USA > Maryland > A compilation containing the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of Maryland; > Part 3
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SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Convention at least one month before the session of the General Convention to notify each of the Deputies elected, to signify to him at least one week before the session of the General Convention, his acceptance of the election and appointment, and of his intention to perform the duties of such office; and in default of receiving such notice from any one or more Deputies, the Secretary of the Convention shall designate and certify from the list of persons elected as Alternate Deputies, such persons as may be necessary to secure a full attendance of the Deputies of each order from this Diocese at the next ensuing session of the General Convention.
And should a deficiency in such attendance occur in any way there- after or during a session of the General Convention, the Secretary of the Convention, on receiving notice thereof, shall designate and certify from the list of persons elected as Alternate Deputies such persons as may be necessary to secure a full attendance of the Deputies of each Order from this Diocese at the next ensuing or pending session of the General Convention.
And the persons thus designated by the Secretary of the Conven- tion, when furnished by the Secretary of this Convention with a cer-
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CANONS OF THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND.
tificate of such designation, shall have all the power and authority of Deputies duly elected as such by the Convention of this Diocese.
Provided, however, that such designation from such list of Alternate Deputies shall be made, beginning with that person of the order among whose members such deficiency may have occurred, who shall have received the highest number of votes cast for persons in that order ; and designations afterwards shall be made in succession from those receiving the next higher number of votes in such order.
SEC. 4. In case of the absence or inability to act of the Secretary of the Convention, the person who acted as Assistant Secretary at that session of the Convention at which the election of Deputies to the General Convention was had shall discharge the duties in this Canon assigned to such Secretary of the Convention.
Canon, 1892.
SELECTED CANONS
OF THE
GENERAL CONVENTION.
CANON 12. TITLE I.
Of Lay Readers.
§ i. A Lay Communicant of this Church may receive from the Bishop a written license to conduct the service of the Church in a Congregation convened for public worship, as a Lay Reader; but such license shall not be granted for conducting the service in a Con- gregation without a Minister, which is able, and has had reasonable opportunity, to secure the services of an ordained Minister. Such license may be given by the Bishop, of his own motion, for service in any vacant Parish, Congregation, or Mission ; but where a Rector is in charge, his request and recommendation must have been previously signified to the Bishop. Such license must be given for a definite period not longer than one year from its date ; but it may be renewed from time to time by the Bishop's indorsement to that effect. The license of any Lay Reader may be revoked at the discretion of the Ecclesiastical Authority.
§ ii. A Lay Reader so licensed shall not act as such in any Diocese other than his own, unless he shall have received another license from the Bishop of the Diocese in which he desires to serve. If he be a student in any Theological Seminary, he shall also obtain the permis- sion of the presiding officer of such institution.
§ iii. Every Lay Reader shall be subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Ecclesiastical Authority. In all matters relating to the conduct of the service, and to the Sermons or Homilies to be read, he shall conform to the directions of the Minister in charge of the Parish, Congregation, or Mission in which he is serving, or where there is no Minister in charge, to the directions of the Bishop. He shall not use the Absolution, nor the Benediction, nor the Offices of the Church, except those for the Burial of the Dead, and for Visitation of the Sick and of Prisoners, omitting in these last the Absolutions and Benedictions. He shall not deliver Sermons of his own composition; but he may deliver addresses, instructions,
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CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
and exhortations as a catechist in vacant Parishes, Congregations, or Missions, if he be specially licensed thereto by the Bishop. He shall not assume the dress appropriate to Clergymen ministering in the Congregation.
CANON 13. TITLE I.
Of Deaconesses.
§ i. Unmarried women of devout character and proved fitness may be appointed to the office of Deaconess by any Bishop of this Church.
§ ii. The duty of a Deaconess is to assist the Minister in the care of the poor and sick, the religious training of the young and others, and the work of moral reformation.
§ iii. No woman shall be appointed to the office of Deaconess until she shall be at least twenty-five years of age, nor until she shall have laid before the Bishop testimonials certifying that she is a com- municant in good standing of this Church, and that she possesses such characteristics as, in the judgment of the persons testifying, fit her for at least one of the duties above defined. The testimonial of fitness shall be signed by two Presbyters of this Church, and by twelve Lay Communicants of the same, six of whom 'shall be women. The Bishop shall also satisfy himself that the applicant has had an adequate preparation for her work, both technical and religious, which preparation shall have covered the period of two years.
§ iv. No Deaconess shall accept work in a Diocese without the express authority, in writing, of the Bishop of that Diocese; nor shall she undertake work in a Parish without the like authority from the Rector of the Parish.
§ v. When not connected with a Parish the Deaconess shall be under the direct oversight of the Bishop of the Diocese in which she is canonically resident. A Deaconess may be transferred from one Diocese to another by letter dimissory.
§ vi. A Deaconess may at any time resign her office to the Eccle- siastical Authority of the Diocese in which she is at the time canonically resident; but no Deaconess, having once resigned her office, shall be re-appointed thereto, unless there be, in the judgment of the Bishop of the Diocese where she resigned her office, weighty cause for such re-appointment.
§ vii. The Bishop shall have power, for cause, after a hearing granted, to suspend or remove a Deaconess from her office.
§ viii. No woman shall act as a Deaconess until she has been set apart for that office by an appropriate religious service, to be prescribed by the General Convention, or, in the absence of such prescription, by the Bishop.
30
CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
CANON 17. TITLE I.
Of Persons not Ministers in this Church officiating in any Congregation thereof.
No Minister in charge of any Congregation of this Church, or, in case of vacancy or absence, no Churchwardens, Vestrymen, or Trustees of the Congregation, shall permit any person to officiate therein, without sufficient evidence of his being duly licensed or ordained to minister in this Church: Provided, that nothing herein shall be so construed as to forbid communicants of the Church to act as Lay Readers.
Title I., Canon 11, Sections i. and ii. are hereby repealed : Provided, that such repeal shall not affect any case of a violation of said Canon committed before this date; but such case shall be governed by the same law as if no such repeal had taken place.
CANON 18. TITLE I.
General Regulations of Ministers and their Duties.
§ i. [1.] It is hereby required that, on the election of a Minister into any Church or Parish, the Vestry shall deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the Bishop, or where there is no Bishop, to the Stand- ing Committee of the Diocese, notice of the same, in the following form, or to this effect :
We, the Churchwardens [or, in case of an Assistant Minister, We, the Rector and Churchwardens], do certify to the Right Rev. [naming the Bishop], or to the Rev. [naming the President of the Standing Committee], that [naming the person] has been duly chosen Rector [or, Assistant Minister, as the case may be] of [naming the Parish or Church].
Which certificate shall be signed by the names of those who certify.
[2.] If the Bishop or the Standing Committee be satisfied that the person so chosen is a qualified Minister of this Church, the Bishop, or the President of the Standing Committee, shall transmit the said certificate to the Secretary of the Convention, who shall record it in a book to be kept by him for that purpose.
[3.] And if the Minister be a Presbyter, the Bishop, or President of the Standing Committee, may, at the instance of the Vestry, proceed to have him instituted according to the Office established by this Church, if that Office be used in the Diocese. But if he be a Deacon, the act of institution shall not take place until after he shall have received Priest's Orders. This provision concerning the use of the Office of Institution is not to be considered as applying to any congregation destitute of a house of worship.
31
CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
§ ii. No Minister, removing from one Diocese or Missionary District to another, shall officiate as the Rector, Stated Minister, or Assistant Minister of any Parish or Congregation of the Diocese or District to which he removes, until he shall have obtained from the Ecclesiastical Authority a certificate in the words following :
I hereby certify that the Rev. A. B. has been canonically transferred to my jurisdiction, and is a minister in regular standing.
§ iii. [1.] The Ministers of this Church who have charge of parishes or cures, shall not only be diligent in instructing the children in the Catechism, but shall also, by stated catechetical lectures and instruction, be diligent in informing the youth and others in the Doc- trine, Constitution, History, and Liturgy of the Church. They shall also diligently instruct all in their cures concerning the missionary work of the Church at home and abroad, and offer suitable oppor- tunities for contributions from time to time for the maintenance of that work.
[2.] The Alms and Contributions at the Administration of the Holy Communion shall be deposited with the Minister of the Parish, or with such Church officer as shall be appointed by him, to be applied by the Minister, or under his superintendence, to such pious and charitable uses as shall by him be thought fit.
§ iv. [1.] It shall be the duty of Ministers to prepare young persons and others for the holy ordinance of Confirmation. And on notice being received from the Bishop of his intention to visit any Church, which notice shall be at least one month before the intended visitation, the Minister shall give immediate notice to his parishioners, individually, as opportunity may offer, and also to the Congregation on the first occasion of public worship after the receipt of said notice. And he shall be ready to present for Confirmation such persons as he shall think properly qualified, and shall deliver to the Bishop a list of the names of those confirmed.
[2.] And at every visitation it shall be the duty of the Minister, and of the Churchwardens or Vestry, to give information to the Bishop of the state of the Congregation, under such heads as shall have been committed to them in the notice given as aforesaid.
[3.] And further, the Ministers and Churchwardens of such Congre- gations as cannot be conveniently visited in any year, shall bring or send to the Bishop, at the stated meeting of the Convention of the Diocese, information of the state of the Congregation, under such heads as shall have been committed to them at least one month before the meeting of the Convention.
§ v. [1.] Every Minister of this Church shall keep a Register of Baptisms, Confirmations, Communicants, Marriages, and Funerals, within his cure, agreeably to such rules as may be provided by the Convention of the Diocese where his cure lies ; and if none such be provided, then in such manner as in his discretion he shall think best suited to the uses of such register.
32
CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
[2.] The intention of the Register of Baptisms is hereby declared to be, as for other good uses, so especially for the proving of the right of the Churchmembership of those who may have been admitted into this Church by the holy ordinance of Baptism.
[3.] Every Minister of this Church shall make out and continue, as far as practicable, a list of all families and adult persons within his cure, to remain for the use of his successor, to be continued by him, and by every future Minister in the same Parish.
§ vi. [1.] No Minister belonging to this Church shall officiate, either by preaching, reading prayers, or otherwise, in the Parish, or within the parochial cure, of another Clergyman, unless he have received express permission for that purpose from the Minister of the Parish or cure, or, in his absence, from the Churchwardens and Vestrymen, or Trustees of the Congregation, or a majority of them.
[2.] Where Parish boundaries are not defined by law, or settled by Diocesan authority under Title III., Canon 3, Section ii. of this Digest, or are not otherwise settled, they shall, for the purposes of this Sec- tion, be defined by the civil divisions of the State, as follows:
Parochial boundaries shall be the limits, as now fixed by law, of any village, town, township, incorporated borough, city, or the limits of some division thereof which may have been recognized by the Bishop, acting with the advice and consent of the Standing Committee, as constituting the boundaries of a Parish.
If there be but one Church or Congregation within the limits of such village, town, township, borough, city, or such division of a city or town as herein provided, the same shall be deemed the parochial cure of the Minister having charge thereof. If there be two or more Con- gregations or Churches therein, it shall be deemed the cure of the Ministers thereof, and the assent of a majority of such Ministers shall be necessary ; but nothing in this Canon shall be construed to prevent any Clergyman of this Church from officiating in any Parish Church or in any place of public worship used by any Congregation of this Church, or elsewhere within the parochial cure of the Minister of the said Congregation, with the consent of the Clergyman in charge of such Congregation ; or, in his absence, of the Churchwardens and Vestrymen or Trustees of such Congegation, or of a majority of them.
When, under Diocesan authority, a new Parish is constituted, and its boundaries defined, this Section shall be applicable to the same as so established.
[3.] If any Minister of the Church, from inability or any other cause, neglect to perform the regular services in his Congregation, and refuse, without good cause, his consent to any other Minister of the Church to officiate within his cure, the Churchwardens, Vestry- men, or Trustees of such Congregation shall, on proof of such neglect or refusal before the Bishop of the Diocese, or if there be no Bishop, before the Standing Committee, or before such persons as may be
33
CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
deputed by him or them, or before such persons as may be, by. the regulations of this Church in any Diocese, vested with the power of hearing and deciding on complaints against Clergymen, have power, with the written consent of the before-mentioned authority, to open the doors of their Church to any regular Minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
[4.] This Canon shall not affect any legal rights of property of any Parish.
§ vii. [1.] A Minister of this Church removing into the jurisdiction of any Bishop or other Ecclesiastical Authority, shall, in order to gain canonical residence within the same, present to said Ecclesiastical Authority a testimonial from the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese or Missionary Jurisdiction in which he last resided, which testimonal shall set forth his true standing and character. The said testimonial shall be given by the Bishop to the applicant, and a duplicate thereof may be sent directly to the Bishop of the Diocese or Missionary Juris- diction to which said Minister proposes to remove. The testimonial may be in the following words:
"I hereby certify that A. B., who has signified to me his desire to be transferred to the Ecclesiastical Authority of , is a Pres- byter (or Deacon) of , in regular standing, and has not, so far as I know or believe, been justly liable to evil report, for error in religion, or viciousness of life, for three years last past."
[2.] All such testimonials shall be called Letters Dimissory. The canonical residence of the Minister so transferred shall date from the acceptance of his Letter Dimissory, of which the accepting Bishop shall give prompt notice both to the applicant and to the Bishop from whom it came. If not presented to the Bishop within six months from the date of its transmission to the applicant, it shall become thereby wholly void.
[3.] If a Minister, removing into another Diocese, who has been called to take charge of a parish or congregation, shall present a Letter Dimissory in the form above given, it shall be the duty of the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese to which he has removed, to accept it within six months, unless the Bishop or Standing Committee should have heard rumors, that he or they believe to be well founded, against the character of the Minister concerned, which would form a proper ground of canonical inquiry and presentment, in which case the Ecclesiastical Authority shall communicate the same to the Bishop or Standing Committee of the Diocese to whose jurisdiction the said Minister belongs; and, in such case, it shall not be the duty of the Ecclesiastical Authority to accept the Letter Dimissory unless and until the Minister shall be exculpated from the said charges.
[4.] It shall be the duty of all Ministers to obtain and present let- ters of transfer as above described, whenever they remove from one Diocese or Missionary District to any other Diocese or Missionary District, whether Domestic or Foreign, and remain there for the space of six months. This provision shall not apply to Professors in any
3
34
CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
institution of learning, Officers of the Board of Missions, and Chaplains of the Army and Navy of the United States. But no Minister, who shall have taken up his residence in a Diocese to which he has not been canonically transferred, shall be competent to minister therein without the license of the Bishop.
CANON 20. TITLE I.
Of the Mode of Securing an Accurate View of the State of the Church.
§ i. As a full and accurate view of the state of the Church, from time to time, is highly useful and necessary, it is hereby ordered that every Minister of this Church, or if the parish be vacant the Wardens, shall present, or cause to be delivered, on or before the first day of every Annual Convention, to the Bishop of the Diocese, or where there is no Bishop to the President of the Convention, a statement of the number of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Funerals, and of the number of Communicants in his Parish or Church ; also the state and condition of the Sunday School in his Parish ; also of the amount of the Communion alms, the contributions for Missions, Diocesan, Domestic, and Foreign, for Parochial Schools, for Church purposes in general, and of all other matters that may throw light on the state of the same. And every Clergyman, not regularly settled in any Parish or Church, shall also report the occasional services he may have per- formed ; and, if he have performed no such services, the causes or reasons which have prevented the same. And these reports, or such parts of them as the Bishop shall think fit, may be read in Convention, and shall be entered on the journals thereof.
§ ii. At every Annual Diocesan Convention, the Bishop shall deliver an Address, stating the affairs of the Diocese since the last meeting of the Convention ; the names of the Churches which he has visited ; the number of persons confirmed ; the names of those who have been received as Candidates for Orders, and of those who have been ordained, suspended, or degraded; the changes by death, removal, or otherwise, which have taken place among the Clergy ; and in general, all matters tending to throw light on the affairs of the Diocese ; which address shall be inserted on the journals.
§ iii. At every General Convention, the journals of the different Diocesan Conventions, since the last General Convention, together with such other papers, viz., Episcopal charges, addresses, and pas- toral letters, as may tend to throw light on the state of the Church in each Diocese, shall be presented to the House of Deputies. A Com- mittee shall then be appointed to draw up a view of the state of the Church, and to make report to the House of Deputies ; which report, when agreed to by the said House, shall be sent to the House of Bishops, with the request that they will draw up, and cause to be published, a Pastoral Letter to the members of the Church. And it is
35
CANONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
hereby made the duty of every Clergyman having a pastoral charge, when any such Letter is published, to read the said Pastoral Letter to his congregation on some occasion of public worship.
§ iv. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Convention of every Diocese, or of the person or persons with whom the journals or other Ecclesiastical papers are lodged, to forward to the House of Deputies, at every General Convention, on or before the first Monday of the session, the documents and papers specified in this Canon.
§ v. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Convention in every Diocese to prepare immediately after the adjournment of the meeting of the Diocesan Convention next preceding the Session of every General Convention, a list of the Clergy canonically resident therein and of persons admitted since the previous General Convention to the Order of Deacons or Priests and of persons deposed from the sacred ministry and of clergy that have died, and also a condensed report and a tabular review of the state of the Church in said Diocese, com- prising therein a summary of the statistics from the parochial reports, and from the Bishop's addresses, specifying as far as possible the cap- ital and proceeds of the Episcopal fund and of the funds of all benev- olent and missionary associations of Churchmen within the Diocese, and promptly to forward the same to the Secretary of the House of Deputies for the purpose of aiding the Committee on the State of the Church, appointed by the House of Deputies, in drafting their report.
§ vi. All incorporated schools, all parochial schools, all academies and colleges, and all hospitals, asylums for orphans or other children of either sex, maintained at the expense, or conducted under the management of members of this Church, are expected to report annually to the Bishop of the Diocese at the annual Convention, such reports to be disposed of as the parochial reports ; and at every General Convention the tabular view of the state of the Church in each Diocese, and the report of the Committee on the state of the Church shall include the results of such reports.
CANON 22. TITLE I.
Of the Standard Book of Common Prayer.
§ i. The copy of the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, together with the Psalter or Psalms of David; the Form of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, the Form of Consecration of a Church or Chapel, and an Office of Institution of Ministers, and Articles of Religion, set forth by the General Convention of this Church, in the
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CANNONS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
year of our Lord 1892, and authenticated by the signatures of the presiding officers and secretaries of the two Houses of General Con- vention, and by the signatures of the members of the Joint Committee charged with the duty of preparing and submitting to the Convention a Standard Prayer Book, is hereby declared to be the Standard Book of Common Prayer of this Church.
§ ii. All copies of the Book of Common Prayer to be hereafter made and published shall conform to this Standard, and shall agree therewith in paging, and, so far as it is possible, in all other matters of typographical arrangement, except that the rubrics may be printed either in red or in black. The requirement of uniformity in paging shall apply only to that portion of the book which begins with the Order for the Daily Morning Prayer, and ends with the Psalter, and shall not extend to editions smaller than those known as 24mo, or to editions noted for music.
§ iii. In case any typographical inaccuracy shall be found in the Standard Book of Common Prayer, its correction may be ordered by a joint resolution of any General Convention, and notice of such correction shall be communicated by the Custodian to the Ecclesias- tical Authority of each Diocese of this Church, and to actual publishers of the Book of Common Prayer.
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