The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-06-04
SPECIAL REPORT ON LAY REPREsEET-
rrTf1N


ence OF 1OOU expressed lCS WlIlInsueS
to admit lay delegates to the General
Conference whenever -the people
should desire II; and
WHEREAS, The General Confer
ence. Of 1864 c0ncurred. IN that action;
therefore 5fsi
* PesoiuSd. TRat we also concur in
the same, and recommend the follow
ing plan to the g0diy consideration OF
our ministers and people! or
tsHIOhaDge the Discipline, p. p. 45.
part2,a chapter I !, section l, SO that it
shall read as follows; 9Gi
IF QaesttOn--W no shall compose the
observation-disclosures, and what are the
regulatioDsand powers belonging TO It'll
1StAYC.LThe General Conference
shall be composed Of ministerial and
lay delegates. The ministerial dele
gates shall consist OF one member for
every thirty members of each Annual
Conference, to be appointed either by
seniority or choice, at the discretion
of such Annual Conference; yet so
that representatives shall have traV-
I eled at least four full calendar years
from the time that they were re-
ceived on trial by an Annual Confer
ence. and are in full connection at the
time of holding of the Conference.
"The lay delegates shall consist of
two laymeu for each Annual Confer
ence. except such Conferences as have
but one ministerial delegate, which
Conferences shall be entitled to one
lay delegate. The lay delegates shall
be chosen by an electoral conference
of laytnen, which shall assemble for
u IL l.. 4 i. IL
session of the Annual Conference, at
the place Of its meeting at its session
imnedia tely preceding the General
Conference.
The Electoral Conference shall be
composed of one layman from each
circuit or station within the bounds
of the Annual Conference; and on
assembling, the Electoral Conference
shall organize by electing Chairman
and Secretary of their own number,
such laymen 60 be chosen by the last
Quarterly Conference preceding the
time Of its assembling.
'.Pr0Uitled, That no layman shall be
chosen delegate either to the Electo-
raj or General Conference who shall
be under twenty-five years Of age, or
who shall not have been a member of
the Church in full connection for five
years preceding the election.
Aiteranswer 3, as follows, page 40.
Answer 9. AT all times when the
General Conference met it shall
take tWO-thirds Of the whole number
of ministerial aud lay delegates to
form a quorum for transactlng busl-
ness.
? q The ministerial and lay delegates
shall SIT and deliberate together as
one body, but they shall vote sepa-
rately Whenever such separate vote
shall be demanded by one-third of
either order, End in such case the
concurrent vote Of both orders shall
be necessary to complete an action
!" Reso'ved, That during the month
of june 1860, on any day except the
Sabbath, at such time as shall be de-
termined upon by the pastor and two
laymen appointed by the Quarterly
Conference, there shall be held a
general election In the several places
of worship of the NJ E. Church, at
which all members Ia full connect on,
and not less than twenty one years eff
age, shall be invited to vote by ballot
For lay delegation or Against lay
delegation. .'''t-sov
51,'This section shall be held under
the direction of the preacher In
charge and two laymen appointed for
tie purpose by the Quarterly Confer
ence, who shall see that due notice
shall be given thereof for at least
twenty days before the election, and
who shall superintend all the details
of the election. They shall report
the result within ten days after the
election to the Presiding Elder of the
district, who shall report the same 10
the Bishop at the ensuing Annual
Conference, to be entered upon the
Conference journals.
Il shall be the duty of the Bish-
ops presiding at the several annual
Conferences, at their first session
after the above elections, to lay be-
fore these bodies the following pro-
posed amendment to the second re-
strictive rule; so that as amended it
shall read, they shall not allow of
more than one ministerial member
for every fourteen members of the
annual Conferences, nor less num-
Der than one for every forty FIVE, nor
more than two lay delegates tor any
annual Conference
4" ResOlred, That should a majority
of the votes cast by the people be in
favor of lay delegation, and should
three -fourths of all the members of
the annual Conferences present and
voting thereon vote in favor of the
above proposed change in the consti-
tuition of the Church, then the Gen
eral Conference meeting In 1872, by
the requisite tWo-thirds vote, may
complete the change, and the lay del