CHAPTER XXIII.

TRIAL CODE OF A BISHOP

Ques. 1. To whom is a Bishop amenable for his conduct?

Ans. 1. To the General Conference which has power to try him for improper conduct and to acquit, suspend, reprimand, retire with or without salary or expel him.

Ques. 2. What provision is made for the trial of a Bishop if he be accused of immorality in the interval of the General Conference?

Ans 2. When a bishop shall be under a report or be accused of immorality, three traveling elders shall, after notice to him, carefully inquire into the case and if they believe an investigation necessary, they shall report the matter to another bishop—and it shall be his duty to call together at some convenient place not fewer than twelve (12) traveling elders— and also the witnesses by whom the accusation is expected to be established, and the said elders shall be a committee for the investigation of the charge against the Bishop.

If the majority of them believe a trial necessary, they shall suspend him until the next General Conference.

The presiding Bishop shall cause an exact record of the investigation, signed by the president and secretary, to be transmitted to the General Conference. By this record and such other testimony as may be obtained, the case shall be considered and determined by the General Conference without the intervention of another committee. But in no case shall the inquiring elders be recognized as the accusers, but the three elders afore-mentioned must act wholly upon rumors and not personal knowledge, and shall not take any further part in the case.

Ques. 3. What provision is made for the appeal of a Bishop who may be suspended during the interval of the General Conference?

Ans. 3. There shall be a court of appeals composed of fifteen (15) persons appointed as follows: Two by each Bishop and one by the fourteen (14) appointed by the Bishops—one of the Bishops shall be ex-officio president of said court. The number composing said court shall be increased at the same ratio as the number of Bishops may be increased until the number composing the court shall reach twenty-five (25), to which all appeals shall be made by the accused who may have been suspended in the interval of the General Conference; said court shall have the power to sustain the action of the investigating committee, reverse and remand, or reverse and dismiss. In all cases their decisions shall be final except when the action of the investigating committee is sustained by it.

In said excepted case, the suspension remains until the ensuing General Conference.

The Bishop appointed to preside over said court is hereby authorized, upon the receipt of an appeal, from the decision of any committee of investigation, to cause to be appointed the fifteen (15) members as above stated, which said number will sit as an appellate court as before stated at a place most convenient to all parties concerned.

But should an appeal reach the Bishop within three months of the sitting of the General Conference, the court shall not be convened—but the case takes its regular course.

Ques. 4. What provision is made for the trial of a Bishop if he should be accused during the session of the General Conference?

Ans. 1. An accusation preferred during the session of the General Conference shall be referred for investigation to a committee of twenty-five (25) members of the General Conference to be selected by the president. Of this number, the accused shall have the right of challenge for fifteen (15) of the twenty-five (25) appointed by the Bishop or president—and the committee shall report to the General Conference whether or not a trial is necessary.

If the committee of investigation decides that a trial is necessary, they shall formulate charges and specifications conforming them with the grade of offense involved in the accusation and shall appoint one or more of their number to prosecute the case.

The bill of charges and specifications shall be a part of the report of the committee to the General Conference. Every case to be tried under this process, shall, upon finding of a bill of charges, be referred to the Committee on Episcopacy, who shall have full power to try the case and whose decision shall be final save as to the right of appeal.

The said committee shall make a written report to the General Conference and deliver to the secretary the whole record of the case with the decision rendered.

2. A Bishop who shall be found guilty by the committee on Episcopacy shall have the right to appeal to the General Conference then in session which shall finally determine the case.

3. No charge against a Bishop shall be tried unless it be made in writing with specifications signed by the accusers—and a copy of the charge with the specifications shall be delivered to the accused in sufficient time before the trial to enable him to make all necessary preparation for his defense.