USA > Indiana > Discipline of Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends : being the constitution and discipline of the American Yearly Meeting of Friends; with the additions adopted by Indiana Yearly Meeting > Part 5
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As Master of the Assembly, the Lord directs and leads the profitable exercises of His congregation.
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He calls and qualifies whom He will to be the bearer of His message, and the individual believer should hold himself in obedient submission to His will. The occasions of public worship are divinely ap- pointed for the edification of believers in the truth, and for the proclamation of fresh and vital mes- sages of salvation to the world.
CHAPTER III.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
It has pleased the Head of the Church to make use of human instrumentalities in the accomplish- ment of His purposes ; to this end He continues to bestow special gifts upon certain members of the body, for the propagation of the Gospel ; for the per- fecting of believers; and for the edifying and strengthening of the whole body in faith and life and power. The exercise of these gifts is a po- tent means by which the Church brings the truth to the individual consciousness, interprets and pro- claims its message, and reveals its scope and pur- pose. There are varieties of gifts in the ministry, and in a properly organized body provision is made for the exercise and development of them all. It is not easy to draw a sharp distinction between the different types of ministry; frequently they are united in one person, who is thus peculiarly qual- ified for helpful service.
There is a gift for the ministry of instruction and of exposition, or of teaching the truth. Those who possess this gift are enabled to contribute in dif-
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The Church and its Denominations
ferent degrees to the establishment of the member- ship, and to the expansion of the conception of di- vine things. This ministry of teaching requires a balanced, trained and well-stored mind, and the consecration of that mind to the service of Him who is the Truth.
There is a gift of speaking to states and needs of individuals, and of congregations. This prophetic ministry is characterized by its spiritual vision, the self-evidence of its message and its fitness for the situation. It is a gift of seeing truth immediately, and of effectively teaching it to others.
There is a gift for exhortion, which is an abili- ity for making an appeal to the hearts of men, and for stirring them to a sense of God's love and of His purposes for man-the power of moving and convicting souls; those who possess this gift are peculiarly fitted for evangelistic work.
There is also the pastoral gift, which consists especially in ability to do personal work with indi- viduals or with families. This gift fits the posses- sor of it to comfort those who mourn, to lead the members into a closer religious life, to arouse in the young an interest in the things of the Spirit, and to impress others with a sense of the scope and reality of the spiritual life. It is the gift of shep- herding and feeding the flock.
The Church cannot make or appoint ministers; it can only recognize gifts where they exist and properly provide for their exercise and development as a sacred bestowal of the Head of the Church.
PART II THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER I.
SECTION 1 .- THE DENOMINATION OF THE FRIENDS.
The denomination of the Friends is composed of Yearly Meetings, with their subordinate branches, in Great Britain, Ireland, the United States and Canada; and those members who are variously situated in other parts of the world. The bond of union is maintained by annual correspondence be- tween them; by issuing and receiving the creden- tials of ministers for special service; by granting and receiving certificates of membership in cases of removal, and by joint participation in religious and benevolent enterprises. Each Yearly Meeting is independent in the transaction of its business. Those Yearly Meetings which unite in this Consti- tution and Discipline, and, under its provisions, delegate certain authority to the Five Years Meet- ing, retain their original independence, and, in its exercise, grant the powers hereinafter described. Each Yearly Meeting retains the authority to adopt additional disciplinary regulations not inconsistent herewith. Such portions of this Constitution and Dis- cipline as have no application to the existing conditions of any particular Yearly Meeting shall be null therein.
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SECTION 2.
1. The Friends recognize and emphasize the fundamental and essential truth that Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church; that He dwells in the hearts of His believers; that, as they look for His guidance, their understandings are enlightened and they are enabled to do His will. Associated with this is the further truth that the Head of the Church is pleased to confer upon each believer some espec- ial gift or gifts which he is to exercise with such ability as may be possessed. Members have equal rights and privileges in the denomination, modi- fied only by the gifts they have received and their faithfulness in the exercise thereof. It is therefore both theocratic and democratic in the principle of its government.
2. Positions in the organization relating to spiritual matters result from the official recognition of these gifts by the body rather than from ap- pointment to office. Appointments are made to other positions. Each member has duties to per- form and responsibilities to meet, and the business of the organization is conducted in recognition of this equality of rank in the membership, with the further recognition of the special gifts.
3. There are no distinctions in the rights, priv- ileges or responsibilities of the members because of sex.
4. The business of the organization is trans- acted in meetings, in which every member of the body has a right to participate. These meetings,
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in some instances, delegate authority in certain mat- ters to other meetings composed of those who oc- cupy specified positions or who have been appointed for the special service.
CHAPTER II.
MEMBERSHIP.
The Friends admit into membership all who make a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose lives testify to their union with Him, and who ac- cept the doctrines of the Gospel as held by The Friends. The children of members are enrolled as Associate members. They are thus recognized, not because their birthright can of itself make them members of the body of Christ, for they can only become such by experiencing the new birth by the Holy Spirit, but because of the promises in the Holy Scriptures to believers and their households, and the conviction that true Christians will so make their children the objects of living prayer, and will so instruct them in the Gospel and go with them to the Throne of Grace, that they will surrender their hearts to God in their youth, and early take a natural and living interest in the Church as they do in the family. Persons thus enrolled as Asso- ciate members shall be enrolled as Active members of the Church when they shall have made a credi- ble profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Sav- iour and Lord, and shall have accepted the doctrines of the Gospel as held by The Friends. If the mem- ber does not make such profession when he reaches
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matured years, his name may be dropped from the list of members, at the discretion of the Monthly Meeting. Where but one parent is a member the children may be enrolled as Associate members upon the request of that parent and with the con- sent of the other.
CHAPTER III.
A MEETING.
A congregation of members is called a meeting or a church. It is under the supervision of minis- ters and elders as to its spiritual interests, and of overseers as to the moral conduct of the members. These are officers of the Monthly Meeting of which the particular meeting forms a part.
The business affairs of a congregation are cared for by the regular officers and by such committees as may be appointed by the Monthly Meeting for this purpose from the members of the congregation. Monthly Meetings may establish a business meet- ings for a particular congregation when its local interests make such meeting advisable.
CHAPTER IV.
MEETINGS FOR BUSINESS .- CLERKS.
The clerk, or presiding officer, of a business meet- ing has the care of its business, which he lays be- fore it for consideration and determines what con- clusion the meeting reaches. In a meeting for bus- iness it should be the chief desire to ascertain what may be the mind of the Lord, and the clerks should be chosen with a special reference to their sound
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judgment and gift of spiritual discernment, and their ability to determine what is the will of the meeting as indicated by the expression made. Clerks should be familiar with the usages of the denomination and with all its departments of work. The clerk shall keep a faithful record of the pro- ceedings of the meeting, and he shall fur- nish copies of necessary portions of such rec- ords to persons authorized, under the appoint- ment of the same or any superior meeting, to ask for them. He shall sign on the meeting's behalf all official documents put forth by it. Meetings which may desire to continue the ancient practice of holding separate business meetings of men and women are at liberty to do so, appointing separate clerks from their number. In all business meetings such assistant clerks may be appointed as may be found advisable.
CHAPTER V.
SECTION 1 .- MONTHLY MEETINGS.
1. A Monthly Meeting is a regular organiza- tion of one or more congregations, and consists of all those persons who are entitled to be recorded upon its list of members. It is charged with the government of the body, according to the Consti- tution and Discipline, and has authority to receive and dismiss members; to discipline offenders; to grant appeals; to consider and act upon all ques- tions affecting the membership; to hold and admin- ister real estate and other property for the use of the Church; and to adopt and carry out measures
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for the improvement of the spiritual interests of the body. It meets monthly for the transaction of business; once in three months it reports, in an ab- stract of its minutes, such business as should be laid before the Quarterly Meeting of which it forms a part and to which it is subordinate, and to attend which it may appoint two or more representatives.
2. Each member has a right to participate in the business of the Monthly Meeting.
3. A Monthly Meeting is duly organized for the transaction of business when it has been estab- lished by a superior meeting and has appointed a clerk to have charge of its business.
4. All officers appointed by the meeting shall hold their positions until their successors are ap- pointed.
SECTION 2 .- CLERK.
The clerk of a Monthly Meeting shall be appoint- ed by the meeting on the nomination of a committee named for the purpose. He shall forward to the Quarterly Meeting such business as requires its attention, and such abstracts of the minutes of the Monthly Meeting as may be necessary. * He shall keep ( in a book printed for the purpose and provided by the Yearly Meeting ) a correct record of the membership, including all births, mar- riages, deaths and transfers, and he shall annually furnish the Quarterly Meeting such statistical in- formation as the Yearly Meeting may direct, includ- ing the recording, deaths and transfers of ministers.
*The clerk should forward his reports to the Quarterly Meeting clerk one week before the Quarterly Meeting.
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Where found desirable, a recorder may be appointed to assist the clerk in keeping these records.
SECTION 3 .- MINISTERS AND ELDERS.
Ministers and elders are charged with the over- sight and care of the spiritual interests of their va- rious congregations. The choice of these is based upon moral character and the possession of spir- itual gifts and qualifications. They are designated for their positions by the Monthly Meetings in the manner prescribed in chapters VII. and VIII., Part II.
SECTION 4 .- OVERSEERS.
1. The Monthly Meeting shall choose every three years, through the nomination of a committee, two or more faithful and judicious persons for each separate congregation to serve as overseers. It shall be their duty to exercise watchful care and af- fectionate oversight for the maintenance of a con- sistent moral life by the members of the meeting; to extend care and reproof in all cases of disobe- dience, disorder, or any conduct unbecoming to a Christian, and to restore, if possible, such offen- ders to an orderly life and to full fellowship with the meeting.
2. If due care and labor in this direction prove ineffectual, it becomes their duty to enter complaint to the Monthly Meeting against such offenders.
SECTION 5 .- TREASURER.
Each Monthly Meeting shall annually appoint a treasurer, who shall receive and disburse funds as
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directed by the meeting, keep a regular account of the money so received and paid, and make an annual report to the Monthly Meeting.
SECTION 6 .- CORRESPONDENTS.
Each Monthly Meeting shall appoint a corre- spondent to authenticate* documents issued by it to other meetings, and to attend to such correspondence as the meeting may direct. Information of the appoint- ment of correspondents is to be forwarded to the Yearly Meeting.
SECTION 7 .- THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
Each Monthly Meeting shall appoint three or more of its members to serve as a Board of Trustees. It shall be the duty of the trustees to hold and manage all real estate and personal property belonging to the meeting, to keep all deeds legally recorded, to guard all property from injury or improper use, to preserve all important records and documents, and to make an annual report to the Monthly Meeting. Where Monthly Meetings are incorporated under State laws their property will necessarily be held and administered in accordance therewith. Yearly Meetings may provide for the holding and trans- ferring of real estate and other property by their own trustees.
SECTION 8 .- FINANCE COMMITTEE.
The Monthly Meeting shall annually appoint a Finance Committee to superintend the raising and
*And forward.
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expending of funds, and to provide for the inci- dental expenses of the Monthly Meeting and its congregation .* There may be a separate committee for each congregation where found desirable.
SECTION 9 .- PASTORAL COMMITTEE.
The ministers, elders and overseers of each con- gregation constitute its Pastoral Committee. The Monthly Meeting may also appoint other members to co-operate with them in this work. (See Chapter I., Part IV.)
SECTION 10 .- OTHER COMMITTEES.
Monthly Meetings shall appoint such other com- mittees as the interests of the various departments of their work may require.
SECTION 11 .- REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE CHURCH.
Each Monthly Meeting shall annually report to the Quarterly Meeting preceding the Yearly Meet- ing upon the spiritual condition of its membership and its meetings, basing its report upon those re- ceived from its congregations, and covering the points named in the clause relating thereto .**
CHAPTER VI.
NEW FIELDS OF WORK.
1. When a new field of work has been entered upon by the members of a congregation, and has
*And audit the Treasurer's accounts.
** See also paragraph 8, page 101.
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progressed beyond their individual care, it should be under the care of the Monthly Meeting, and new meetings for worship be established when advis- able.
2. When a Monthly Meeting shall deem it ad- visable for a new Monthly Meeting to be establish- ed within its limits, it shall send a proposition there- for to the Quarterly Meeting, which shall appoint a committee to consider the subject and report. If the Quarterly Meeting approves the proposition it shall establish the meeting and report its action to the Yearly Meeting. Where the meeting to be established is composed of members of two or more Monthly Meetings, the consent of each shall be ob- tained.
3. Monthly Meetings, through their Quarterly Meetings, have authority to petition Yearly Meet- ings to establish, or to discontinue, or to divide a Quarterly Meeting, or to unite two or more Quar- terly Meetings.
CHAPTER VII.
SECTION 1 .- RECORDING OF MINISTERS.
1. When a member, man or woman, has spoken as a minister (see Gifts in the Ministry) so that the meeting is edified and spiritually helped there- by, the Local Meeting on Ministry and Oversight is carefully to consider whether he has received from the Head of the Church a gift in the ministry which should be officially recognized. Persons may occasionally speak to edification, or engage in exhortation, or give testimony to their experience,
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Constitution and Discipline
or offer vocal prayer with evidence of spiritual power without having, necessarily, received a spec- ial gift in the ministry. When the Local Meeting on Ministry and Oversight is satisfied that a mem- ber has received a gift in the ministry, it shall send the information to the Quarterly Meeting on Min- istry and Oversight for its judgment. Upon re- ceiving such information the said Quarterly Meet- ing shall appoint a committee to consider the sub- ject; to obtain information as to the evidence that the person has received spiritual gifts; as to his manner of life; his doctrinal views; his mental ca- pacity ; and his general qualifications for the min- istry. The committee shall report its judgment to the Quarterly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight, and if this meeting concurs in the action of the Lo- cal Meeting, it shall inform the Monthly Meeting of which the person is a member. The Monthly Meeting shall then act in the case according to its judgment. If it concludes that the person's gift should be acknowledged, it shall ask the concur- rence of the Quarterly Meeting, and without such concurrence the name shall not be recorded. When a minister is duly recorded by a Monthly Meeting the clerk shall notify the Local Meeting on Min- istry and Oversight, and the secretary of the Evan- gelistic and Church Extension Board of the Five Years Meeting, giving the full name and address of the minister.
2. When a Monthly Meeting is informed by the Quarterly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight that in its judgment a minister has lost his gift in the
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ministry and usefulness in his station, if the judg- ment be concurred in, his recognition as a minister shall be rescinded by the Monthly Meeting.
SECTION 2 .- LIBERATING MINISTERS.
When a minister believes that he is called of God to ministerial service outside his Quarterly Meeting, the following course shall be pursued :
1. If the proposed service lies within the lim- its of the Yearly Meeting of which he is a member, the minister shall bring the concern before the Mon- thly Meeting, and request a certificate of its unity and concurrence. The Monthly Meeting may grant the certificate, defining the nature and field of the service. Special service may be undertaken under the direction of the Evangelistic and Church Ex- tension Committee of the Yearly Meeting without a certificate.
2. If the proposed service lies within another American Yearly Meeting, and the Monthly Meet- ing unites and concurs, it shall transmit a written statement of the nature and field of the proposed service, and of its unity and concurrence therein, to the Quarterly Meeting. If that body also ap- proves, it shall grant the minister requesting it a certificate of the fact, defining the nature and field of the service, and expressing the unity and concur- rence therein of the Monthly Meeting. When, in exceptional cases, time does not permit of the action of the Quarterly Meeting, the certificate of the Monthly Meeting may be forwarded to the clerk of the Quarterly Meeting, who shall confer with
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the clerk of the Quarterly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight, and if they approve of the proposed ser- vice, they shall endorse the certificate, and such endorsement shall give the necessary authority for the service. These clerks shall report their action, with the attendant circumstances, to their respec- tive meetings.
3. If the proposed service lies beyond the limits of the American Yearly Meetings, the Monthly Meeting concurring shall transmit to the Quarterly Meeting, and the Quarterly Meeting to the Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight, and the Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight to the Yearly Meeting, a written statement of the nature and the field of service and their concurrence therein. If the Yearly Meeting also concurs in the service it shall grant the minister a suitable certificate therefor, de- fining the nature of the field thereof, and the unity and concurrence therein of each of the meetings which have considered the subject.
4. When time will not permit the consideration of the Quarterly Meeting's certificate by the Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight and the Yearly Meeting, the certificate shall be forwarded to the clerk of the Permanent Board of the Yearly Meet- ing, who shall lay the subject before a regular or a special meeting of that body. The unity of the Board with the proposed service and its approval, indorsed upon the certificate of the Quarterly Meet- ing by the clerk, and countersigned by the corre- spondent of the Yearly Meeting, shall give the neces- sary authority for entering upon the service.
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5. In every case where a certificate for a minis- terial service is granted, the clerk and the corre- spondent of the meeting finally granting it shall sign the same, and this meeting shall see that the minister is properly provided with means for the accomplishment of the service.
6. When a minister or other worker in any Year- ly Meeting desires to engage in special pastoral or evangelistic service within the limits of another Yearly Meeting, he shall lay the matter before his Monthly Meeting as for other service. If that meeting grants him a certificate, he shall submit it to the Evangelistic and Church Extension Com- mittee of his own Yearly Meeting; if, after due con- sideration by the committee, his standing and qual- ifications appear to offer no hindrance to his enter- ing upon the proposed service, the committee is to furnish him with a written statement to this effect. In the performance of this service he shall work in harmony with the authorities intrusted with such matters in the Yearly Meeting where his ser- vice is performed.
Where the service shall continue for a longer period than six months the minister should apply to his Monthly Meeting for a certificate transfer- ring his membership to the Monthly Meeting with- in which his service is located.
7. When a minister has been engaged in pas- toral or evangelistic service in any locality, and the Local Meeting on Ministry and Oversight becomes satisfied that his services are no longer profitable, it shall officially notify the Monthly Meeting of its
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judgment, and that meeting shall act as it may deem best. If it concurs in the judgment the minister shall discontinue all service in the locality where he has been engaged, and the reason for such action shall be given to the meeting of which the minis- ter is a member, if he so requests.
8. All certificates for ministerial service shall, after the performance of the labor, be seasonably returned to the meeting or meetings that granted them.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE APPOINTMENT OF ELDERS.
1. The Monthly Meetings shall annually appoint a committee of three to co-operate with a committee of the Local Meeting on Ministry and Oversight, in proposing for the station of Elder, persons who, in their judgment, possess the proper gifts and qualifications therefor. When these nominations are received by the Monthly Meeting it may pro- ceed with their appointment. There shall be not fewer than three Elders in each Monthly Meeting, who shall each serve .for the term of three years, and, as nearly as possible, one-third of their number shall be appointed each year.
2. Ministers and Elders are associated in the spiritual care of the flock, and they should jointly feel the responsibility of the spiritual condition of the membership and the congregation. Elders are to co-operate with, encourage and strengthen the ministers, in both ministerial and pastoral work, fa- cilitate their labors, promote their usefulness, have
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an oversight of the public ministrations of the Gos- pel, assist therein as the spiritual needs of the con- gregation may require, and extend such advice and counsel to ministers as circumstances may demand. Elders should have quick spiritual discernment for the proper performance of their duties; a good un- derstanding of the Scriptures and of the doctrines of the Christian religion, and a knowledge of the po- sition and purposes of our branch of the Church. They are tenderly to encourage those who may take any part in public meetings for worship and who give evidence of true spiritual exercise, and they are to restrain such as do not give such evidence. They are prayerfully to seek to discern the spirit- ual gifts that any may receive and to encourage their exercise and development in every proper way. They are to see that opportunities for such exer- cise are conveniently afforded. Feeling the weight of the responsibilities resting upon them, Elders will be prayerful in the active performance of their duties, and it is helpful to have them give public endorsement to the ministry, as way may open therefor, when the truth has been satisfac- torily presented.
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