CHAPTER I

MINISTERIAL SUPPORT

I. Stewards.

314. There shall be not less than three nor more than twenty-one Stewards in each Circuit or Station, except that in Circuits or Stations of over seven hundred members, there may be added one Steward for each additional one hundred members. After each annual election one of the Stewards shall be elected by the Quarterly Conference Recording Steward, one District Steward, one Reserve District Steward, and one Communion Steward, for each appointment. But when two or more Pastoral Charges shall be united the Stewards of the Several Pastoral Charges shall hold office until the newly created Quarterly Conference shall elect.

1315. Let the Stewards be persons of solid piety who are members of the Church in the Pastcral Charge, who both know and love Methodist Doctrine and Discipline, and are of good natural and acquired abilities to transact the temporal business of the Church.

316. The Pastor shall have the right to nominate the Stewards, but the Quarterly Conference shall confirm or reject such nominations. The Stewards elected at the Fourth Quarterly Conference unless otherwise provided by direct action of that Conference, shall enter upon the discharge of their duties on the adjournment of the next Annual Conference,

and shall hold office for one year, or until their successors are elected.

1317. The duties of Stewards are: To take an exact account of all the money or other resources received for the support of the Ministers in the Charge, and to apply the same as the Discipline directs; to make an accurate return of every expenditure of money, whether for the Ministers or the poor members of the Church; to seek the needy and distressed in order to relieve and comfort them; to inform the Ministers of any sick or disorderly persons; to tell the Ministers what they think wrong in them; to attend the Quarterly Meetings, the Official Board Meetings, and the Leaders and Stewards' Meetings of the Charge; to give advice, if asked, in planning the Circuit; to attend committees for the application of money to Churches; to give counsel in matters of arbitration; to provide the elements for the Lord's Supper; to write circular letters to the Societies in the Pastoral Charge, exhorting them to greater liberality, if need be, and urging systematic giving in accordance with Special Advice VII, and also to let them know, when occasion requires, the state of the temporal concerns of the Charge.

1318. Stewards are accountable for the faithful performance of their duties to the Quarterly Conference of the Charge, which shall have power to dismiss or change them at pleasure.

II. Ministerial Support

NOTE.- 319-322 are the same as ¶ 112 and are repeated here for the sake of clearness.

319. The Quarterly Conference of any Charge may organize and continue during its pleasure an

Official Board, to be composed of all the members of the Quarterly Conference. In the case of circuits the Quarterly Conference may organize, and continue during its pleasure, Official Boards for the several appointments of the Charge, such Official Boards to be composed of the members of the Quarterly Conference attached to the respective appointments.

1320. The Official Board shall hold its meetings monthly on a stated day. It shall be presided over by the Pastor, or, in his absence, by a Vice-Chairman regularly elected; and there shall also be chosen a Secretary who shall keep a record of its proceedings, and send the same to the fourth Quarterly Conference for approval; it shall also elect two Treasurers for each appointment, one for Current Expenses, and one for Benevolences, who shall keep a careful record of the receipts and disbursements of all moneys, and report the same at each regular monthly meeting. When so organized the Official Board may discharge the duties of the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting. When such action is taken it shall make void such provisions of the Discipline, under "Ministerial Support," as relate to the financial duties of the Stewards. ¶¶ 317, 323.

1321. The Official Board or, where no such Board is organized, the Quarterly Conference shall further organize by the selection, with the consent of the Pastor, of committees for the care of Church property, finance, music, and such other committees as may be thought necessary. The Finance Committee shall consist of not less than three nor more than seven members, whose duty it shall be before the close of the fiscal year to prepare an estimate of the current expenses and benevolences for the ensuing year. This

estimate shall include the amount necessary for ministerial support, viz.: For Pastor's salary and house rent, District Superintendent, Bishops, and Conference Claimants. Also the amount deemed necessary for current expenses, such as interest on indebtedness, heat and light, music, insurance, repairs and supplies, telephone, printing and postage, janitor, and miscellaneous items. Also for Benevolences as apportioned to each Charge by the Commission on Finance. This budget of Benevolences and Current Expenses shall be presented at a special meeting called to hear the report, or at the last monthly meeting of the fiscal year.

1322. When approved by the Official Board, or. Quarterly Conference, immediate steps shall be taken by a personal canvass of the entire membership of the Church and congregation to secure pledges to meet these by weekly payments, so that the result may be known on the last Sunday of the fiscal year, and payment of these pledges begin on the first Sunday of the new fiscal year.

III. Support of Pastors

¶323, § 1. It shall be the duty of the Quarterly Conference of each Pastoral Charge at the session immediately preceding the Annual Conference to appoint an Estimating Committee, consisting of three or more members of the Church; which committee may be authorized by vote of the Quarterly Conference to determine the minimum amount the Charge shall pay for Pastoral Support for the ensuing Conference year, and report the same to the Superintendent of the District before the next session of the Annual Conference; to which amount shall be added the

amount apportioned for the support of Conference Claimants, Bishops, and the District Superintendent; and the Stewards shall provide for raising the sum thus required, when the method prescribed in ¶¶ 319322 is not in force. In case of failure to authorize the Estimating Committee as above, or in case it may seem desirable to increase the estimate, the Committee, after conferring with the Pastor, shall report the amount of support agreed upon for that year to the first Quarterly Conference, to the action of which the report shall be subject.

§ 2. The Traveling and Moving Expenses of the Ministers shall not be included in the estimate, but shall be paid by the Stewards as a separate item.

1324. It shall be the duty of each Annual Conference, whenever practicable, to organize Conference Sustentation Fund Societies to supplement the inadequate ministerial support in those Pastoral Charges which are unable to furnish a sufficient support.

1325. Should the people among whom a Member of an Annual Conference has labored 'fail to pay him his allowance, he may present a claim for the same to the Conference, and the Conference may authorize the Conference Stewards to pay a part or all of said claim out of funds at its disposal for such purpose, and shall include in its report the name of the Pastoral Charge with the amount paid. In no case, however, shall the Church or the Conference be held accountable for a final deficiency.

IV. District Stewards and Support of District Superintendents

¶326. The duties of District Stewards are: To attend the annual District Stewards' Meeting when