. Members of an Association trans- ferring their residence to another Association should transfer their membership to the Association within which they reside, and the names of ministers who neglected to do so may be removed from the active list and placed upon an absent list, without prejudice to their ministerial standing, but without the privilege of active membership. Members who have been some time absent without transferring their membership or communicating with the Association may have their names dropped from the rolls of the Association. The foregoing provisions should not be held to apply to foreign missionaries who may retain their member- >^liip in their home Association, and should be adminis- I'red in a spirit of tenderness and consideration, and also in the case of elderly and retired ministers not engaged in secular business who have good cause to desire to continue their membership in the Associations with which they have long been connected. Deposition From the Ministry. One notable and ex- tremely important consequence of the growing power of the local Association is its right to depose a min- ister. As the Congregational Association has now authority to confirm ministerial standing so also it lias the right to terminate it. At no point has there been a wider or more logical departure from old-time methods than at this point. Dr. Dexter laid down the invariable method as he understood it in 1865, but even then he noted that consociated churches had a different practice. "It is «adly necessary to refer here, also, to the pro- cedure proper by a church in the possible case of gross heresy, or immorality, on the part of its pastor. —145— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE By virtue of his church membership with them — or, if not that, by virtue of his pastorship over them — the unworthy pastor of a Congregational church is amenable to its discipine; and it has the inherent right to proceed to his trial and excommunication, as if he were a private member. But because the fellowship of the churches was involved in his settlement, and be- cause of the greater conclusiveness before the gen- eral public, of the verdict of an impartial Council over that of a single church — itself deeply interested; this should alwaj's be done with the advice of Council. '*The proper course to be pursued, in the melancholy case supposed, would, then, be this: (1) all the prepara- tory steps should be taken as in the case of a private member, and the case be brought to a judgment before the church; (2) the church, instead of passing the vote of excommunication, should vote that they are satisfied of the truth of the charges, but, in view of the im- portance and solemnity of the subject, will take the advice of sister churches before proceeding further; (3) they should then invite their pastor to join them in a Council to advise in the premises, and, if he refuse, call one without his concurrence; (4) this Council hears *he case, and if satisfied of the pastor's guilt, and he remain obdurate, or the circumstances of the case are so aggravated that, even if he be now peni- tent, it is unsuitable for him to retain his oflEicial relation, they advise the church to depose him from his ministry over them — perhaps to excommunicate him from its fellowship; (5) the church, if they see fit, follow this advice of Council. **This we understand to be the truly Scriptural and Congregational way, though most consociated churches have a different practice." In later editions of his work I)r. Dexter reiterated —146— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION the same, declariiig that an Association cannot act as a council for the ordination or the dismission of a minister, being merely a voluntary club meeting for professional improvement. (Page 369.) In the last edition of his monumental work he said: **Our Association of ministers are purely voluntary bodies, as much so as a village debating club or a temperance society. As such they have the right to receive members on their own terms and to reject and exclude them as they may be pleased to enact, but they can have no power over the professional status of those members." (Page 353.) Yet in that same account Dr. Dexter noted that Associations sometimes assume t'bat power which he declared to be quite irregular. Dr. Dexter was quite right in his declaration of the irregularity of that method. Associations had no right of deposition from the ministry, yet the need that such authority should be given to them was very great, as evidenced by the frequency with which Associations assumed that prerogative. In Dr. Dexter 's Congregational Manual, in 1880, he repeated almost verbatim from the first edition of his "Congregationalism" the steps by which alone a Congregational minister might be deposed, together with a suggestion of the way in which the method might apply to stated supplies, (pp. 114-5.) In "The Congregational Way," by Dr. George M. Boynton, 1903, it is declared that "the expression 'deposed from the ministry' does not seem to be in accord with Congregational principles. The ultimate appeal in all cases to an Ecclesiastical Council, which alone can finally take away from a Congregational min- ister the standing which was conferred on him by a similar body." (Page 90.) All the foregoing becomes obsolete in the light of —147— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE present Congregational practice. The declarations that an Association cannot depose a minister are grounded o.n an axiom that an Association cannot ordain a min- ister, and so cannot take away what it cannot give; but in the newer Congregationalism the Association can ordain a minister, and at no distant day the prac- tice of ordination other than by the Association is likely to be exceptional. It has therefore become not only logical but also inevitable that an Association which can confer ministerial standing shall have power to terminate it. Any minister who is accused of gross immorality, neglect of duty or of unfaithfulness to his ordination vows in matters of faith or practice may be proceeded against either in the local church of which he is a member, or in the Association where his ministerial standing is deposited. If proceeilings are begun in the local church, they are conducted as in the case of any other member excepting that the church, having finished its trial, may properly refer to its findings to the Association before it takes final action of expulsion, or may call a council which shall review its findings and present its recommendation to the Association. Ultimately, however, the matter will be likely to go before the Association itself and may present itself before that body as a court of original jurisdiction. The min- ister accused has a right to be presented with a copy of the charges against him in writing, to meet his accusers face to face, to defend himself and to be defended by any member of the Association whom he may select, or whom the Association may appoint for that purpose. His right to be represented by min- isterial advisers, or even by legal counsel, is one to be determined by the association, but usually is not to be —148— THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION refused. The hearing may be held by the Association as a body, or by a committee appointed for the purpose, whose findings must ultimately be approved by the Association, The accused may, at his discretion, de- mand that his trial be before a Mutual Council, in whose composition he shall have the right of selection jointly with the Association. If he is found guilty, and remains impenitent, he may receive public cen- sure, suspension or expulsion from the body. If ex- pelled from the local Association he is deposed from the Congregational ministry. He cannot be reported by that Association as a minister of the denomination, nor can he acquire any membership in another Associa- tion while under these disabilities. If a minister is found guilty and is penitent, he may be forgiven, but such forgiveness does not imply his continuance in the ministry. The minister whose conduct has brought great reproach upcm the Church of Christ may be thoroughly penitent and deserving of forgiveness as a Christian brother, and entitled still to membership in the church, yet it may be clear that his usefulness as a minister is at an end. In cases where the penitence is real, yet the scandal has been great, but where there is reason to hope that the minister may at some future time attain a place of usefulness in the ministry and where deposition is deemed too severe a punishment, he may be suspended for a year or a j^eriod of years, and the suspension may be renewed or terminated as the Association deems wise. Yet during the period of his suspension the minister may not exercise any of the* prerogatives of a Christian minister. His standing in the Church is that of a layman. There is, however, this important distinction between his status and that of the min- ister who has been deposed — that the Association may —149— CONGEEGATIONAI. THEORY AND PRACTICE restore his standing by the removal of its censure or suspension so long as his standing has been impaired by its own action. In the case of deposition, no return to the ministry would be possible save by restoration, by the same body that had deposed him, or a similar body acting with the permission of the body or tlie Association which had accomplished the deposition. —150— VII. THE ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL. Our associations quite generally are changing their constitutions to provide for ordination by Association, nud to permit the Association to exercise all the func- tions of Council. This is a simple change, and one entirely logical, but it brings to us some entirely new problems and will necessitate some new machinery if it is to work well. Already reports come from some associations in which the method has been tried and has not been found wholly satisfactory. The reasons are plain enough, and the remedy is not difficult to pre- scribe. The following suggestions would aj^pear to be in the interests of good order. The Invitation of the Church. Let us assume that a church has called an unordained man to become its minister, and desires that he be ordained by the Asso- ciation of which the church is, and he is to become, a member. The church may do one of three things. First, the church may send out an ordinary letter missive, to all the churches in the Association, asking them to meet and ordain its minister. This is a per- fectly proper method, but the body which assembles will not be the Association; it will be a Council. It will convene as any other Council does, electing its own officers, and having finished its work it will dissolve. It may and should send a copy of its records to the registrar of the Association, and he will keep them on file, but they will not become a part of the records of the Association, nor will the minister by the act of this body become a member of it. The minister will have been ordained by a Council, and a truly repre- sentative one,- and no one can properly call the action in question. —151— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE The second method is for the church to invite the Association to meet in special session in its own church, at a time which it appoints, and review its proceedings, and examine and ordain its minister. The third method is for the church to send its min- ister to the regular meeting of the Association with a request for his ordination. The Call of the Association. The invitation of the church should be addressed to the Association and forwarded to its registrar, or to the chairman of its advisory committee. The officer receiving the request should enter it upon the records of the Association, and should at once call a meeting of the Association, if the request is for a special meeting, or should ar- range for the service at the regular meeting, if that is desired. In either event the call should go out to all the churches, and the business to be done should be indicated in the call, and the call would have the full force of a letter missive. Ordination by a Special Meeting. If a special meet- ing of the Association is called it will meet much as a Council does; excepting that the moderator of the Association will preside, and the scribe of the Asso- ciation will keep the records, and these will become a part of the permanent records of the x\ssociation and be entered in its book. It will not be necessary that a majority of the churches invited accept; the regular quorum required by the constitution will be sufficient, unless the consti- tution is changed to provide for a special quorum for purposes of ordination. If churches and ministers outside the Association are invited they cannot be counted in making a quorum. The special meeting of the Association can transact no other business than that specified in the call of the meeting. —152— ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL P Ordination at a Regular Meeting of the Association. The church may, if it prefers, request the ordination of its minister at a regular meeting of the Association; or, may request that the Association at its regular meeting review its records and examine and approve its candidate, and that it provide for the public service of ordination at the church itself, and at a later date. As this method is likely to be employed frequently, and as it involves more points of difficulty than either of the others, it may properly be discussed at length. The church, in sending invitations to the Associa- tion, should notify it seasonably that room may be reserved for the examination of the candidate and for such other business as the occasion may require. And the registrar or advisory committee must see to it that this is done, even if the notice arrives tardily. This may involve some conflict with the plans of the pro- gramme committee, which commonly are ambitious for the oratorical aspects of the programme. But the pro- gramme committee must leave room for the business of the Association, or if it does not, so much the worse for the programme. Our programmes are almost uni- versally overloaded, and programme committees are sinful men in respect of their determination to sacrifice all else to talk. Reports are current of ordinations by Association in which the examination has been crowded into the odds and ends of time grudgingly conceded by the pro- gramme committee, making the examination a farce and the ordination service an undignified race against time. If a distinguished speaker from abroad has been invited, and it is time for him to speak, he may very properly address the general congregation, while the Association itself withdraws to another room or build- ing, and attends to the business of the Association. And any member of the Association who remains to —153— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE hear the speech would deserve the censure of the Asso- ciation for neglecting the business which had brought him thither. This point must be insisted upon, because this is the rock on which tlie new method will go to wreck if we are not careful. If a church sends its minister to be ordained by an Association, that business, hav- ing been undertaken by the Association, has the right of way over the regular order of the day, and must be done decently and in order. The church which sends its minister for ordination will also send a delegate. He will bear the records, and will introduce the candidate. If the church has chosen to send a larger delegation to accompany its new minister they should be received as corresponding mem- bers, without vote, and be permitted to represent the church in the discussion, up to the time when the Asso- ciation is by itself, when all but the regular delegates will withdraw. If the church has invited other churches and pastors outside the Association they should be made corresponding members, and entitled to participate in the discussion. It would be proper, however, that the names of churches and ministers whom the church expects to invite to participate in the services should bo noted in the call, with the state- ment that the delegate from the church will move that they be made corresponding members. But in case another name were added, it would not invalidate the proceeding. A Council cannot increase its own mem- bership, but an Association can elect corresponding members at its pleasure, under its regular rules. The Public Service. The candidate having been ex- amined and approved, may be ordained immediately. But it will often be desired that the public service be held in the church which has requested the service of ordination. In this case the Association may appoint —154— ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL certain members to represent it with power in such a public service, and to do all that is necessary in the name of the Association in carrying out this authority. This public service might very properly be held upon a Sunday, and be made a very impressive service. The moderator of the Association would naturally pre- side, but in his absence the members acting for the Association would have full authority to elect one of their own number to preside, and another if need should be to keep the records and to certify them to the scribe of the Association, and sign them as scribe pro tern of the Association. These members, acting with power, would be the Association de facto, and could provide for necessary changes in the programme. It could invite another minister who might be present to share in the service, and, in short, do whatever a Council would have author- ity to do at this stage of the proceedings. But it could not in any way modify the instructions of the Associa- tion, unless it should discover some grave moral hin- drance to proceeding with the work assigned, in which case it would have power to adjourn, and report to the Association for further instructions. A number less than a quorum of the Association could thus act as the Association in carrying out what the Association had determined upon; and its meeting would have the full weight of a full meeting of the Association for the purpose of its instructions, and not otherwise. It would be fitting that there should be a brief re- sponsive service just before the ordaining prayer, in which the church and the Association and the can- didate participate. Indeed, we need such a service for ordinary ordinations. Becomes a Member. The man ordained or installed either at the regular or special meeting of the Associa- — 155 — CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE tion thereby becomes a member of that body without further examination or formality. As to Dismission— If the Association is called to dis- miss a minister, and the whole body of churches in- vited to act in the capacity of an Association, the min- ister may take with him his credentials, instead of being required to wait for the next annual or semi- annual meeting of the Association, as is the case where he is dismissed by Council. In Other Matters. For convenience this chapter as- sumes that the Association is asked to ordain a min- ister. In manner very like to this the Association may be called to organize a church, to settle a difficulty or to give advice. If the method here outlined is followed, no serious difficulty will be found in calling an Association to act in the capacity of a Council. -156— VIII. THE STATE CONFERENCE. The Name. In 1907 thirty-seven of our state organ- izations were known as associations, four as conven- tions, and four as conferences, and two states main- tained state ministerial bodies known as associations. At that time negotiations were under way looking' toward the possible union with the United Brethren and Methodist Protestants, in which churches the state bodies are known as conferences. The Commit- tee on Polity of the National Council reporting at Cleveland in 1907 recommended that Congregatio;ial state bodies be known as conferences, and there has been a general though reluctant movement in this direction. Had it not been for the influence of the United Brethren and Methodist Protestants it is prob- able that most of our states would have preferred to give the district body the name of conference and the state body the name of association, since that name was generally used. However, uniformity is better than any one system of nomenclature and we are likely to retain the name of Conference for our state body as a permanent reminder of our approach to union with these two sister denominations. Conferences and Associations. A State Conference is composed of all the District Associations within the state. The rule of the National Council, adopted at Cleveland in 1907, is: *'VIII. That the membership of a State Association be constituted by representatives of all such churches as and by all such ministers as are in good standing in tlie local association of the state." A State Conference has no power to determine the —157— OONGREGATIONAi THEORY AND PRACTICE membership or boundaries of the District Associations, and its own membership is composed of those who are certified to it through these accredited associations. The State Conference may, however, determine what associations it will recognize, and to that extent exer- cises the right of deliberative bodies to determine its own membership. In this sense, therefore, the mem- bership of the State Conference is composed of Dis- trict Associations. The voting membership, however, is not determined by the State Conference itself, but consists of those ministers who are certified to it by the District Associations and by delegates elected di- rectly from the churches of those Associations. Right to Determine Membership. A State Confer- once, however, has the right to judge of the qualifica- tions of its own members. It has no right to disfellow- ship a minister for doctrinal reasons; for he is amen- able in this regard to his own church and to the dis- trict Association, and the State Conference has no right to impose creed tests on ministers,, churches or associa- tions. But a State Conference may withhold or withdraw fellowship from a minister who is guilty of immorality, even though he has contrived to escape discipline at the hand of his own association. The same right obtains as to churches that walk disorder]}-; the State Conference cannot be compelled to recognize a church that gives countenance to scandalous living. But this right of the conference to protect itself should be exercjsed in extreme cases only; in cases where the offense is flagrant and the duty clear. Incorporation for State Work. State associations are quite generally identical in membership with the State Home Missionary Society, and may exercise through this or other forms of organization authority over the missionary societies maintained by the churches of the association. The National Council in —158— THE STATE CONFERENCE 1907 recommended that state conferences' become logally incorporated and. empowered to hold property .uul conduct the operations of the churches in their missionary and philanthropic work. "X. That the state organizations become legally incorporated bodies; and tliat under a general superin- tendent and such boards as they may create, and act- ing in cooperation with committees of local associa- tions and churches, they provide for and direct the ex- tension of church work, the planting of churches, the mutual oversight and care of all self-sustaining as well • IS missionary churches, and other missionary and church activities to the end that closer union may insure greater efficiency without curtailing local inde- pendence. ' ' In harmony with the foregoing recommendation state conferences are remodeling their constitutions and pro- viding for more centralized power to be exercised by the churches in their representative capacity. Conferences and State Boundaries. The term State Conference is used for convenience as designating a body representing all the churches in the large geo- graphical divisions of the country. The use of the term, however, does not prevent a large state, such as California, from having two conferences, one includ- ing all the churches in the northern, and the other all the churches in the southern end of the state, nor does it prevent two or more of the smaller states from uniting their churches in one conference, nor can it be held to prevent the existence of two state bodies, as for instance, one inclusive of the white and another of the colored churches of a state, but in general all the Congregational churches of a state are represented in a single state body. —159— IX. THE CONDUCT OF THE DISTRICT ASSOCIA- TION OR STATE CONFERENCE. The Call of the Meeting — It is customary for an Association or Conference to set the time and place of its next session, but as most district associations meet not more frequently than once in six months and the state conferences in general convene only once a year, it is customary to give the business committee authority to change the time and place of meeting. This should not be done, however, excepting for some important reason, and seasonable notice should be sent to every minister and church belonging to the body. The Moderator. Unless otherwise provided in the constitution it is customary for the moderator of the last meeting to call the Association or Conference to order and to preside during the temporary organization. The right of the retiring moderator to preside is not affected by his membership in the present session of the Association or Conference. The temporary organiza- tion is informal and proceeds during a period in which it is not officially known who are members of the permanent body. The taking of the chair by the re- tiring moderator, however, is a courtesy and not an inalienable right. If during the interval between meetings the moderator of the last meeting had be- come disqualified, or notorious, it would be the duty of the business committee to provide for the prompt calling of the meeting to order, and the immediate nomination of a temporary moderator. See also the section relating to the moderator in the chapter on the National Council, Temporary Organization. The temporary organiza- —160— CONDUCT OF THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION tioii should be orderly and prompt. Unless the con- stitution provides duties to be performed by the re- tiiing moderator his first and practically his only iluty is to conduct the brief business of the body looking to immediate, permanent organization. He should call for nominations for a permanent moderator or the report of a" nominating committee, if there is one, and if the constitution lays upon him any re- sponsibility in the matter of naming a business com- mittee or a committee on nominations, that should be done at once. In general, however, the naming of a cuinmittee does not belong to the retiring moderator; and if he is to deliver an address that exercise should be performed after the permanent moderator is in charge. Permanent Organization. As soon as the moderator is elected he should lead in prayer, or call upon a mem- ber of the body to do so, unless there has been a devo- tional service in connection with the temporary organ- ization. In general the prayer should not precede, but should immediately follow the election of the moderator, and it is fitting that he should himself lead in the prayer. The moderator should proceed at once to the com- pletion of the organization. The election of the scribe is the first act. Tellers should be appointed to gather the names and credentials of the delegates. The busi- ness need not wait for the formal completion of the roll, but any business of great importance should be postponed, and at the demand of any member must be postponed, until it is known who has the right to vote. As the consummation of ■ the roll requires some time the routine business should proceed without it. The moderator should ascertain at once what committees are required to be appointed for the orderly transaction of business. Vacancies in the —161— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE business committee should be filled and a nominating committee elected. Unless there is other provision for the nominating committee it may be nominated by the moderator, but should be confirmed by the body. The permanent organization being effected, a pro- gramme or docket should be adopted. This is com- monly prepared by the business committee and sub- mitted in print. It is usually adopted subject to modifications as the sessions proceed, and the modera- tor should follow this schedule, excepting as the body may vary it by express vote. The Introduction of Business. Any member of the Association or Conference may introduce business at any session for which a definite order has not been adopted, but any business likely to result in discus- sion should be referred to an appropriate committee that it may take its orderly course in the business of the assembly. The business first to be transacted should be that which will facilitate the business of the body itself, as the appointment of proper committees, the arrange- ment of the orders of the day, the adoption of the programme of the open meetings, and the docket for the business meetings. Second. The completion of unfinished business, be- ginning with that which is in the strict sense business, and which relates to the orderly procedure of the assembly. Third. The, reports of committees. Fourth. The introduction of new business. Memorials and petitions may be introduced at any time, but should be introduced as early as possible in the session that they may be referred to committees and carefully considered. The Time for Business Sessions. It is the fatal —162— » CONDUCT OF THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION tendency of programme committees to overload the programmes of public meetings. The providing of a list of attractive speakers is a legitimate desire on their part, but to do so often sacrifices the real busi- ness of the meeting. Invited speakers ought to be assured of the full time promised them by the pro- gramme committee, but if the time for their addresses arrives, and the business of the body is not completed and cannot otherwise be fully provided for, the as- sembly must not hesitate to continue its business in another room, and the speaker will have no occasion to count it a discourtesy if his address is delivered to the popular gathering without the presence of the dele' gates. In such cases the duty of the delegate is to attend the business session regardless of his own per- sonal preference, and the delegate who withdraws from the business session to listen to the address will be unfaithful to the church which sends him there. The Real Concern of the Assembly. The real con- cern of the Association or Conference is thp transac- tion of the business of the churches. The addresses are important, but distinctly subordinate. There should be ample time for all the business and for the tree discussion of it. Nevertheless the time of the Association or Conference should not be consumed in needless and wearisome debate. Details of form and method should be settled in committee, and a plan whose general provisions meet the approval of the body but whose details tend to long debate should be j)romptly recommitted in order that the time of the assembly may be conserved for its real and important Itusiness. While the moderator should not arbitrarily manipulate the programme, he will often be able to save time and facilitate business by timely suggestions concerning the method of adjusting details, and com- mittees in bringing in their reports will do well to —163— CONGREGATIONAIi THEORY AND PRACTICE bear in mind their obligation to present their business free from the trivial inaccuracies and ambiguities which tend to consume the time of the body with re- quests for information or fruitless discussion. —164— X. ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO RE NATA. An Ecclesiastical Council is a body composed of representatives of a group of churches called together for the consideration of a specific matter set forth in a letter missive, which is the charter of the Council. As a body destitute of ecclesiastical authority, but tlioroughly representative of the judgment of neigh- boring churches, the Council has been held in high esteem si^ce the early days of Congregationalism. Though some of its prerogatives will be assumed in the future by permanent associations, the Council con- tinues and bids fair to continue as an important me- dium for the expression of our fellowship. The first report on polity presented to the National Council in 1865 said: ''Councils of churches, orderly assembled, to declare the opinion of the churches on any matter of common concern, are an ordinance of Christ, and are necessary to a communion of the - hurches. That Scriptural example, where the church at Antioch sent messengers to the Church at Jerusalem tor consultation and advice on a difficult question, is a sufficient warrant for such councils. ' ' For more than two hundred years the Ecclesiastical Council was the general form of expression of fellow- ship among our churches. The organization of new churches, the settlement and dismission of pastors, and the determination of grave questions of morals and faith all rested with councils of the vicinage. For many years the conciliar system has suffered propor- tionate decline in the Congregational denomination. Conferences and associations and the work of the denomination through missionary organizations have —165— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE provided forms of fellowship which have relegated the council to a place of secondary importance. At the National Council of 1898 at Portland, Oregon, Eev. H. A. Hazen read a scholarly paper on the ''Future of Ecclesiastical Councils," in which he admitted the relative decline of this form of fellowship, but de- clared that later forms of fellowship, while health- fully supplementing, cannot supersede the Ecclesias- tical Council, and predicted for our conciliar system broad and healthy development, and a wider and more benign influence in the Congregationalism of the future. The prediction of this wise and faithful student of our denominational affairs has not been fulfilled. Coun- cils do not increase in number in their proportion to the growing activities of our denomination. They still are called for the ordination of a minister and less frequently for his installation or dismission, and now and then for the recognition of a church, but all these functions are gradually being taken over by dis- trict associations. Who May Call a Council. A council may be called by: 1. A Local Church. A local church may call a Council to organize or to recognize a newly organized church; to welcome to fellowship a church of another denomination desiring to become Congregational; to ordain, install or dismiss a pastor; or to advise in any case of need. 2. Two or More Churches. Two or more churches may join in calling a Council where they have common interests in a proposed undertaking as the organiza- tion of a new church lying between them. A mother church having organized a mission or —166— ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO RE NATA branch church into an independent church may join with the latter in calling a Council of recognition', A group of churches may call a Council to deter- mine the wisdom of organizing an Association, or to determine a boundary between Associations, or for other suitable reasons. In cases where a group of churches having common interests unite in calling a Council, the inviting churches may desire to send delegates and participate in the deliberations of the Council which they call, and this is orderly if their intentions are stated in the letter missive. In cases where a mother church and a daughter church unite in the call of a Council for the recognition of the latter, the mother church may be entitled to representation in the Council if the letter missive so states, but in no case where two or more churches unite in calling a Council may either of the inviting churches be represented in the Council if the occasion for the call be any controversy between the inviting churches or any of them. 3. A Church and One or More of Its Memhers. In any case where a difference of opinion arises be- tween a church and its minister, or between the church and one or more of its members, and the local church has found no satisfactory solution of the dif- liculty, the two parties may unite in the call of a Council. A Council is called by two parties having different interests which they agree to arbitrate before a Council, which is called a Mutual Council; the term is not applied where two parties are in agreement, as where two churches agree to organize a third church and unite in a letter missive. 4. A Minister or Other Member or Group of Mem- bers. A Council may be called by a minister or other member or group of members of a church in a case —167— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE where serious injustice is alleged to have been done by the local church and the church refuses to make amends. Such a Council is called an Ex-Parte Council, but is never to be called excepting where a mutual Council has been refused. 5. An Association or Conference may become a party to a Council when a question arises concerning its treatment of one or more of its members. If an Association withdraws fellowship from a minister and he is dissatisfied he may not appeal to the state Con- ference, which is not organized as an appellate court, and has no authority to reverse decisions in the Dis- trict Association, but he may appeal to a Council and invite the Association to join him in so doing; or the Association because of any appearance of local preju- dice that might seem to disqualify it from dealing with an alleged oifense may join in calling and become a party to a Council. The same right to become a party to a Council be- longs to the State Conference. A State Conference may refuse to receive as a member a minister even though he be in fellowship with an Association and has the right to do so if he be of bad moral character. The minister has no right of appeal from the State Conference to the National Council, but may appeal to a Mutual Council called to- consider that question. These provisions for the participation of a Confer- 3 ence or Association in a Council are recent develop-a ments of our Congregational polity, but grow logically out of the lodging of ministerial standing in District Associations. It is repugnant to our system that there should ever be a series of courts rising one above an- other from local church to District Association and thence; to State Conference and National Council. The Mutual Council is the logical resort in cases of this character. It is hoped that it will not frequently —168— ! ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO RE NATA be employed, but if necessity arises for its use, its right to be cannot reasonably be challenged. How to Call a Council. A Council is called by a letter missive sent to each invited church and in- dividual, giving the name of the body inviting the ( ouncil, the place and time of meeting, and stating the precise business which is to be presented to the body. It must also give a full list of the churches and in- dividuals who are to compose the Council, and should 1)0 sent out a sufficient time in advance to give all the churches time for official action. The Quorum of a Council. A majority of all the invited churches is necessary to a quorum. A church is represented if it sends one delegate. The custom of counting a quorum on the basis of individuals invited is indefensible. How to Organize a Council. It is the pleasant and reasonable custom of Congregational Councils that the letter missive shall be read and the Council called to order by the senior pastor present. This, however, is not the invariable rule. Occasionally the church invit- ing the Council appoints one of its own members to call the Council to order, to speak a word of welcome and to say that the church has requested a certain minister to read the letter missive. Such a custom has very much to commend it. It recognizes the invit- ing church, it relieves the reader of the letter missive from any suspicion of forwardness, and it enables the church to recognize some former pastor or neighbor- ing minister or other friend to whom it may look with confidence for the orderly opening of the Council it has called. It is the duty of the reader of the letter missive to call for the election of a temporary scribe and to determine whether a quorum is present. As this usually involves the calling of the roll, it is desirable —169— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE that the roll be made up at this time. As soon as it is determined that a quorum is present, a permanent moderator is to be elected. This may be done by ballot, and must be so done if any member demands it, but a ballot need not be insisted upon if there is no desire for it. The Moderator. The first duty of the permanent moderator is to lead the Council in prayer. It is this prayer which constitutes a Council, and while the mod- erator may call upon some other member to offer it, it is usual and desirable that he himself shall lead in this opening prayer. The next duty of the moderator is to call for the election of a permanent scribe. If the duties of the moderator or scribe are likely to be prolonged or arduous the Council may elect an assistant to either or both. The next duty of the moderator is to call for the records relating to the call of the Council. These are to be submitted by the clerk of the Church, or by some officer representing the body or bodies calling the Council. They should show distinctly the business named in the letter missive and the authority to sub- mit that business to the present Council. The Council being now assured of its own member- ship and jurisdiction, the moderator will call for the particular business for which the Council has con- vened, hearing from the inviting bodies through the records, documents and personal statements until the matter which the Council is to determine is fully set before it. This should proceed in logical order, and the Council may vote as each part of its investiga- tion is completed ''that the papers and statements thus far be deemed satisfactory. ' ' Such a vote, how- ever, does not determine the future 'action of the —170— i ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO RE NATA ( ouucil. It is merely a vote to proceed to the next point. The business of the Council being fully before it, if is customary to vote that the examination be ar- rested at this point, and that the Council be by itself. It is not in good form for members of the Council to assume to express the judgment of the Council prior to this point, nor is it orderly that the roll be called for individual expression before the Council is by itself. The purpose of the public session of the Council is to get all the facts before the body in the THOst prompt and orderly manner possible, that these may be considered in private by the churches through their representatives. The moderator of the Council can greatly facilitate the work of the body if he has this simple outline clearly in mind. The Scribe. It will greatly facilitate the work of the scribe if in the preparation of writing materials for his use a list of the churches and individuals in- vited be made out in advance on sheets of the same size as those to be used in the records and with con- vimient spaces for the writing in of the names of j)astors and delegates. Where this is done the scribe will have no difficulty in keeping his records complete. Where this has not been done he should be furnished an assistant who will make up the roll while he enters the complete record of the business as it is transacted. There is an erroneous impression that it is a difficult thing for a scribe to make his records complete as they are in progress. On the contrary, if he will insist that all lengthy motions be reduced to writing, and will procure at the outset a correct and legible roll, he will find no difficulty in presenting his minutes in good form at the time when they are called for, —171— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE The scribe should not be a member of any committee. The time for the reading and approval of the records is at the end of the session in which the Council is by itself. The records should be so complete as that at this time they can be approved, the order of public service added, and only the business incident to the adjournment left to be recorded. The Executive Session of the Council. When the Council is by itself a motion should be made bring- ing before it for action the business of the Council. It is customary at this time to call the roll and to permit each member in voting to express briefly his reason for his vote. This is not a time for set speeches, but it is the opportunity of the members of the Council freely to express their judgment of the matter which has brought them together. The Council having determined what it will do, it is customary to appoint a committee to formulate its finding. If it be a Council of Ordination or Installa- tion, the duty of the committee will be to confer with the candidate and representatives of the Church and report an order for the public service. If it be to dis- miss a pastor or advise in a matter of difficulty, the duty of the committee will be to draft suitable resolu- tions in harmony with the vote that has just been passed. While this committee is out the Council should listen to the reading of its minutes. The report of the committee, which may be expected by the time the records are read and approved, will complete the minutes to this point, and the Council may take recess until the public service, if one is to follow, or may complete its work and dissolve. The Dissolving of a Council. A Congregational Council does not commonly adjourn; it takes recess from one session to another, and at the close of its business —172— ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO RE NATA it dissolves. It is not orderly for a Council to adjourn. and wait to see whether its advice is followed, unless provision for such further proceeding is contained in 1 ho letter missive. A case in which a Council public^ ,illy concluded its work, but secretly agreed that if its advice was not followed it would convene again and deal with the matter, was disorderly. The Authority of a Council. Strictly speaking, the Council's finding has only so much authority as the loason of it. Yet the result of a Council being ac- cepted by the parties calling it, or agreeing before- hand to abide by it, has both ecclesiastical and legal value. The courts have more than once decided that in matters which a Council is competent to determine and which it has been agreed shall be submitted to it,, and which it has passed upon, will be accepted as to facts. In the case of an installed minister who did not wish to resign, and whose church was attempting to force him out without good reason, the decision of a Mutual Council that the action of the church was un- justified would be a legal justification on the pastor's part for claiming his salary. A minister has very little protection in the matter of the tenure of his office, and the decision of such a Council, as has re- peatedly been shown, would have great weight with the court. Indeed, if the Council Were conceded to be regular and acting within its jurisdiction, the court could claim no right to reverse the decision of the Council, or to do otherwise than protect the minister in the matter of his salary. Ex Parte Councils. One class of Councils, and that happily a class somewhat infrequent, requires a special note. The right to call an Ex-Parte Council exists only when every other means of effecting a reconciliation —173— CONGEEGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE or securing redress for a grievance has failed, and when a Mutual Council has been definitely refused. An Ex-Parte Council between a church and one of its members may only be called when the church has damaged the relations of th^ aggrieved members to other churches. If the injury complained of be a purely local one whose results lie within the local church, a Council cannot properly be called and must refuse to act. Other churches can only be consulted where the relations of a member to oth^.r churches are concerned. Thus a member may not call an Ex-Parte Council in a case where he has been privately cen- sured by the church, but where his membership re- mains intact, but may call a Council where a letter has been refused him and where he has been refused a hearing before a Mutual Council. The same principle applies to a church or minister calling an Ex-Parte Council in case of an alleged grievance at the hands of an Association or Confer- ence. The Council can only act, in cases where the damage is carried beyond the body alleged to have done the injury. An Ex-Parte Council as soon as organized must in every case offer its services as a Mutual Council and its findings can have no weight whatever unless its records show that it exhausted every reasonable effort to induce both parties to join in the Council. May a Council Increase Its Membership? The com- mon answer is in the negative. Churches electing delegates to a Council have a right to know with what other churches they are to join, but an exception must be made in cases where an Ex-Parte Council is offer- ing its services as a Mutual Council. If the other party is willing to accept the offer on condition that certain churches of his choosing be added to the Coun- cil, and the first party will accept these additional —174— ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO BE NATA iiiombers, the Ex-Parte Council in resolving itself into a Mutual Council is fully justified in making such additions to its membership as will enable it to secure the consent of all parties concerned. In no other case is it legal for a Council to change its membership. Who Compose a Council. The Congregational Coun- cil is a council of churches. Usually the pastor and a delegate are invited, but a Council may be composed of the pastor arid two or more delegates from each of the invited churches, if the letter missive so re- quests. It is sometimes asked whether a Council com- posed of ministers alone would have standing. The answer is in the affirmative. If a Church were en- gaged in a controversy with its minister and he in- sisted upon a trial before his peers, the church might very properly join him in inviting a Council composed wholly of ministers, and if the several churches in- vited responded by authorizing their respective pastors to act for them, the finding of that Council would be as valid as though composed in part of laymen. Simi- larly a council might be called in which the church would be asked to be represented by a delegate, and the findings of that Council would be equally valid if the churches accepted the invitation; or any church might if it chose to send its pastor as its delegate and lie would have standing in the Council, though only as a member of the church that sent him. In case the church has no pastor it may not be rep- resented by two lay delegates, but it may by special vote authorize its acting pastor to represent it in addi- tion to its lay delegate. In case a church has more than one pastor both pastors may be sent in addition to the lay delegate, but the two or more pastors are entitled to but one vote between them. The question is sometimes raised whether one dele- gate may represent two or more churches. The answer CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE is in the aflfirniative. For instance, a pastor is called to leave his church and become superintendent of mis- sions in a distant state or city, and two or more of the churches of that city or state unite in sending one delegate to represent them in the Council. If he brings credentials showing the specific vote of two or more invited churches he may be seated as their representa- tive, but is entitled to only one vote. Individuals in a Council. The custom is increasingly prevalent of inviting a considerable group of individual members in addition to the churches composing the Council. This practice has been discouraged by all authorities on Congregational polity, yet it is a custom not wholly without reason. But the number of indi- viduals ought not to be so large as in any wise to defeat the nature of the Council as a body representa- tive of the churches. If this principle be kept in mind no harm or abuse can follow the practice of inviting individual members; nor need it be insisted that these members be honorary members merely and not entitled to vote, but in case of a serious division of opinion in the Council affecting the welfare of the churches them- selves, the representatives of the churches would have the right to insist upon the obligation which rests ujmn them to express the church or churches. Evidence. The question is often raised what evi- dence a Council may consider. It has no power such as a court possesses to summon witnesses and place them under oath. It must be permitted to gather its evidence from a considerably wider range than would be per- missible in a court. ' ' Common fame ' ' must be recog- nized as having evidential value in a Council. A noto- rious scandal with plain implications undenied cannot be disregarded for lack of absolute legal proof. Tlie Council must use the judgment of Christian charity, —176— ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS PRO RE NATA but it Deed not consider itself bound by only such evidence as courts would regard. The question is also raised whether parties to a Council may be represented by lawyers or by other special advocates. They have that right. A minister whose standing is in question may call to his assistance either a brother pastor or a legal adviser, and the other party at interest in the matter may be similarly repre- sented, but the questionings and arguments of these advocates must be held to respect the difference be- tween a Church Council and a court of law, and be in all respects amenable to ecclesiastical custom and to decorum touching such matters. —177— XI. THE NATIONAL COUNCHi. Early Councils. At different times in the history of our denomination the churches have been convened for the consideration of affairs of unusual importance in bodies representing their whole membership. The National Council Digest, Pages 14-19, gives a list of eight such gatherings, beginning with the gathering in the Mayflower in November 11, 1620, and including the Boston Council of 1865. The National Council. The National Council, as it present constituted, held its first meeting at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1871, established a constitution, provided for regular triennial meetings and for special meetings if such should be called. Viewed with great suspicion at the beginning as a body that might bring into peril the liberty of the churches, the Council has steadily grown in influence and its utterances have been re- ceived with increasing respect by the churches. Thir- teen National Councils have been held as follows: 1871 Oberlin, Ohio. 1874 New Haven, Conn. 1877 Detroit, Mich. . 1880 St. Louis, Mo. 1883 Concord, N. H. 1886 Chicago, 111. 1889. Worcester, Mass. 1892 Minneapolis, Minn. 1895 Syracuse, N. Y. 1898 Portland, Ore. 1901 -. . . . Portland, Me. 1904 Des Moines, Iowa. 1907. Cleveland, Ohio. 1910 Boston, Mass. —178— I THE NATIONAL COUNCIL The constitution of the Council provides for regular triennial meetings and for special meetings to be held whenever five state associations request such a meet- ing. No special meetings have yet been called. Membership. Membership in the National Council is divided into the following classes: Active Members. The National Council has four classes of active members. 1. OflScial Members. The secretary, registrar and treasurer elected at each triennial session of the Na- tional Council serve for three years from the close of the session at which they are elected and are voting members of the next triennial Council and all special Councils called before the next triennial session. These three are the only members of the Council elected by the Council. The provisional committee of eleven, which includes the moderator and the other three officers named above, become honorary members of the next triennial Council, and the moderator will call to order the next special meeting of the Council, but his suc- cessor will be elected at the special session, and will in turn call to order the next triennial session of the Council. The standing of members of the provisional com- mittee in the Council for which they are elected is that of members of all standing committees, viz., they are ipso facto honorary members of the next triennial session and entitled to the floor, but are not entitled to vote unless otherwise elected. The Council itself can elect three and olily three members to the next triennial and all intervening sessions. 2. Delegates from District Associations. Each Dis- trict Association elects one delegate for each ten churches or major fraction thereof. 3. Delegates from State Conferences. Each State —179— OONGREGATIONAIi THEORY AND PRACTICE Conference elects one delegate for each 10,000 com- municants or major fraction thereof. District Associations and State Conferences may fill vacancies in their delegations in any manner which those provide. It is customary to elect a num- ber of alternates equal to that of delegates, and in some states the delegation may fill its own vacancies. In the interest of good order and of full representa- tion it should be understood that in cases of vacancies the regularly elected alternates should first be noti- fied, and that if vacancies still remain when the Council convenes the delegates of a state may fill vacancies in. their own delegation. 4. Institutional Delegates. Each Congregational Missionary Society that has been recognized by the Council as such, and each Congregational Theological Seminary and College is entitled to one delegate. In the constitution as originally adopted at Oberlin in 1871, this fourth class of members was honorary only, but in Syracuse in 1895 the constitution was changed so that these became voting members. These four classes make up the voting membership of the National Council. Honorary Members. The first group of honorary members in the National Council consists of those who have been appointed by the previous Council to do any specific work or prepare a report. While the Council can elect only three persons to active membership, and these may not have been members of its own body, it can procure a right to the floor for any member of any Congregational church whom it delegates to do a specific work. Its own moderator and his assistants also are hon- orary members, as are all previous moderators of the Council at any of its sessions. The preacher of the Council sermon and the minister —180— THE NATIONAL COUNCIL or ministers of the church or churches entertaining the Council are also honorary members. Statistical secretaries of state and territorial conferences are honorary members. The final group of these members consist of all missionaries of the American Board who are present. Corresponding Members. The National Council has the right belonging to state conferences and district associations of extending the privilege of the floor to representatives of other denominations present in their official capacity, or to other distinguished persons whom it may thus desire to honor. Constitution, By-Laws and Rules. The constitution of the National Council is short and consists princi- ])ally of a declaration of principles, a plan for meet- ings, a definition of its several groups of members^ and a list of its officers. These are exceedingly brief and are made intentionally difficult of modification. The by-laws of the National Council are an exceed- ingly flexible group of standing rules which may be changed at any hour in any triennial meeting of the Council without previous notice. The Council is thus held somewhat rigidly to the simple plan and princi- ples set forth in the constitution, but^ is in complete control of the machinery by which it is to transact its business under the by-laws and rules of order. But no National Council can give to any new by-laws any greater stability than those which in the exercise of this right it might overthrow; since the constitution itself and not the by-laws, contains this provision for amendment, and cannot itself be amended except by three years' notice and a two-thirds vote. So that if a National Council were to repeal all the by-laws at once and enact an entirely new set these would have only such authority as they could exercise without violation of the constitution; and would all be subject —181— CONGREGATIONAL THEOR^S AND PRACTICE to repeal an hour or three years afterward, if the Coun- cil did not like them. Officers. Each Council chooses its own ofiicers and committees, excepting its secretary, registrar and treas- urer, and its provisional committee, which includes these three officers and the moderator, and consists of eleven persons. These are chosen by the preceding triennial Council. The presiding officers and the nominating committee are chosen at the beginning of the session; other com- mittees may be chosen at any time at the pleasure of the Council. The Moderator. At the first meeting in Oberlin, in 1871, the Council continued several days under its temporary organization. After that the councils were called to order by the chairman of the Provisional Com- mittee, acting by courtesy. In Chicago, in 1886, the Provisional Committee set forth the fact that previous councils had wasted time in getting quickly to work, and asked that the Provisional Committee have author- ity to do what its chairman up to that time had been doing. The Council was disinclined to do this, lest the Provisional Committee come to assume larger preroga- tives than belonged to it; but appointed a committee which, with sole view to providing a quick way of get- ting to work, reported what is now the fourteenth by-law: ''The presiding officers shall retain their offices until their successors are chosen; and the presiding moder- ator, at the opening of the session subsequent to the one at which he was elected, shall name the Nominat- ing Committee, the Business Committee, and the Com- mittee on Credentials; and he shall be an honorary member of the Council." This by-law is ambiguous, but serves a useful pur- pose in getting^ the Council quickly to work. At Syra- —182— THE NATIONAL COUNCIL cuse, in 1886, the powers of the moderator were deemed too large, and the authority to name the three com- mittees was taken from him, except that he still is permitted to nominate the nominating committee, sub- ject to the approval of the Council. At the same time the words ''and he shall be an honorary member of the Council" were stricken out, since all previous moderators are honorary members for life. This hon- orary membership the moderator still holds, but only on a plane with all his predecessors. Several members of the committee that framed the fourteenth by-law at Chicago in 1886 are still living. It did not occur to them that they were providing a method whereby the moderator could exercise the func- tions of his office between councils. On the contrary, they supposed that they were removing that tempta- tion from the only man wiiom they thought in danger of assuming it, — the chairman of the Provisional Com- mittee. But with the passing of the years the moder- ator has come to a larger recognition in the denomina- tion and in other branches of the Church at large. The custom of English Congregationalists, though resting on quite a different constitutional basis, seemed to afford an analogy for what might be undertaken in America. And so, although the moderator of the National Council ceases to be a member of that body at the time of its dissolution and his office expires with his membership, the Council of 1904 recognized his wider relationship in the following resolution, which, though it has not yet been incorporated as a by-law, nor ad- justed to the constitution of the body, has the force of an interpretation of a by-law by the Council itself: ''Resolved, That, in view of the widening opportu- nities of Congregationalism and its increasing desire for fellowship through denominational representation, —183— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE it is the sense of this Council that the moderator inter- pret his position generously, as having, in addition to presiding duties, a representative function; that visit- ing, upon invitation, churches and associations so far as he may be able and disposed, addressing the churches, if in his judgment occasion requires it, and, in general, serving the churches, be regarded as his prerogative. But it is understood that all his acts and utterances shall be devoid of authority, and that for them shall be claimed and to tliem given only such weight and force as there are weight and force in the reason of "them. " The Larger Life of the Council. The larger life of the National Council is not limited by any question of interpretation of its by-laws. It has been steadily growing in power. It is the custodian Of our denomina- tional records; it is the publisher of our denominational Year Book; it is our accredited organ for the represen- tation of the denomination in intercourse with other denominations. And it is certain that it will control, through one or more holding corpqrations or directly, an increasing volume of the business of the denomina- tion. Councils or the Council. Beyond any doubt those who established the National Council intended that there should be a series of National Councils. But it has come about that we have not only Councils, but a Council. The membership of a new council begins immediately on the dissolution of an old one, so that there is no break in organic life. The three elected members whose term then begins form an organic bond of union between councils, which bond is strengthened by an increasing number of standing committees, and a considerable volume of business between sessions. The Custodian of Denominational Interests. In- creasingly as the years have gone by the National Council has assumed important functions representa- —184— THE NATIONAL COUNCIL live of the life of our churches. It publishes our (hmomiuational statistics and might easily be so incor- porated as to include all the publishing of our denomi- nation. It gives place on its program to the denomi- national missionary societies, and at different times has announced to the churches the proportion of their li'Mievolences which it believes to be wise for them to ,11 [minister through each of these organizations. There has been an increased demand that all the national societies shall be controlled by the churches through the National Council. At the Cleveland meeting of the (■ouncil in 1907, the following important action was taken: "XI. That the administration of the benevolent interests of our churches be directed by the represen- tatives of the churches in the national organization, and that this Council appoint a commission of fifteen, including a representative from each of our benevolent societies, who shall report at its next regular meeting such an adjustment of these societies to the bodies of the churches represented in this Council as shall secure such direction; care being taken to safeguard existing constitutional provisions of these societies and the jiresent membership of their boards of control, but also to lodge, hereafter, the creation and continuance of these administrative boards in the suffrage of the rep- resentatives of the churches." How this important rule might be carried into effect lias been already illustrated in the organization of one of our national benevolent societies, incorporated in Connecticut as ''The Trustees of the National Coun- cil" in its meeting in Chicago in 1886. The title of ihis corporate body, ''The Trustees of the National Council," has given rise to no little confusion, and it has been assumed not infrequently, that the National Council and The Trustees of the National Council were —185— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE in some sense identical. But the National Council, or- ganized under the constitution adopted in Oberlin, Ohio, November 17, 187.1, and The Trustees of the National Council, incorporated in Connecticut in 1885, are two quite different bodies. When the Congrega- tional churches of the United States undertook to pro- vide for ministerial relief they took up this until then neglected work under a corporation devised by the National Council itself, acting in the name of all the churches. It might have done the same and might still do the same concerning the publishing of the denomi- nation, or the conduct of its educational work, or its home and foreign missionary operations. It could still organize corporate bodies through w^hich all this work should be done and request the churches to contribute through this new organization, or to make their gift, through existing agencies in such form that the present missionary societies should become mere holding cor- porations for the collection and transmission of the funds of the churches. Two things are certain: first, that the churches intend to get into relations with the missionary societies; and, secondly, that the form of organization adopted by the National Council for the purpose of ministerial relief is only an illustration of the principle which might be more widely adopted. a. Stated Meetings. Stated meetings of the National Council occur once in three years, ordinarily in the latter part of October or early part of November. The pi'ecise time is fixed by the Business Committee. At every morning session one-half hour must be given to devotional services and the daily sessions must be opened with prayer and closed with prayer or singing. The evenings are expected to be given to public ser- vices, religious rather than business in their character. At some one of these the Council observes the Lord's Supper. —186— THE NATIONAL COUNCIL l3. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Coun- cil may be called by any five states acting through tlioir State Conferences. Temporary Organization. Meetings of the National (.uiincil art called to order by the moderator, or in his ihsence one of the assistant moderators of the last ouncil, either regular or special. He will take the cliair at the opening of the session and direct the secretary to collect the credentials of the delegates. Without waiting for the completion of this business he will nominate to the Council the Committee on Nomi- nations and will call at once for the election of a I (umanent moderator. The retiring moderator appoints but this one committee, and that subject to confirma- tion by the Council. The retiring moderator is expected to deliver an (•[lening address, but not until after the election of the jtermanent moderator. The right of the retiring moderator to preside at the opening of the session of the Council next following 1 he session of his service is not a constitutional right l)ut is provided in the by-laws in order to establish a method for the prompt and orderly transaction of busi- ness. In the early days of the Council the chairman of the Business Committee was accustomed to perform rliis service, but in 1886 the Council devised this more orderly and dignified method. The retiring moderator need not be a member of the < ouncil which he calls to order, though he is ipso facto ail honorary member. If, however, in the interval be- tween Councils the retiring moderator had become morally disqualified for membership in the body, it would be the duty of the Provisional Committee to call file Council to order and immediately elect a temporary moderator. In a religious body similar in its plan of organization —187— CONGREGATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE to the National Council it once became necessary to make a legal test of the right of the body to disregard a provision in its by-laws in all essential respects simi- lar to that of the National Council concerning the opening of the meeting. The business corafnittee was advised that no one session of such a body could im- pose a presiding officer upon a subsequent session against its will; and, acting on that advice, did not invite the officer in question to call the next session to order, but prepared to resist any effort on his part to take that part. Acting on this a member of the business committee called the session to order, and instantly recognized another member of the committee who nominated a temporary moderator, put the nomi- nation to vote, and declared the election. Few even of those present realized that an important crisis had been met and passed. This was not only legal, but according to the strict parliamentary rule that ''No one session of the assembly can interfere with the rights of the assembly at any future session." — Eob- ert's Eules of Order, p. 132. The by-laws may, for convenience, provide for an orderly opening of the next session; but the by-laws themselves may be amended or completely changed at the will of any session of the Council, without previous notice. Any council, conference or association whose moderator proved unworthy in the interval between the session for which he was elected and that which he was expected to open, could rely upon this prece- dent, and save itself from humiliation. Permanent Organization. The first duty of the per- manent moderator is to lead the Council in prayer. Second. The moderator should call for the report of the Committee on Nominations, which should nomi- nate a Committee on Credentials. This committee must include the secretary. Tellers should be provided if —188— THE NATIONAL COUNCIL necessary, and the Committee on Credentials should be given facilities for the prompt preparation of the roll of members. Third. The moderator should then call for the re- , port of the Business Committee, which should submit a docket for the use of members. The adoption of this report is the next item of business. If vacancies exist in the Business Committee, the Nominating Committee should propose members to fill those vacancies at once. Fourth. Any urgent matter of business designed to facilitate the business of the Council, presented by the Business Committee, the Committee on Credentials or the secretary, may be considered and disposed of. Fifth. As early as may be in the session of the Council a Finance Committee and a Publishing Com- mittee should be nominated by the Committee on Nomi- nations. This, however, unlike the above, is not an immediate item of business. The Publishing Commit- tee must consist of five, including the secretary, regis- trar and treasurer. In filling the lists of this and other standing com- mittees, any member of a Congregational Church is eligible and in filling the list of committees for the session any member or honorary member of the Council may be chosen. Sixth. Followiug this " come reports of committees Its provided for in the docket. Seventh. Other business is to be introduced under the rules, and at such times as the programme provides. —189— XII. THE CONSTITUTION AND RULES OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL. I. Sessions. The churches will meet in National Council every third year. They shall also be convened in special sessions whenever any five of the general state organizations shall so request. II. Representation. The churches shall be repre- sented, at each session, by delegates, either ministers or laymen, appointed in number and manner as fol- lows: — 1. The churches, assembled in their local organiza- tions, appoint one delegate for every ten churches in their respective organizations, and one for a fraction of ten greater than one-half, it being understood that wherever the churches of any state are directly united in a general organization they may, at their option, appoint the delegates in such body, instead of in local organizations, but in the above ratio of churches so united. 2. In addition to the above, the churches united in state organizations appoint by such body one delegate, and one for each ten thousand communicants in their fellowship, and one for a major fraction thereof; 3. It being recommended that the number of dele- gates be, in all cases, divided between ministers and laymen, as nearly equal as is practicable. Each state or local organization may provide in its own way for filling vacancies in its delegation. 4. Such Congregational societies for Christian work as may be recognized by this Council, and the faculties of Congregational theological seminaries and colleges, may be represented by one delegate each. III. Officers. 1. At the beginning of every stated or special session, there shall be chosen by ballot, from those present as members, a Moderator, and one or more Assistant Moderators, to preside over its deliber- ations. The Moderator is expected to open the Council immediately following the one at which he is elected with an address on a subject to be selected by himself. 2. At each triennial session there shall be chosen by —190— CONSTITUTION AND RULES a halJot a secretary, a registrar, and a treasurer to siMve from the close of such session to the close of tlio next triennial session. .'>. The secretary shall receive communications for llic Council, conduct correspondence, and collect such facts and superintend such publications as may from time to time be ordered. 4. The registrar shall make and preserve the records of the proceedings of the Council; and for his aid one or more assistants shall be chosen at each session to serve during such session. T). The treasurer shall do the work ordinarily bo- longing to such office. 6, At each triennial session there shall be chosen a provisional committee, who shall make needful arrange- ments for' the next triennial session, and for any ses- sion called during the interval. 7. Committees shall be appointed, and in such man- ner as may from time to time be ordered. 5. Any member of a church in fellowship may be chosen to the office of secretary, registrar, or treasurer; and such officers shall be enrolled as members of the ( ouncil. J V. By-Laws. The council may make and alter By- Laws at any triennial session. V. Amendments. This constitution- shall not be al- tered or amended, except at a triennial session and by a two-thirds vote, notice thereof having been given at a previous triennial session, or the proposed alteration having been requested by some general state organiza- tion of churches, and published with the notification (»f the session. By-Laws. I. In all its official acts and records this body shall ])e designated as The National Council of the Congre- j^ational Church'es of the United States. II. It shall be understood that the term for which e regarded as a full year. In accordance with the practice of some churches, the following may be added by special vote if the Church so desires : — "No person shall be eligible to reelection as Deacon, after serving a full term as such, until after an interval of one year." 2 As to the election of these officers the Church should carefully consider the laws of the State in which it is situ- ated. —234— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS the transactions at all business meetings of the Church, which shall be read for approval at the next* following special business meeting, and also of the Church Com- mittee and of the Prudential Committee, or of the Board of Trustees, if either of these bodies shall be chosen. He shall secure the signatures of members to the By- Laws, and keep a register of their names with dates of admission and dismission or death, together with a record of baptisms. He shall also notify all oflficers, members of committee, and delegates of their election or appoint- ment. He shall issue letters of dismission and recom- mendation voted by the Church, preserve on file all com- munications and written official reports, and give legal notice of all meetings where such notice is necessary, as indicated in these By-Laws. The Clerk shall be sworn if required by the law of the State. Sec. 4. The Deacons shall provide for the Lord's Supper and aid in its administration, and shall care for the poor, calling upon the Treasurer, by vote as a board, at their discretion, for any funds in his possession held for these purposes. Sec. 5. The Church Committee shall examine and propound candidates for admission to the Church, shall provide for the supply of the pulpit in any vacation of the Pastor, shall decide on objects for regular or special collections when the Church has not acted thereon, shall have regard to discipline as provided in the article re- lating to that subject, and shall be watchful for the spiritual interests of the Church. It shall make a writ- ten report at each annual meeting of the matters under its charge. Sec. 6. The Treasurer shall keep separate accounts as follows: (a) Of all moneys contributed at the Lord's Supper, which shall be jirimarily devoted to the relief of the poor, and which contributions, together with all other moneys given for that purpose, he shall hold subject to the orders of the Board of Deacons. (&) Of all moneys raised for the objects of Christian benevolence, to bo paid by him to the several persons or societies entitled thereto, (c) Of all moneys received by him for the support of public worship or of any department of church work, to be paid out on the order of the Church or of any persons or committees authorized by the Church therefor. —235— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS All the Treasurer's accounts shall be kept distinct from all other accounts, and all deposits made, and all checks drawn by him shall be in the name of the Church. He shali make an annual written report in detail of his receipts and expenditures, properly audited by some person previously appointed by the Church. Sec. 7. The Superintendent of the Sunday-school shall have the general oversight and direction of the school, and shall conduct its affairs upon such general plans and in such methods as may be approved by the Church Committee. He shall, at the annual meeting of the Church, present a written report of the work of the school during the year, with such recommendations as he may deem wise. VI. PROPERTY AND FINANCES.^ The Trustees or Prudential Committee shall have the actual care of the place of worship, but shall have no power to buy, sell, mortgage, lease, or transfer any property without a specific vote of the Church author- izing such action. They shall provide, under the direc- tion of the Church, for the raising of money for the support of its public services, shall have general charge of its finances other than moneys contributed at the Lord's Supper or for any charitable or benevolent ob- jects, shall authorize and direct the Treasurer as to the payment of moneys under their control, shall provide for the proper auditing of his accounts unless the Church shall appoint an auditor, and may, at their discretion, call meetings of the Church for matters with which they 1 The form of administration here proposed is prepared to meet the needs of incorporated churches in different States. Such a church should adopt, according to its circumstances, one of tlie two names given and cancel the other. "Trus- tees" will be proper where that name is required by law and where the Church is not connected with any parish. In some States the Trustees hold the property for the church. "Pru- dential Committee" will be proper for any incorporated church not connected with any parish or religious society nor existing in a State where Trustees are required by law. In the case of a church not incorporated connected with an existing parish or religious society which controls the sup- port of public worship, as is still somewhat extensively found in the older States, the following should be substituted for this article : — "The church shall from time to time appoint committees to cooperate with the parish or religious society with which it is or may be connected in the selection or the dismissal of a rastor or in the furtherance of other joint interests." —236— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS are concerned. They shall make at the annual meeting a detailed report in writing of all their transactions during the year. If the Church shall elect Trustees, this body shall hold in trust any property so required to be held by the laws of the State. VII. ORGANIZATIONS. The Church regards as integral parts pf itself all organizations formed for the purposes of ministration and which use the facilities of the Church property. Of all such organizations the Pastor shall have general oversight, and the Church will expect a report from each at its annual meeting.^ VIII. MEETINGS. Section 1. For Worship . (1) Public services shall be held statedly on the Lord's Day and on some regular evening of each week. (2) The Lord's Supper shall be celebrated at such regular dates as the Church may, from time' to time, determine; and unless otherwise ordered, upon the first Lord's Day of each alternate month beginning with Jan- uary. The midweek meeting next preceding shall be devoted to a Preparatory Service. (3) Occasional religious meetings may be appointed by the Pastor at his discretion, or by vote of the Church. Sec. 2. For Business. (1) At any of the regular meetings for worship the Church may, without special notice, act upon the reception of members previously propounded or upon the dismissal of members to other churches, and upon the appointment of delegates to coun- cils and conferences of churches, but not upon other business. (2) The Pastor may, and shall, when requested by the Church Committee, call from the pulpit special busi- ness meetings, the particular object of the meeting being clearly stated in the notice. Special meetings of the Church shall also be called by the Clerk upon the written application of any five adult members specifying the object thereof, which notice shall 1 It has been found advantageous in some churches to pro- vide for occasional or stated. meetings of the heads of all the several departments of Christian work for consultation, to insure unity in work and to avoid possible interference of plans and appointments. This is frequently called the Pas- tor's Council, or Cabinet. —237— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS be read at the public service on the Lord's Day next preceding the day fixed for such meeting. No special meeting shall be held on the same day on which the no- tice is given. (3) The annual meeting of the Church shall be held on at which time the annual reports shall be presented and officers elected, and such other business transacted as may be specified in the call or authorized in the By-Laws. This meeting* shall be called by the Clerk in the manner specified in the paragraph next preceding. (4) At all meetings for business called by the Clerk, a chairman shall be chosen by vote of the Church; but at all other meetings the Pastor shall preside, except that in his absence, or when the business relates to himself, the Church shall elect a chairman. (5) At the annual and all special meetings . . . mem- bers shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. IX. DISCIPLINE. Section 1. Should any unhappy differences arise be- tween members, the aggrieved member shall follow, in a tender spirit, the rules given by our Lord in the eight- eenth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. Sec. 2. Should any case of gross breach of covenant, or of public scandal, occur, the Church Committee shall endeavor to remove the offence, and if such effort fail shall report the case to the Church. Sec. 3. If the Church vote to entertain a complaint, which must be made in writing, it shall appoint a rea- sonable time and place of hearing and notify the per- son in question thereof, furnishing him with a copy of the charges. Sec. 4. At such hearing, the accused member may call to his aid any member of the Church as counsel. If he shall not present himself at the time appointed, or give satisfactory reasons for his neglect so to do, the Church may proceed in his absence. Sec. 5. All such proceedings should be pervaded by a spirit of Christian kindness and forbearance, but should an adverse decision be reached, the Church may proceed to admonish or to declare the offender to be no longer in the membership of the Church. Sec. 6. In case of grave difficulty tiie Church will —238— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS be ready, if requested, to ask advice of a mutual council or of the District Association. X. CORPORATE SEAL. This Church shall become (or being) legally incorpo- rated under the laws of the State of adopts as its corporate seal, a scroll or circle containing the words, ' ' The Congregational Church of , Organized 19. . . ., Incorporated 19 " And the following motto and device The same to be written, stamped or printed. XI. AMENDMENTS. The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at any annual meet- ing of the Church, or at a meeting specially called for that purpose, the proposed amendment being inserted in the call; but no change shall be made in Articles II and III, entitled ** Covenant" and "Character," except at an annual meeting, and by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the Church entitled to vote, said pro- posed change having been laid before the Church in writing at a business meeting not less than one month before the time of the proposed action, and read from the pulpit on the Lord's Day next succeeding such pro- posal. FORMS OF LETTER MISSIVES. FROM INDIVIDUALS DESIRING HELP IN ORGANIZING A CHURCH. To the Congregational Church, in , , Greeting: After careful deliberation, and after seeking the guid- ance of the Holy Spirit, we have come to regard it as our duty and privilege to associate together :»s a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, in this place, and have taken the steps preparatory thereto. We therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate in an ecclesiastical council, to be constituted as stated below, —239— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS hereby called to meet in our place of worsliip on , the day of , at 'clock , M., which shall review our proceedings, and consider the need and opportunity for the proposed church ; and if the result of such exam- ination be favorable, assist in completing the organiza- tion, and extend to it the fellowship of the Congrega- tional churches. Wishing you grace, mercy and peace, Committee for the Brethren. (Date and place.) The following named churches (and persons) are in- vited: — (Names.) By vote of the associated brethren. Clerk, pro. tern. FOR THE RECEPTION OF A CHURCH INTO FELLOWSHIP. The Church in To the Congregational Church in , Greeting : — This Church, organized as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, upon Congregational principles, earnestly desires the special communion of the Congregational churches, for the enjoyment of their fellowship and participation in common work for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. We therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate in an ecclesiastical coun- ' cil, to be constituted as stated below, hereby called to 1 Whon the names of the members of a committee are not in their own handwriting, all copies of the letters missive should be authenticated by the actual signature of the clerk. By a plight change in form this form may be adapted to the invitation of an association. —240— COMPENDIUM or FORMS meet iu our place of worship on the day of , 19 at 'clock M., which shall make the necessary examinations into our polity, faith, and practice, and if the result be favorable, extend to us the fellowship of the Congregational churches. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows :- (Names.) In accordance with the vote of the Church. Church Clerk. FOR THE OEDINATION AND INSTALLATION OF A PASTOE. The Congregational Church in To the Congregational Church in Greeting: — This Church, having devoutly sought the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, has united iu the choice of Mr. A. B. for its pastor and teacher, and he has re- sponded favorably to its call. We therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate, in an ecclesiastical council to be constituted as stated below, hereby called to meet in our place of worship on , the day of , 19. . . ., at o'clock. . .M., which shall review our proceedings and make the neces- sary examinations, and if the result be favorable, proceed with us to liis ordination as a minister of the Word, —241— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS and his installation as pastor of this Church, and extend to him the fellowship of the ministers and churches. Wishing yon grace, mercy, and peace, 'Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: — (Names.) In accordance with the vote of the Church. Church Cleric. FOR ORDINATION WITHOUT INSTALLATION. The . . . '. Congregational Church in To the Congregational Church i" , Greeting ; — Whereas, Mr. A. B., a member of this Church, believ- ing that the Lord has called him to the ministry of the Word, desires ordination in view of special work now before him, namely,^ and trusts that he has obtained the preparation of mind and heart necessary to qualify him for its sacred duties, we therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate in an ecclesiastical council, to be con- stituted as stated below, hereby called to meet in our place of worship on the day of , 19. . . ., at o'clock . . . .M., which shall review our proceedings and make the necessary examination, and if the result be favorable, proceed with us to his ordination and extend to him the 1 If a church is in connection with an incorporated parish or society, a committee of the parish should also sign the letter. ' The work should be specified, such as "pastoral service," "foreign missionary work," "home missionary work," "as an evangelist," etc. —242— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS fellowship of the Cougregational ministers and churches. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: — (Names.) In accordance with the vote of the Church. Church Cleric. FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A PASTOR. The Congregational Church in To the Congregational Church ill , Greeting : — This Church, having devoutly sought the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, has united in the choice of Rev. A. B, for its pastor and teacher, and he has re- sponded favorably to its call. We therefore affection- ately request you to be present by pastor and delegate in an ecclesiastical council, to be constituted as stated below, hereby called to meet in our place of w^orship on , the day of , 19 .... , at o 'clock .... M., which shall review our proceedings, and make the necessary examinations, and if the result be favorable, proceed with us to his installation as pastor of this Church, and extead to him the fellowship of the ministers and churches. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, ^Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: (Names.) In accordance witli the vote of the Church. Church Clerk. -243— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS FOE THE DISMISSAL OF A PASTOK. The Congregational Church in To the Congregational Church in , Greeting : — The Eev. A, B., pastor of this Church, having tendered his resignation of the pastoral office, and the Church, after prayerful deliberation, having voted to accept this resignation, subject to the advice of an ecclesiastical council, we therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate in an ecclesiastical council, to be constituted as stated below, hereby called to meet in our place of worship on , the day of ,19 , at o 'clock M., which shall review the action thus far taken, and in view of existing conditions, give such advice as it shall deem wise.^ Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace. -Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: — (Names.) • In accordance with the vote of the Church. Church Cleric. FOE ADVICE IN SPECIAL CASES. The Congregational Church in To Die Congregational Church in , Greeting : — "Whereas this Church is in circumstances Avhich make it needful that it should obtain wise and godly advice 1 In case the parties desire to empower the council to de- clare the pastoral relation terminated, instead of the last clause, "give such advice as it shall deem wise," the follow- ing words should be substituted : "if it shall seem wise, de- clare the pastoral relation terminated." 2 See note to Form C. —244— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS from neighboring churches whose judgment, it may be hoped, will be guided by the Holy Spirit, we therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate in an ecclesiastical council, to be constituted as stated below, hereby called to meet in our place of worship on , the day of 19...., at o'clock M,, which shall con- sider the facts and questions then to be laid before it, and which shall give to us such fraternal advice as it may deem important with reference to the work com- mitted to our hands. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace. Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: — (Names.) In accordance with the vote of the Church. Church Cleric. FOR ADVICE IN CASE OF INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. The Covgregational Church in To the Congregational Church in , Greeting : — Whereas, the peace of this Church is disturbed by in- ternal differences between brethren, which are injurious to its prosperity and the cause of Christ; and whereas, in such cases it is the privilege of any church to ask for wise and godly counsel from neighboring churches with the hope of thereby removing the causes of disturbance and securing harmony; and whereas, brethren who differ in their present judgment agree to this reference, Ave therefore affectionately request you to be present by pastor and delegate, in an ecclesiastical council to be con- —245— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS stituted as stated below, liereby called to meet in our place of worship on , the day of 19...., at o'clock ....M., to which these difficulties within the Church will be made known, and which, after due deliberation, shall give to us the counsel to which it nhall be divinely led. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace. Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: — (Names.) In accordance with the vote of the Church. Church Clerk. FOR A MUTUAL COUNCIL IN CASE OF ALLEGED GRIEVANCE. The Congregational Church H To the Congregatipnal Church in , Greeting : — Whereas, Brother A. B., who has been deprived of good and regular standing in this Church by act of the Church, alleges that this action is unjust and improper, and desires that the Church will join with him in calling a mutual council to consider his alleged grievance and advise in reference thereto; and whereas the Church, de- siring only that which is according to the rules of the Gospel of Christ, accedes to his request, we therefore af- fectionately request you to be present by pastor and dele- gate in an ecclesiastical council, to be constituted (by mutual agreement) as stated below, hereby called to meet in our place of worship on , the day of , .19 .... , at o 'clock . . . . M., which shall review all the proceedings in this case, make the necessary examinations, and give such ad- —246— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS Mice as it shall lind required by Congregational principles in the spirit of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace. Committee of the Church. (Date and place.) , Complainant. The churches (and persons) invited are as follows: — (Names.) In accordance with the vote of the Church. Chiirch Clerl. FOR AN EX-PAETE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER AN ALLEGED GRIEVANCE. To the Congregational Chnrch in , Greeting : — Whereas the undersigned has been by the act of the Congregational Church in deprived of his good and regular standing in that church, and thereby of his communion with neighboring churches, which action he holds to have been erroneous both in method and substance, and an injury to him as a Christian brother; and Avhereas, he has requested the Church to join him in calling a mutual council to ask the advice of neighboring churches in the case, which request the Church has refused to grant, as he thinks, unreason- ably; in accordance with the method of relief ac- knowledged among our churches, the undersigned affec- tionately requests you to be present by pastor and dele- gate in an ex-parte ecclesiastical council, to be consti- tuted as stated below, hereby called to meet in on , the day of , 19 .... , at o 'clock .... M., to which shall be communicated all the facts in the case, and which will be respectfully asked to give such advice as shall be warranted, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. —247— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS Trusting in your willingness to listen and to aid in securing the removal of any injury, if such should be found to exist, Yours in Christian fellowship, (Date and place.) The churches (and persons) invited are as follows :- (Names.) FORM FOR THE USE OF A CHURCH REQUESTING AN ASSOCIATION TO ACT IN A CON- CILIARY CAPACITY AT ITS REGULAR MEETING. The Congregational Church of To the Association sendeth Greeting : Beloved Brethren: — The Great Head of the Church has united us in the choice of Mr , to be our pastor and teacher, and he has accepted our invitation to that office. We therefore give notice that we, shall send him, with the regular delegate from this church, to the next meeting of the Association ; and we request that at that meeting the Association examine our records, and our candidate, and if deemed expedient that he be returned to us with the approval of the Asso- ciation, and that the Association send to us representa- tives of the churches who shall join in our public service of ordination, to be held in our house of worship on We desire also to invite to that service the churches in and Rev. Messrs and we request that the Association constitute the mes- sengers of these churches and the brethren above named corresponding members of the Association at this service. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, we are, Cleric. , 19 Committee. —248— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS FORM TO BE USED BY THE SCRIBE OF AN ASSOCIATION [u Calling a Special Meeting, or in Making a Special Order of an Item of Business Proposed by a Church. The Association. To the Churches represented in it, Greeting: — A request having been received from the Church in that the Association at its next regular meeting examine Mr with reference to his fitness for the Gospel ministry, and if deemed expedient, to ordain him in order to his ac- cepting a call as pastor of that Church; notice is hereby given that at the next regular meeting of the Associa- tion, Tvhich is to be held at on this business will be made a special order. By request of the said Church, the following churches and ministers who are not members of this Association, will be pro- posed as corresponding members for that session: Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, we are, on be- half of the churches of the Association, Registrar. 19 Advisory Committee. (The above form may be modified to serve as a call for a special meeting of the Association to act in a conciliary capacity.) FORM FOR THE USE OF A CHURCH INVITING AN ASSOCIATION TO MEET WITH IT FOR A SPECIAL PURPOSE. (In the following form the purpose assumed is that of the ordination of a minister. But the form may readily be adapted to any other purpose in which the Association is desired to meet in conciliary capacity.) The Congregational Church of To the Association senclfth Greeting: — —249— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS Beloved Brethren: — The Great Head of the Church has united us in the choice of Mr , to be our pastor and teacher, and he has accepted our invitation to that office. We therefore cordially invite the churches of the Association to meet in special session in our house of worship on , 19. . ., to review our proceedings, to examine the candidate, and if deemed expedient to ordain him to the Gospel ministry [and to install him as pastor of this Church]. We are inviting, also, the following churches and indi- viduals to be present, and our delegate will move that the messengers from the above churches and the ministers named above be made corresponding members of the As- sociation at this meeting. Desiring that prompt notice of this meeting be given to the churches of the Association, and wishing them grace, mercy, and peace, we are. Clerl:. ,19.... Committee. FORMS RELATING TO THE DISMISSION OF CHURCH MEMBERS. Application for Uniting in the Formation of a New Church. To the Cinirch of Dear Brethren: — Being desirous of uniting with other Christian brethren in the formation of a new Congregational Church in , I hereby respectfully request a letter if dismission and recommendation for that purpose, to take effect when such church shall be duly organized and received into the fellowship of the churches. Yours in Christian Fellowship. (Signed) , 19 —250— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS Letter of Dismission for the Fokmation of a New Church. The Congregational Church of . Sends Greeting: — This certifies that , a member in good and regular standing of this Church, is at own request hereby dismissed and affection- ately recommended to unite with other Christian brethren in the organization of a new Congregational church in When membership in such church shall be completed, membership with this church will cease. Yours in Christian fellowship, (Signed) Clerk. ,19.... Application for a Letter of Dismission from ONE Church to Another. To the Church of Dear Brethren : — Being desirous of uniting with the Church of I hereby respectfully request a letter of dismission and recommendation to that church. Yours in Christian fellowship, (Signed) ClerTc. 19.... A Letterr of Dismission and Eecommendation. The Congregational Church of To the Church of Greeting : — This certifies that , a member in good and regular standing of this Church, is at own request hereby dismissed and affection- ately recommended to your fellowship and care, and, —251— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS when received by you membership with this Church will cease. By vote of the Church. " " Clerk. , 19. ... Note 1. This letter is good, as a recommendation, for one year only from its date. 2. The clerk of the church accepting this letter is re- quested to fill out the accompanying blank certificate, and return it to the above address as soon as possible. A Certificate of Eeception. To the Congregational Church of This certifies that recommended to our Christian fellowship by you, was, on the day of , 19. . . ., received into the membership of the Church of Attest, ClerJc. 19 FOEM FOR DISMISSION OF MEMBERS Who ]Desire to Unite with Organizations not in Fellow- ship with Congregational Churches. If a member of a Congregational Church insists upon withdrawing for the purpose of uniting with an organiza- tion not in fellowship with that Church, and if he be a person whose Christian life would entitle him to a letter if he would unite with another evangelical Church, he should not be dismissed coldly nor in strife, but may, by vote of the Church, be granted dismission, and given a certificate in form as follows: To Mr Dear Brother: — This will certify that your name has been upon the roll of this Church since '. , and that it has continued there until this time, as that of a member in regular standing; and that you are now dis- missed at your own request, to seek fellowship elsewhere. We should be glad to have you continue with us,^ or if you must leave to dismiss you to a church with which we —252— COMPENDIUM OF FORMS are in fellowship. But we cannot hoM you against your own will and conviction, and we will not dismiss you with otlier words than those of Christian kindness. We can- not think of you as though you had not been a member of this Church. We shall still remember you and pray lor you in a spirit of Christian fellowship. In whatever form your new membership finds expres- sion, we trust it will still retain a sincere faith in Jesus ( hrist as Saviour and Lord. If your new relations fail to afford you the spiritual benefit which you now antici- pate, we shall welcome you back. Meantime, pray for the Church of which until now you have been a member, as we now pray for you; and receive from us this parting message of Christian affection. Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, we are, The Congregational Church of By Clerk. By vote of the Church, this 19.... -253— INDEX. Address, what constitutes, 39. Adjournment, 76. Advice in special cases ; form of letter missive, 244. Advice on internal dissension ; form of letter missive, 245. Alleged grievance ; letter missive for ex-parte council, 247. Alleged grievance ; letter missive for a mutual council, 246 ; for ex-parte council, 247. Amendments, 40. Amendment, the amendment of an, 50. Annual church meetings, 98. Assemblies, government of, 19. Association, acting as council, 151-156 ; form of letter, 248-9. Association, the district, 127-145 ; churches in, 127 ; minis- ters in, 130-145 ; organization of, 129 ; incorporation of, 129; conduct of, 160-167. Blanks, filling, 51. Burial Hill Declaration, 225. Business, methods of introducing, 36. Certificate of reception. 252. Chair, see Moderator, 28-30. Chair, appeal from decision, 63. Chair, calling another member to, 30. Christian union, forms of, 202-208. Church committee, duties of, 235. Church meetings, conduct of, 96-97. Church oflacers, installation of, 225. Church universal, the, 201. Churcl>es received from other denominations, 92. Clerk, church, 234. Commit, motion to, 53. Committees, 79-81; church, 233-234. Conference, the state, 157-159; conduct of, 160-163. (^Congregational law, 21. Congregationalism, the newer, 209-213. Constitution of a church, 231-239. Corresponding members in an assembly, 33. Council, national, 178-189. Councils, ecclesiastical, 166-177. Covenant of a church, 231. Credentials, 33. Creed of 1883, 227 : Burial Hill. 225 ; a simple, 2i'0. Deacons, the installation of, 224, 225 : duties of, 235. Debate, to extend or limit, 56. Decision, necessity for quick, 30. Decision of the chair, appeal from, 63. Deposition from the ministry, 145-150. Disbanding a church, 90. Discipline, 111, 113, 238. —255— INDEX Discussion, rules governing, 85), 40. Dismission and recommendation. 251. Dismission to form new cburcli, 251. Dismission of pastor, 15G ; form of letter missive, 244. Dismission of church members, 107, 110; forms. 250-253. Dismission to unite with church to bo formed, 250. Dismission from one church to anothej;, 251. Dismission of organizations out of fellowship, 110, 252. District association, 127-150 ; conduct of, 160-164. Dividing a church, 92. Doctrine, Congregational statements of, 225-230. Dropping names from roll, 109. Ecclesiastical assemblies, government of, 20. Ex-pa rte councils, 173, 174. I'^xpulsion of church members, 113. Evangelical alliance, 202. Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, 204-208. Financial management, 98, 236. Floor, right to the, 41-44. Floor, yielding the, 41-43. Germane in an amendment, what is, 52, Grievance, council to consider, 246-7. -* Holy Catholic Church, the, 200-208. Incidental questions, 47. Incorporation of association or conference, 129. Incorporation of a church, 93. Indecorum, leave to speak after, 67. Informal meetings, organization of, 23. Installation, value of, 120. Installation, of a pastor ; form of letter missive, 243. International council, 197-199. Letters of dismission and recommendation, 107, 251. Letters without dismission, 110. Letter missive, forms of, 239-253. Libel, law of, 113 ; in case of minister, 123. Licensing of candidates, forms for, 217-219. Licensure, 128, 141, 142, 144 ; forms, 217-219. Main question and to what motions it yields, 46. Majority i-equired for election, 70. Majority rule, 105. Meetings for business, 237«. Meetings for worship. 237. Members, duties of church, 107. Membership, church, 102-115, 232, 233. Membership in an assembly, 33 ; rights and duties, 34, 35. Minister, the Congregational, 116-126. Minority, rights of, 106. Moderator, duties and privileges of, 28-30. Modifying motions, classes of, 49. Motion, withdrawal of, 62. Motions, 36-38, 40. Motions, forms of putting, 74, 75. —256— • INDEX Motions, incidental, G0-G4. Motions not amendable, 51. Name of a church, 231. National council, 178-189, 201 : membership and officers, ITU- 184 ; temporary and permanent organization, 187-181) ; constitution and rules, 181. 190-lOt;. Non-members, discussion by, 34. Objection to consideration of question, 61. Officers of deliberative bodies, 28. Officers other than moderator and scribe, 31. Officers, church, 233. Orders of the day, 60. Order, points of, 63. Ordination of minister, forms for, 220-223. Ordination of minister, 128, 143, 144, 151-155; forms, 220- 223. Oraination without installation ; form of letter missive, 242. Ordination ; form of letter missive, 241. Organization of a church, 85-89, 239. Organization of a church ; form of letter missive, 239. Organizations, church, 237. Organization of District Association, 129. Organizations, temporary and permanent, 24, 25. Parliamentary law, origin and significance, 20. Parliamentary inquiries, 62. Papers, reading of, 62. Parish or society, powers and limitations, 99-101. Pastor, duties of, 234. Pastorate, termination of, 120. Personal right, questions of, 65. Previous question, 56 : not in order in national council, 57. Privileged questions, 47, 65. Priority of business, 86. Prudential committee, 234. Postponement indefinite, 54. Postponement to a certain time, 54. Questions of privilege, 65. Question open till both sides have voted, 72. Question, the suppression of the, 61. Question : out of its proper order, 61. Quorum, 25-28. Recess, 76. Recognition of a church. 89, 240. Recognition by moderator, 41. Reconsider, motion to, 58. Refusing a letter, 108. Reputation, value of ministerial, 123. Rescind, motion to, 59. Rights of assembly, questions of, 66. Rules, to amend or suspend^ 60. Scribe, duties of, 31. Seal, corporate, 95, 239. Society or Parish, 99-101. Speaking to the question, 43. —257- INDEX Special meetlnt; of Association ; letter raissivo, 249. Special order, to make a subject a. 00. Staudard, good aud regular, U)8. Standing, ministerial, i;]?. State Conference, conduct of, 160-164. State Conference, membership, incorporation and boundaries 157-159. Status of dismissed members, 108. Subsidiarj' questions, 47. Subsidiary motions : eflfect on amendments, 51. Substitute motion, 50. Suppression of the question, 61. Table, abuse of motion to, 55. Table, to lay on, 54, Table, to take from, 56. Treasurer, church, 2.35, 236, Trials, church, 112. Tri-church Union, the, 202. Unanimous consent, 48, Unfinished business, 77. Union, forms of Christian, 202-208. Union, tri-church, 202. Uniting two churches, 91. Votes, changing, 72. Vote, making unanimous, 72. \oting, methods of, 69-71, OF THt OF —258— THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. Si.i>. 26 1932 ,^^ REC'D LD APR 231953 BBS t(66SV LD 21-50m-8,'32 TA 04/15 1^