of, due regard being had to the rights and interests of all concerned, either by a Judicial Conference called by said Bishop from neighboring foreign Conferences, or by a Judicial Conference called by him to meet at or near New York, or by the General Conference through a special Appellate Committee appointed for the purpose.

¶ 298. When the case of any Minister who has been suspended or expelled is remanded for a new trial, his suspension from all ministerial functions shall continue until the next ensuing session of the Annual Conference.

¶299. Should a Member of an Annual Conference be suspended by a Committee of Investigation in the interval between the sessions of his Conference, and subsequently be found guilty by his Conference and expelled, his claim upon the funds of the Conference shall cease from the time of his suspension. Should

a Member of an Annual Conference be suspended and afterward be restored, he shall have no claim upon the Pastoral Charge nor upon the funds of the Conference during the period of such suspension.

1300. The General Conference, on appeal, or on Complaint, shall carefully review the decisions of Questions of Law contained in the records and documents transmitted to it from Judicial Conferences; and in case of serious error therein, shall take such action as justice may require. The papers submitted shall be returned by the Secretary of the Committee on Judiciary to the Chairman of the Delegation of the Annual Conference of which the accused is a Member.

CHAPTER IX

RESTORATION OF CREDENTIALS

I. When Voluntarily Surrendered

¶ 301. When an ordained Minister of any class who is in good standing shall surrender his Credentials for any reason, the Annual Conference at any subsequent time may restore the same upon the recommendation of the District or Quarterly Conference of the Charge in which he has membership as a Local Preacher.

II. When Involuntarily Surrendered

1302. When a Member of an Annual Conference by expulsion or otherwise shall have been deprived of his Credentials, they shall be filed with the papers of his Conference; and in case the said Member has come to us from another Church, so that he holds the certificate of our Church and his original credentials indorsed by our Church, he shall be required to surrender to his Conference both the certificate of our Church and the original Credentials bearing our indorsement. If at any future time he shall give satisfactory evidence to said Annual Conference of his amendment, and procure a certificate from the Quarterly Conference of the Charge in which he resides, or from an Annual Conference which may have received him on Trial, recommending to the Annual Conference of which he was formerly a Member the

restoration of his Credentials, the said Annual Conference may restore them.

¶303. When a Local Elder or Deacon shall have been expelled or deprived of his Ministerial Office, the District Superintendent shall require of him the Credentials of his ordination, to be filed with the papers of the Annual Conference within the bounds of which the expulsion has taken place. Should he, at any future time, produce to the Annual Conference a certificate of his restoration, signed by the President and countersigned by the Secretary of his Quarterly Conference, his Credentials may be restored to him.

CHAPTER X

APPEAL OF A LOCAL PREACHER

¶304. In case of conviction, a Local Preacher shall be allowed to appeal to the next Annual Conference; provided, that within thirty days after his conviction he shall signify in writing to the President or Secretary of the District or Quarterly Conference by which he was tried, his determination to appeal; and the said Annual Conference, in full session, or by a Select Number of not less than nine nor more than fifteen shall hear the appeal. If the hearing be by a Select Number, the Appellant shall have the right of peremptory challenge. The decision of said Annual Conference shall be the final determination of the case, subject only to an appeal to the General Conference by either party on Questions of Law.

¶305. An appeal by a Local Preacher from a Quarterly Conference within the jurisdiction of a Mission shall be to the Annual Meeting of the said Mission.

CHAPTER XI

APPEAL OF A CHURCH MEMBER-COURT OF APPEALS

¶ 306, § 1. At the Fourth Quarterly Conference of each year each Pastoral Charge shall select from among the members of the Church one person of experience and sound judgment in the affairs of the Church, who shall be known as a Trier of Appeals for Members.

§ 2. When due notice of appeal has been given to the Superintendent of any 'District, he shall proceed, with due regard to the wishes and rights of the Appellant, to convene a Court of Appeals, which shall be constituted of such of the Triers of Appeals on his District as he shall summon, the number so summoned by him to be not more than fifteen nor less than nine; but the Trier of Appeals of the Charge to which the accused member belongs shall not be one of the number so summoned. The District Superintendent shall give not less than ten nor than thirty days' notice of the time and place at which the Court of Appeals will assemble, and such notice shall be given to all concerned. The Appellant shall have the right of peremptory challenge; provided, that the Triers of Appeals present and ready to proceed with the hearing shall not fall below seven, which number shall constitute a quorum. The District Superintendent shall preside.

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§ 3. Said Court of Appeals shall be competent to hear appeals which may be presented to it from any

Pastoral Charge on the District, due notice having been given to all concerned.

§ 4. If the District Superintendent shall find the convening of such a Court to be impracticable, or seriously inconvenient to the parties involved, with due regard to the rights and wishes of the Appellant, he shall have the appeal heard by a Quarterly Conference within his District; in which case no one who was in any way connected with the trial shall sit as a member of the Quarterly Conference, to hear the appeal.

[307. Any member of the Church against whom judgment is rendered by a Committee on Trial, may appeal from such judgment to the Court of Appeals for Members as herein before constituted, by giving written notice of his intention to the Preacher in Charge and to the District Superintendent within thirty days after said judgment is rendered.

CHAPTER XII

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

I. Testimony and Notice

308, § 1. The testimony of a witness who is not a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church shall not be rejected on that account.

§ 2. The testimony of an absent witness may be taken before the Preacher in Charge where such witness resides, or before a Preacher appointed by the District Superintendent of the District within which such witness resides; provided, that sufficient notice