USA > Maryland > A compilation containing the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of Maryland; > Part 1
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copy2 BX 5957 ·M3A5 1898
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CHAP
BX5957
SHELF .. MBA5
1898
copy 2 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
9-165
121
DELIVERED
TO THE
JUN 14 1898
١٠
A COMPILATION
CONTAINING THE
Constitution and Canons
OF THE
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH
IN THE
Diocese of Maryland;
SELECTED CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION ; RESOLUTIONS, ETC. :
AND
LAWS OF MARYLAND
RELATING TO
RELIGIOUS MATTERS.
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONVENTION. .
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OFFICE OF
CUSHING & CO .; E. ALLEN LYCETT.
MAT 23 1898
BALTIMORE. Reg
1898.
& Copyrights
TWO COPIES RECEIVED.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON
BX5957 M3A5 1898 copy 2
EXTRACT from the Journal of the Convention of 1897, p. 39.
On motion of Mr. Joseph Packard, Jr., the following Resolution was adopted :
Resolved, That a special committee of two Clergymen and three Laymen learned in the law, be appointed to prepare and publish in an inexpensive form, an edition of seven hundred copies of a new Compilation of Canons, Laws, Rules, Forms, etc., on the same general plan as the existing Com- pilation ; that the copyright of such Compilation be secured in the name of the Convention, and that the Treasurer be instructed to make such arrange- ments for its sale as he may think best.
The Bishop named as the Committee : the Rev. W. S. Southgate, D. D., the Rev. C. Buel and Messrs. Joseph Packard, Jr., E. N. Rich and D. M. Thomas.
COPYRIGHTED 1898,
BY THE
CONVENTION OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
BALTIMORE: HANZSCHE & Co., PRINTERS, 2 LIGHT STREET.
P
The Declaration of Rights.
A Declaration of certain Fundamental Rights and Liberties of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maryland.
Whereas, by the Constitution and Form of Government of this State -"All persons, professing the Christian Religion, are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty, and no person, by any law, (or otherwise) ought to be molested in his person, or estate, on account of his religious persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice ; unless, under color of religion, any man shall disturb the good order, peace, or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights :" And whereas, the ecclesiastical and spiritual independence of the different religious Denominations, Societies, Congregations and Churches of Christians in this State, necessarily follows from, or is included in, their civil independence :
Wherefore, we the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maryland, (heretofore denominated the Church of England, as by law established,) with all duty to the civil authority of the State, and with all love and good will to our fellow Christians of every other religious r Denomination, do hereby declare, make known and claim the following, as certain of the fundamental Rights and Liberties inherent in, and belonging to, the said Episcopal Church, not only of common right, but agreeably to the express words, spirit and design, of the Consti- tution and Form of Government aforesaid, viz :
I. We consider it as the undoubted right of the said Protestant Episcopal Church, in common with other Christian Churches under the American Revolution, to complete and preserve herself as an entire Church, agreeably to her ancient usages and profession, and to have the full enjoyment and free exercise of those purely spiritual powers, which are essential to the being of every Church or Congre- gation of the faithful, and which, being derived only from CHRIST and His Apostles, are to be maintained, independent of every foreign, or other, jurisdiction, so far as may be consistent with the civil rights of society.
II. That ever since the Reformation, it hath been the received doc- trine, of the Church whereof we are members, (and which, by the Con- stitution of this State, is entitled to the perpetual enjoyment of certain property and rights under the denomination of the Church of Eng- land,) "That there be these three orders of Ministers in CHRIST's
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THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.
Church ; Bishops, Priests and Deacons," and that an Episcopal Ordi- nation and Commission are necessary, to the valid administration of the Sacraments, and the due exercise of the Ministerial Functions, in the said Church.
III. That, without calling in question the Rights, Modes and Forms, of any other Christian Churches or Societies, or wishing the least con- test with them on that subject, we consider and declare it to be an essential right of the said Protestant Episcopal Church, to have and enjoy the continuance of the said three Orders of Ministers forever, so far as concerns matters purely spiritual ; and that no persons, in the character of Ministers, except such as are in the communion of said Church and duly called to the Ministry by regular Episcopal Ordina- tion, can or ought to be admitted into, or enjoy, any of the " Churches, Chapels, Glebes, or other property," formerly belonging to the Church of England, in this State, and which, by the Constitution and Form of Government, is secured to the said Church forever, by whatsoever name she, the said Church, or her superior Order of Ministers, may, in future, be denominated.
IV. That, as it is the right, so it will be the duty, of the said Church, when duly organized, constituted and represented, in a Synod or Con- vention of the different Orders of her Ministry and People, to revise her Liturgy, Forms of Prayer, and Publick Worship, in order to adapt the same to the late Revolution, and other local circumstances of America : which, it is humbly conceived, may and will be done, with- out any other or farther departure from the venerable Order and beautiful Forms of Worship of the Church from whence we sprung, than may be found expedient in the change of our situation from a Daughter to a Sister Church.
The foregoing Declaration was made in a Convention of the Clergy of this Church, held at Annapolis, on the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord 1183 ; and recognized and confirmed in Conven- tion of the Clergy and Lay Delegates, at Easton, on the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1:90 ; £ And signed,
WILLIAM WEST, President.
Attest, JOHN BISSETT, Secretary.
NOTE .- This Declaration appears to the Committee to bear the same relation to the Constitution of the Church in Maryland, as the " Declaration of Rights" of the State does to the Constitution of the State. It was con- firmed at the same time that the present Constitution was adopted, and has never been repealed.
Constitution.
ARTICLE 1. There shall be a Convention of the Protestant Episco- pal Church in this Diocese,1 on the last Wednesday in May, in every year, in such places as shall be determined by the Convention. Where the next Thursday shall be Ascension Day, the Convention shall meet on the Wednesday of the preceding week.2
ART. 2. The Convention shall be composed of Clergymen and Laymen. The Bishop and Assistant Bishop,3 if there be one, shall have a seat and vote in the Convention. Every Clergyman of this Church, of whatever Order, being a settled Minister of some Parish or separate Congregation, acknowledged as such by this Convention, within this Diocese ; or, being a president, professor, tutor or instructor in some college, academy, or seminary of learning, incorporated by law ; or being a missionary, under the direction of the ecclesiastical authority of this Diocese, shall be entitled to a seat and vote in Con- vention, if he has been canonically resident within this Diocese for the space of six calendar months next before the meeting of the Convention ;- Provided, that no Clergyman, who has been once entitled to a seat in Convention, shall lose his right to a seat therein, by reason of his having ceased, on account of age or infirm health, to have charge of a Parish or to be in the service of a college, academy or seminary of learning, or to be a missionary as aforesaid.
The Laymen shall consist of one Delegate from each Parish and separate Congregation,4 chosen by the Vestry thereof, or, if there be no Vestry, by the Congregation, from among the parishioners ;- Provided, that every Parish and separate Congregation having more than one officiating Minister, who hath been regularly and canonically elected, shall be entitled to send as many Delegates as it has Ministers who are entitled to seats in the Convention. But before any Lay Delegate shall take his seat, he shall subscribe the following declara-
1. The word State changed to Diocese here and in Articles 6, 10 and 11, in 1870. Journal, p. 12. See also, 1869, p. 14.
2. This sentence was added in 1879. Journal, p. 51.
3. Title, Bishop-Coadjutor, adopted by the General Convention instead of Assistant Bishop, 1895.
4. The words and separate Congregation, here and hereafter in the Constitution, inserted in 1882. Journal, p. 64, 65.
6
CONSTITUTION.
tion : "I do hereby declare my belief in the Christian religion and attachment to the Protestant Episcopal Church, and profess myself a member thereof."
ART. 3. Twenty1 members of the Clerical and twenty1 of the Lay Order shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; but a smaller number may adjourn. .
ART. 4. In all matters that shall come before the Convention, the Clergy and Laity shall deliberate in one body; but if, upon any question, it be required by five members, the two Orders shall vote separately, and the concurrence of a majority of each Order shall be necessary to give validity to any measure.
ART. 5. The election of a Bishop of this Church shall be made in Convention, in the following manner : The Order of the Clergy shall nominate and appoint by ballot, some fit and qualified Clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, for that office ; and the votes of two-thirds of that Order shall be requisite to consti- tute a choice. And, thereupon, such appointment shall be presented to the Order of the Lay Delegates and be considered by them; and if, on a ballot, it shall appear that the person so nominated is approved of by two-thirds of the Lay Order, he shall be then declared to be duly elected : Provided, That, whenever it shall be proposed to elect an Assistant Bishop2 of this Diocese, notice thereof shall be given at an Annual Convention, and the election shall take place at the suc- ceeding Annual Convention.
ART. 6. The Bishop of the Church in this Diocese shall be President of the Convention; in which character it shall be his duty to give to the Convention, as often as he may deem expedient, a general view of the state of the Church; to call special conventions, at whatever times and places he may think necessary ; to preserve order during the time of session; to put the question, collect the votes, and declare the decision. He may make any motion which he shall judge conducive to the good of the Church, but shall not enter into debate ; and he may deliver his sentiments on any subject, after it has been discussed, before a vote thereon.
ART. 7. In case of a vacancy in the Episcopal Office, the Con- vention, immediately upon their assembling, shall choose, by joint ballot, a President, from among the Order of Priests, who shall
1. Originally eight members ; eight changed to twenty in 1882. Journal, p. 64.
2. See note 3, p. 5.
7
CONSTITUTION.
remain in office until the next election of a President. He shall perform all the duties and possess all the privileges above specified ; but he shall not call special meetings of the Convention, unless applied to for that purpose by a majority of the Standing Committee ; but if at any time there should be no President, the Standing Com- mittee shall have power to call a special meeting of the Convention when deemed necessary.1 And if, while there is a Bishop in this Church, he shall not be present at any meeting of the Convention, they shall elect, in the manner aforesaid, a President pro tempore.
ART. 8. A Secretary shall likewise be chosen, immediately upon the assembling of the Annual Convention, by a joint ballot ; who shall remain in office until the next election of a Secretary. If but one is nomi- nated, the ballot may be dispensed with.2 His duty shall be : to make minutes of their proceedings ; to preserve their journals and records ; to attest the public acts of the body ; and faithfully to deliver into the hands of his successor all books and papers, relative to the concerns of the Convention, which may be in his possession. It shall be his duty to notify, through the channel of such public papers as he may think proper, the time and place appointed for the meeting of the succeeding Convention.
ART. 9. Before the adjournment of each Annual Convention, a Standing Committee, consisting of seven members,3 shall be chosen from among the Order of Priests, by a joint ballot of the Clergy and Laity ; and if a vacancy shall occur, by death, removal, resignation, or otherwise, the remaining members, or a majority of them, shall be authorized to fill such vacancy ; always supplying the vacancy by one of the Order of Priests. In all elections of committees, by joint ballot, no member of the said committee shall be elected, unless he shall receive a majority of the votes of all the attending members.
ART. 10. If, at any time, there should be no Bishop in this Church, the Convention shall divide the Diocese into as many districts as there are members of the Standing Committee ; assigning to each member the superintendence of a district, which it shall be his duty to visit once a year ; and he shall report the ecclesiastical and secular state thereof to the Convention.
ART. 11. Every Parish and separate Congregation within this Diocese shall be entitled to the entire benefit of this Constitution as
1. This clause adopted 1885, p. 32.
2. Added in 1866, p. 12. 1865, p. 7.
3. See Journal of 1868, p. 11.
8
CONSTITUTION.
soon as it shall have signified its ratification thereof, either in writing, or by sending a Lay Delegate to the Convention; and such Parish and separate Congregation shall thereafter be benefited and bound, equally with the other Parishes and separate Congregations in this Diocese, by every rule or canon, which shall be framed by any Con- vention, acting under this Constitution, for the government of this Church in ecclesiastical concerns.
ART. 12. This Constitution shall be unalterable except in the fol- lowing manner : A proposition for any change shall be introduced in writing and considered in Convention ; and, if approved of, the same shall be transmitted to the several Vestries of the Parishes and separate Congregations which shall have ratified this Constitution. And, if again approved of in the next ensuing Convention, by a majority of the respective Orders, voting thereon separately, the change shall take place and the Constitution so altered shall be valid and obligatory.
CANONS
OF THE
DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
OF THE CONVENTION, AND OF THE CHURCH IN THIS DIOCESE.
CANON I.
Of the titles of Clergymen to seats in Convention.
No Clergyman removing from another Diocese into the Diocese of Maryland shall be entitled to a seat in the Convention, as having been regularly and canonically elected into a Parish or separate Congrega- tion, unless it shall have been signified to the Secretary of the Con- vention by the Bishop, or, in case of a vacancy in the Episcopal Office, by the President of the Standing Committee, that he had obtained from him a certificate of his Episcopal ordination and religious char- acter ; nor, unless the Bishop, or President, shall have received from the Vestry and transmitted to the Secretary the certificate required by the 30th1 Canon of the General Convention of 1832. In the case of a Clergyman canonically resident in the Diocese, elected into a Parish or separate Congregation, he shall be required, immediately after his acceptance of the appointment, to transmit to the Bishop a certificate from the Wardens and Vestry of the said election. No Clergyman shall have a seat in the Convention, as an instructor of youth in any seminary of learning, till he shall have produced to the Convention a certificate from the Rector and Vestry, and if there be no Rector, from the Vestry of the Parish in which it is situated or of some sepa- rate Congregation within such Parish, acknowledged as such by the Convention, that he is so occupied. No Clergyman shall be entitled
Canon, 1806. Amended, 1835, 1844, 1847, 1863.
1. See Digest, Canons of General Convention, Title I., Can. 18, §i.
10
CANONS OF THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
to a seat in Convention as an infirm Clergyman, unless he shall pro- duce a certificate from some respectable physician that his state of health unfits him for the active duties of the ministry, and there be evidence that, at the time his health became infirm, he was entitled to a seat in the Convention.
CANON II. Of Absentees from the Convention, to be Noted.
At every meeting of the Convention, it shall be the duty of the Secretary to report the names of such Clergymen, entitled to seats, as may have absented themselves from two successive Conventions, and the Convention shall take such order thereon as may be deemed expedient.
Canon V., 1835. Amended, 1847, 1863.
CANON III. Of the Secretary of the Convention.
SEC. 1. In addition to the duties assigned to the Secretary by the Constitution, it is hereby made his duty to transmit annually to each of the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and to the Secretary of the last House of Clerical and Lay Deputies of the General Convention and to the Secretary of every Diocesan Convention, a copy of the Journal of the Convention ; and he shall request the last to send copies of their respective Journals in exchange.
SEC. 2. He shall also transmit to each General Convention a certificate of the appointment of Clerical and Lay Deputies, and of the nomination of Trustees of the General Theological Seminary, and do such other acts as may be from time to time required of him by authority of the General or Diocesan Convention.
Canon, 1873.
CANON IV. Of the Treasurer of the Convention.
SEC. 1. At every Annual Convention there shall be elected a Treasurer of the Convention, who shall remain in office until a suc- cessor be appointed.
3
11
CANONS OF THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
SEC. 2. It shall be his duty to receive all moneys collected under the authority of the Convention and to disburse the same under its authority ; and when incidental expenses arise, not ordered by the Convention, the Treasurer, by and with the consent of the Committee of Ways and Means, shall be authorized to pay them, provided they do not exceed the sum of $100 per annum. He shall render his accounts annually to the Convention, which shall be audited by a Committee acting under its authority. In case of a vacancy in the office of Treasurer by death, removal from the Diocese or by resignation, the Bishop, with the advice and consent of the Standing Committee, shall have power to appoint a Treasurer to act until an appointment is made at the next succeeding Convention.
Canon, 1873. Amended, 1888.
CANON V. Of Provision for Defraying Certain Expenses.
The Vestry of each Parish or Church shall, on or before the first of November of each year, pay to the Treasurer such sums as may be required from them respectively by resolution of the Convention from time to time, for the purpose of paying the salary of the Bishop, and Assistant Bishop1 if there be one, the travelling expenses of the Standing Committee and the Delegates to the General Convention ; printing the Journal ; compensation to the Secretary and other inci- dental expenses of the Convention, and such other appropriations as may be made by resolution of the Convention.
Canon XII., 1835. Amended, 1847, 1863, 1873, 1885.
1. See note 3, p. 5.
CANON VI.
Of Parochial Reports.
In case of the absence of the Bishop from any Convention, the reports which are required to be delivered to him by the 12th Canon of the General Convention of 1853,1 shall be delivered to the President of the Convention.
Canon, 1855. Amended, 1887.
1. See Digest, Title I., Can. 20, §i.
12
CANONS OF THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
CANON VII.
Of the Erection of New Parishes or Congregations.
SEC. 1. No part of a Parish shall separate itself from the residue thereof as a distinct Parish, nor shall any number of members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in any Parish, associate themselves as a separate Congregation therein, without first obtaining leave of the Convention, who shall judge of the necessity and expediency of such separation. And leave thus obtained for such separation or association, shall be a guarantee that the parties interested shall, on application, be received into union with this Convention: Provided, the Con- vention shall be satisfied that the Parish or Congregation have a Church edifice sufficient for the accommodation of a reasonable number of persons, finished or so nearly finished as in the judgment of the Convention to afford a reasonable prospect that it will be completed ; and further, that they are not indebted to such an extent as to endanger their stability, and have also a reasonable prospect of self-support. Provided, however, that no Parish or Congregation, although constituted with the consent of the Convention, shall be considered as a part of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this Diocese without a strict conformity, on the part of such Parish or Congregation, to the use of the Liturgy of the said Church, nor without a compliance, in case of a Parish, with the provisions of the act entitled, " An Act for the Establishment of Vestries for each Parish in this State," passed November session, 1798; or, in case of a Congregation, with the provisions of any laws which have been, or may be, passed by the State of Maryland : Provided, said laws shall be first accepted by the Convention of this Diocese.
SEC. 2. Persons intending to apply for leave to organize a new Parish, or a separate Congregation, within an established Parish, shall at least three months before the meeting of the Convention to which application is intended to be made, place in the hands of the Bishop, or, if there be no Bishop, of the ecclesiastical authority of the Dio- cese, a petition for leave to organize a new Parish or separate Con- gregation, which petition shall be in the proper one of the two forms, numbered I. and VII. of "Forms for the Formation of new Parishes and Congregations." The petition shall be accompanied by a state- ment of the reasons why leave to organize a new Parish or Congre- gation is asked ; and by an affidavit of the person or persons who set up or gave the notice required by the Instructions for the Formation
13
CANONS OF THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
of new Parishes or Congregations, which affidavit shall show that the notices were set up or given as required by the said Instructions ; and a petition for leave to organize a new Parish shall also be accompanied by an accurate map, showing the metes and bounds of the proposed new Parish and of the Parish or Parishes from which it is proposed that it shall be taken; and also the location of the Churches and Chapels within these Parishes ; and it shall be the duty of the Bishop, or ecclesiastical authority, to send all such petitions, statements and maps, at least sixty days before the meeting of the Convention, to the Committee on the Admission of new Parishes and Congregations, which was appointed at the previous session of the Convention, which Committee shall hear and consider all such applications before the meeting of the Convention and make report thereon to such Con- vention.
Amended, 1894, 1897.
SEC. 3. Whenever hereafter any Church in union with the Con- vention, shall neglect for three years in succession to make a Paro- chial Report, and shall not during the same period have employed a Clergyman as its Parish Minister, such Church shall be regarded as having forfeited its connection with the Convention and shall no longer have a right to send a delegate to the same. The Bishop shall report such Church to the Convention in his Annual Address. Such Church, however, may be re-admitted upon application to the Con- vention, accompanied by a report of its condition, and on such terms as shall appear just; such re-admission to take effect from and after the rising of the Convention consenting to such admission.
Canons of 1793, 1794, 1799, 1803, 1835, 1845, 1847, 1851, 1881, 1886.
CANON VIII.
Of the Maintenance and Extension of Religious Worship.
SEC. 1. Each Annual Convention of the Diocese shall take order for the Maintenance and Extension of Religious Worship by the elec- tion of a Committee of Missions to consist of four Clergymen and four Laymen, who may, or may not, be members of the Convention, which Committee shall have power to fill vacancies which may occur during the interval between the meetings of the Convention. In addition to the members so elected, the Bishop, and Assistant Bishop,1 if any, shall be a member, ex officio, of the Committee.
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