000 The Acts and the Deeds. In these Standing Orders, unless
the context otherwise requires:
(i) the 1929 Act' means
the Methodist Church Union Act 1929 and the 1976 Act' means
the Methodist Church Act 1976;
(ii) the Deed of Union' means the Deed Poll dated the 20th
September 1932 executed by John Scott Lidgett and others
pursuant to the provisions of the 1929 Act, as amended from
time to time under the powers in that behalf contained in the
1929 Act, the 1976 Act and the Deed of Union;
(iii) the Model Trusts' means the provisions of Schedule
2 to the 1976 Act, as amended from time to time under the
powers in that behalf contained in the Model Trusts. For the
1929 Act see Vol. 1 p. 89, for the 1976 Act Vol. 1 p. 3, for
the Deed of Union Book II, Part 1 and for the Model Trusts
Book II, Part 2.
001 The Methodist Church. In these Standing Orders, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression the Methodist Church', when used without geographical qualification, means the united church or denomination referred to by that name in the Deed of Union and the expressions the Connexion' and the Church' are sometimes used in the same sense.
002 Terms defined in the Deed of Union. (1) In these
Standing Orders, unless the context otherwise requires, the
following expressions have the meanings assigned to them by
clause 1 of the Deed of Union:
(i) admitted into full connexion';
(ii) Church Council';
(iii) church courts';
(iv) Circuit';
(v) Circuit Meeting';
(vi) class leader';
(vii) the Conference';
(viii) connexional';
(ix) District';
(x) the home Districts' and cognate expressions;
(xi) the Irish Conference';
(xii) Local Church';
(xiii) local preacher';
(xiv) Local Preachers' Meeting';
(xv) member of the Methodist Church';
(xvi) minister';
(xvii) ministerial session';
(xviii) pastoral visitor';
(xix) probationer';
(xx) representative session';
(xxi) the stations' and to station';
(xxii) supernumerary';
(xxiii) Superintendent minister';
(xxiv) Synod' and district Synod'.
For cl. 1 of the Deed of Union see Book II, Part I.
Note that by virtue of these definitions the word minister',
throughout these Standing Orders (when used without
qualification), includes supernumeraries and persons
recognised and regarded' as ministers in full connexion under
clauses 43, 44 and 45 of the Deed of Union, but excludes
probationers. (2)The Methodist Churches to be specified for
the purpose of the definition of other autonomous
Conferences' in clause 1 (xxiv) of the Deed are the following:
The Methodist Church of Benin The Methodist Church, Brazil
The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas
The Methodist Church of Cote d'Ivoire
The Methodist Church in Fiji
The Methodist Church, Ghana
The Methodist Church, Hong Kong
The Methodist Church in Kenya
The Korean Methodist Church
The Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar
The Methodist Church of New Zealand Te Hahi Weteriana O Aotearoa
The Methodist Church, Nigeria
The Methodist Church in Samoa
The Methodist Church, Sierra Leone
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa
The Methodist Church, Sri Lanka
The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga
The United Methodist Church
The Evangelical Methodist Church in Uruguay
Methodist Church in Zimbabwe
003 Church Courts and Jurisdictions. In these Standing
Orders, unless the context otherwise requires:
(i) [deleted]
(ii) [deleted]
(iii) overseas Districts' and overseas station', have
the meanings assigned to them by clause 1 (xxv) of the Deed
of Union and the overseas Districts', overseas Synods',
overseas Synod' and overseas work' have corresponding
meanings;
(iv) the Welsh Districts' means the Cymru District
and any other the District or Districts where the work is
carried on wholly or mainly in the Welsh language, but does
not include the South Wales District, the North Wales
District or any other District wholly or partly in Wales in
which the work is carried on wholly or mainly in the English
language, and Welsh District', Welsh Synods', Welsh Synod'
and Welsh work' have corresponding meanings;
(v) the English Districts' means the home Districts other
than the Welsh Districts and English District', English
Synod' and English work' have corresponding meanings;
(vi)
the Island Districts' means the Channel Islands, Isle of Man
and Shetland Districts;
(vii) Local Church' means (subject
to the
provisions of Standing Orders 605 and 612) the whole body of
members of the Methodist Church connected with and attending
one particular place of worship, and the word church' is
sometimes used in the same sense;
(viii) local', in
connection with church courts or with officers other than
local preachers, means relating to a Local Church.
(ix) Pastoral Committee', in relation to a Local Church,
includes where appropriate the meeting or committee having
under the provisions of Standing Order 644(11) the
responsibilities of a Pastoral Committee.
004 Officers and Members. In these Standing Orders:
(i) the President' means the President of the Conference
unless some other body or institution is indicated;
(ii) the Chairman' means the Chairman of the relevant
District unless some other body or institution is indicated;
(iii) the Superintendent' means the Superintendent
minister of the relevant Circuit unless some other body or
institution is indicated;
(iv) member' and members', refer to membership of the
Methodist Church unless some other body or institution is
indicated, and membership' has a corresponding meaning;
(v)
references to membership in a District or Circuit refer to
membership in a Local Church within that District or Circuit;
(vi) the ex-President' means the person who last held the
office of President and the ex-Vice-President' and the ex-
Secretary' have corresponding meanings, but an ex-
President', ex-
Presidents', the ex-Presidents' and corresponding expressions
refer to any or all, as the case may be, of the persons who
have formerly held the office in question;
(vii) the President-designate' means the person who has
been designated in accordance with the Deed of Union to be
the President in the next ensuing year and Vice-President-
designate' and Secretary-designate' have corresponding
meanings.
As to (vi) and (vii) see cls. 26and 27 of the Deed of Union
(Book II, Part 1) and S.O. 114.
005 Ministers, Deaconesses and Deacons. In these Standing
Orders, unless the context otherwise requires:
(i) minister in full connexion' means a minister of the
Methodist Church admitted into full connexion;
(ii) minister in full work' or minister in the active work'
means a minister who is not a supernumerary nor a minister
without appointment under Standing Order 746(8), 762(1) or
763(3);
(iii) student minister , or student' in relation to
training for the ministry, means a person who has been
accepted by the Conference as a candidate for the ministry and
is undergoing training but is not a probationer;
(iiiA) ministers in sector appointments' means ministers
in appointments within the scope of Standing Order 740(1);
(iv) ministers in other appointments' means ministers in
appointments within the scope of Standing Order 740(2);
(v) circuit ministers' means ministers who are appointed to
a Circuit to discharge the responsibilities specified in
Standing Order 520, being the ministers in full work whose
names are the first to appear under the heading of a Circuit
in the stations appointed by the Conference, before the names
of any ministers in sector or other appointments or
supernumeraries stationed in the Circuit or of any ministers
residing in the Circuit for the purposes of the stations;
(vi) the circuit ministers of a Circuit and the probationers
appointed to fulfil ministerial duty in circuit work in that
Circuit are referred to as being appointed to' that Circuit;
(viA) ministerial establishment', in relation to a
Circuit or other station, has the meaning appearing from
Standing Order 737(4);
(vii) the ministers and probationers appointed to a
Circuit, together with any other ministers or probationers
whose names appear under the heading of that Circuit in the
stations and who are not merely residing in the Circuit for
the purposes of the stations under the provisions of the
Standing Orders in that behalf, are referred to as being
stationed in' that Circuit;
(viii) ordained' in relation to a deaconess or deacon
means ordained as such and received into full membership of
the Methodist Diaconal Order in accordance with Standing
Order 790 and (for the avoidance of doubt) applies to such a
person after as well as before retirement;
(ix) deaconess' or deacon' means an ordained deaconess or
deacon or a probationer deaconess or deacon who has completed
training and is appointed to a Circuit or to the active work
in some other appointment approved by the Warden of the
Methodist Diaconal Order;
(x) ministers in local appointments' means ministers
appointed to Circuits under the provisions of clauses (6) and
(7) of Standing Order 746.
The definition of minister in full connexion' should be read
in conjunction with those of minister' and admitted into
full connexion' in the Deed of Union (Book II Part 1).
Note that persons recognised and regarded' under clauses
43(b), 44(b) and 45 of the Deed of Union are ministers' but
not ministers in full connexion' as those expressions are
employed in these Standing Orders. As to the arrangement of
names in the stations see also S.O. 737(2). As to ministers
residing in a Circuit see S.O. 737(6), 762(1) and 763(2).
006 Property. (1) In these Standing Orders, unless the
context otherwise requires, the following expressions have
the meanings assigned to them by section 2(1) of the 1976 Act
or paragraph 1 of the Model Trusts:
(i) church property';
(ii) land';
(iii) model trust property';
(iv) property';
(v) trust instrument';
(vi) circuit property';
(vii) connexional property';
(viii) connexional trustees';
(ix) district property';
(x) district trustees';
(xi) general property';
(xii) local property ;
(xiii) 'place of worship';
(xiiiA) Property Secretary ;
(xiv) purposes of the Church'.
For (i)-(v) see Vol. 1, pp. 7-9 and for (vi)-(xiv) Book II,
Part 2. Note that the definition of land' incorporated by
this reference includes, in particular, buildings.
(2) In these Standing Orders chapel' has the same meaning as place of worship'.
(3) (a) In these Standing Orders, unless the context otherwise
requires, the expressions trustees' and managing trustees'
have, in relation to model trust property, the meanings
assigned to them by paragraph 1 of the Model Trusts, but in
relation to other property both expressions mean all the
persons in or among whom the title to and general powers of
management of the property in question are for the time being
vested or
distributed. (b) In these Standing Orders, in relation to
model trust property, unless the context otherwise requires,
custodian trustees' means in relation to property in Great
Britain the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes, in
relation to property in the Isle of Man the Trustees for Manx
Methodist Church Purposes, in relation to property in the
Island of Jersey the Trustees for Jersey Methodist Church
Purposes and in relation to property in the Bailiwick of
Guernsey the Trustees for the Bailiwick of Guernsey Methodist
Church Purposes. For the purposes of this sub-clause
property other than land is situated in the territory where
the managing trustees of the property meet, except that any
general property is situated in the territory specified for
this purpose in writing by the Property Secretary [. . .].
For the definitions referred to in (a) see Book II, Part 2.
The Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes were incorporated
by s. 3 of the Methodist Church Act 1939 (Vol. 1, p. 37) and
their constitution and powers are prescribed by the Act. In
particular they are empowered to receive and hold as trustees
or custodian trustees any real or personal property for any
purposes connected with the Methodist Church or any of its
component bodies or organisations (s. 10). They are the
custodian trustees of all model trust property (1976 Act, ss.
9-17, Vol. 1, pp. 12-20), except in the Channel Islands and
the Isle of Man. (4) In these Standing Orders, in relation to
model trust property, unless the context otherwise requires,
capital' means any property deemed to be capital for the
purposes of the administration of the Model Trusts, capital
money' has a corresponding meaning and income' means any
property deemed to be income for those purposes. See S.O. 915.
(5) In these Standing Orders:
(i) in relation to land in England and Wales listed building
has the meaning given by section 1(5) of the Planning (Listed
Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, and in relation
to land outside England and Wales it means any building or
structure listed, or otherwise identified, and protected as
being of architectural or historic interest under legislation
corresponding to that Act;
(ii) in relation to land in England and Wales conservation
area means an area for the time being designated under
section 69 of the said Act, and in relation to land outside
England and Wales it means any area designated, or otherwise
identified, and protected under legislation corresponding to
that section.
007 Other Terms. In these Standing Orders, unless the
context otherwise requires:
(i) connexional year' means a year
beginning on the 1st September and year' means a connexional
year unless a calendar year or some other year is indicated;
(ii) theological college' means a college or institution,
whether or not wholly Methodist, at which ministerial
training is carried on in connection with the Methodist
Church;
(iii) the Daily Record' means the record of the
proceedings of the
Conference prescribed by Standing Order 123;
(iv) the Minutes of Conference', or sometimes the Minutes',
means the book described in Standing Order 124(1);
(v) the National Children's Home or NCH Action for
Children means the charity known as the National Children's
Home and Orphanage regulated by a Scheme dated the 18th
October 1932 made by the Charity Commissioners;
(vi) the connexional Team or the Team has the meaning
appearing from Standing Order 300.
As to NCH Action for Children see S.O. 240.
008 General Provisions. In these Standing Orders, unless the
context otherwise requires:
(i) the singular includes the
plural and vice versa;
(ii) masculine pronouns include the feminine and vice versa;
(iii) layman' includes laywoman', and similarly for
laymen';
(iv) reference to Parts' and Sections' by number or
to this Part' or this Section' are to the Parts and
Sections so identified of these Standing Orders;
(v)
references to a motion or resolution carried by a majority
expressed as a fraction or percentage of those present and
entitled to vote or of those present and voting are to a
motion or resolution carried by the votes of that fraction or
percentage or more of those present and entitled to vote or
of those present and voting, as the case may be;
(vi)
references to persons present and voting' exclude those not
voting for or against, whether or not they are required to be
or are enumerated and recorded as neutrals';
(viA)
references to a majority of any kind, without further
qualification, are to be read as references to a majority of
that kind of those present and voting, understood as in (v)
and (vi) above;
(vii) deaconess' includes male equivalent, or deacon;
(viii) In Standing Orders prescribing the purposes,
responsibilities or functions of any church fund, body or
court ecumenical work', and other expressions in which
ecumenical' is used to describe any activity, include any
charitable work or other charitable
activity carried on in partnership or co-operation with one or
more other Christian churches or bodies, but in such ways
only as not to involve any conflict with the advancement of
the Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards
and discipline of the Methodist Church, and ecumenically' in
relation to the carrying on of any such work or activity has
a corresponding meaning.
009 Saving. The provisions of this Section are subject to and shall pro tanto be displaced by any contrary express provision applicable to any particular Standing Order or Orders or to any part of a Standing Order.
010 Doctrinal Qualification. No person shall be appointed to office in the Church who teaches doctrines contrary to those of the Church, or who holds doctrines likely to injure the peace and welfare of the Church. For the doctrinal standards of the Church see cl. 4 of the Deed of Union (Book II, Part I).
011 Conduct of the Lord's Supper. (1) A Circuit which considers that any of its churches or a significant number of church members or other Christians in the local community is deprived of reasonably frequent and regular celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper through lack of ministers may apply for the authorisation of persons other than ministers to preside at that sacrament when appointed to do so on the circuit plan, or on other occasions when authorised by the Superintendent. (2) Suitable persons, being members in the Circuit or probationers, deaconesses or deacons appointed to it, shall be nominated by the Circuit Meeting. Every application, together with the nominations made by the Circuit Meeting, with reasons for making the application and the necessary information as to the suitability of the person concerned, shall be considered by the district Policy Committee, which shall make its recommendations to the spring Synod. The Superintendent of any Circuit making an application may attend the committee while that application is under consideration. (3) All such applications shall be sent, with the reasons and information furnished to the district committee and the comments of the Synod, to the convener of an [. . .] Authorisations Committee appointed for the purpose by the Methodist Council, and the [. . .] Authorisations Committee shall report with its recommendations directly to the Conference, which shall grant such authorisations as it thinks fit, to take effect from the beginning of the next connexional year. Appeals against the committee's recommendations shall be heard by a further committee appointed for the purpose from among the members of the next Conference by the Methodist Council. The report of the appeals committee shall be presented together with the general report of the [. . .] Authorisations Committee. (4) The Conference may grant an authorisation to a probationer, deaconess or deacon who is appointed to a Circuit after the spring Synod and who would otherwise have been nominated by the Circuit Meeting. (5) The authorisation shall be renewable every three years and in the case of probationers, deaconesses and deacons shall during that period be exercisable by the holder for the time being of the appointment concerned. It shall cease to be exercisable by any particular person on cessation of membership or of the status of probationer, deaconess or deacon, as the case may be, or on removal from the Circuit, and may be wholly cancelled at any time by resolution of the Conference. (6) Persons so authorised shall, unless already instructed in the ordering of the Lord's Supper, be so instructed by the Chairman or by a minister appointed by him or her, the forms of service in The Methodist Service Book being used as a basis of instruction. (7) In emergencies arising after the meeting of the Conference by the death of a minister or otherwise, the President may grant an authorisation having immediate effect and continuing until the 31st August following the next meeting of the Conference.
012 Accounts. (1) Methodist money shall not be held in private accounts, but in official bank accounts requiring two signatures for withdrawals. (2) Accounts shall be kept of all money held at connexional, district, circuit or local church level including that of organisations at any such level [. . .] The accounting records shall include (i) entries showing from day to day all sums of money received and expended and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place, and (ii) a record of assets and liabilities. An annual statement of accounts shall be prepared, including either an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet or (but only if it is permitted by law and the responsible body so resolves) a receipts and payments account and statement of assets and liabilities. (3) All such accounts shall be audited annually by an auditor in accordance with section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 or examined annually by an independent examiner in accordance with section 43(3) of that Act, as appropriate. The appointment of the auditor or examiner shall be made by the body specified in the [. . .] Standing Order relating to the fund concerned or, if no body is so specified, by the body responsible for the fund. [. . .] The auditor or independent examiner shall report to the appointing body and to its committee, if any, responsible [. . .] for finance. The report shall comply with any applicable regulations and in particular shall state in writing that cash in the hands of treasurers and at the bank, and all investments, deposits and loans outstanding have been verified and that receipts and payments have been properly accounted for. As to the appointment of auditors or examiners in specific cases see S.O. 636 (local funds), 913(2), (3) (property funds) and Synod Autumn Agenda, qu. 1(f) (district funds). (4) The Superintendent is responsible for ensuring that auditors or independent examiners, as appropriate, are appointed in respect of all funds under the jurisdiction of the Circuit Meeting or Church Councils in the Circuit and that they report after each audit or examination. The Chairman is similarly responsible for funds under the jurisdiction of the Synod. If any report is unavailable or inadequate it shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent or Chairman (as appropriate) to ensure that a report is presented to the next meeting of the relevant body. (5) Any qualification in the auditor's report shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which the audited accounts are presented. As to local accounts see also S.O. 636 and as to accounts relating to model trust property S.O. 963.
012A Duties of Treasurers. (1) A treasurer of any Methodist fund is responsible for the oversight of the fund and of the assets representing it. (2) Every such treasurer shall ensure that: (i) any relevant trusts are fulfilled; (ii) subject to (i), all lawful directions of the Conference are implemented; (iii) subject to (i) and (ii), the fund is raised and administered in accordance with the lawful instructions of the committee concerned; (iv) any relevant advice of the Charity Commission is taken into account; (v) Standing Order 012 is implemented. (3) For these purposes a treasurer shall arrange for and participate in the preparation of budgets and the monitoring of income and expenditure, or shall ensure that adequate and effective systems are in operation for the discharge of those responsibilities by others. (4) Every such treasurer shall at all times have access to and the right to call for all relevant information, books of account and records. (5) In addition to any requirements in Standing Orders relating to particular cases the meeting, committee or other body responsible for the fund concerned may assign to a treasurer additional duties not in conflict with the responsibilities set out in clauses (2), (3) and (4) above. (6) A treasurer shall report on all the above matters to the meeting, committee or other body concerned.
013 Unfitness for Office. (1) Subject to clause (12) below, clauses (3) to (11) of this Standing Order regulate the exercise of office in the Church, including: (i) in the case of ministers, probationers, deaconesses and deacons all powers, responsibilities and duties of any appointment to a station within the control of the Church, but not their status as ministers, probationers, deaconesses or deacons; (ii) in the case of local preachers all responsibilities as such, and the right to attend Local Preachers' Meetings, but not their status as local preachers so named in the circuit plan; (iii) any exercise of any other lay office in the Church, except in so far as application of this Standing Order would involve a breach of a contract of employment; (iv) membership of any meeting or body constituting the managing trustees of any model trust property. (2) In this Standing Order: (i) office-holder' means a person exercising office in the Church within the meaning of clause (1) above; (ii) subject to clause (15) below the responsible officer', in relation to an office-holder, means, in the case of persons falling within clause (1)(i) above, the person who would be the responsible officer under Standing Order 022(2) were a charge involved, and, in the case of a lay person, the Superintendent of the Circuit in which that person is a member; (iii) the Pastoral Committee' means a connexional Pastoral Committee consisting of three persons chosen from the connexional Panel by the convener responsible for Pastoral Committees, but not including that convener. As to the connexional panel see S.O. 231. (3) If the responsible officer believes that an office-holder is incapable through mental illness or otherwise of exercising office, or is subject to a receiving order in bankruptcy, or has compounded with creditors, or is otherwise unfit to exercise office, and if the office-holder does not resign, then the responsible officer may suspend that office- holder from the exercise of any or every office in the Church, or from particular functions, powers or responsibilities of any such office, and the responsible officer may discharge, vary or extend any such suspension, if not appealed, as may seem to be required by any change of material circumstances. For the power of suspension in disciplinary cases see S.O. 021(6), (7). (4) Any two persons, being ministers or members, may request the responsible officer in writing to exercise his or her powers under clause (3) above and, if dissatisfied with the response, may refer the matter to the Pastoral Committee. (5) The office-holder may appeal to the Pastoral Committee against any suspension by the responsible officer under clause (3) or (4) above. (6) On a reference under clause (4) above or an appeal under clause (5) above the Pastoral Committee shall determine its own procedure. It may discharge, vary or extend any suspension already imposed and may itself impose any suspension within the scope of clause (3) above. (7) Where an office is held by virtue of an election or appointment (including the stations) for a finite period, the maximum term of any suspension imposed under this Standing Order shall be until the expiration of the period of office arising from the latest election or appointment made before, at or not more than three months after the beginning of the suspension. (8) There shall be no appeal from a decision of the Pastoral Committee under this Standing Order, but without prejudice to: (i) fresh recourse to the procedures of this Standing Order on the basis of facts not previously existing or not previously known; (ii) the right to apply for the discharge, variation or extension of any subsisting suspension on the ground of change of material circumstances. (9) Any application under clause (8) (ii) above shall be made to the responsible officer unless there has been an earlier reference, appeal or application to the Pastoral Committee under clause (4) or (5) above or this clause, in which case it shall be made to the Pastoral Committee. Application may be by the office-holder or by any two persons, being ministers or members, or (if to the Pastoral Committee) by the responsible officer. The office-holder or the applicants may appeal to the Pastoral Committee against any decision of the responsible officer on such an application. (10) The Pastoral Committee may be differently constituted on different references, applications or appeals. (11) When a minister, probationer, deaconess or deacon is suspended under this Standing Order the Circuit or other body responsible shall continue to provide his or her stipend and pay all expense allowances [. . .] which are of a continuing nature, but not those for expenses which cease during suspension, until the suspension ceases, and he or she shall for the same period be entitled to continue residing in the manse or other accommodation provided. Any Circuit or other body making any payment or providing any accommodation under this clause may apply for a discretionary payment [. . .] under Standing Order 365 (7). (12) Clauses (3) to (11) of this Standing Order do not apply to cases governed by clause 31 or clause 42(c) of the Deed of Union. These clauses relate to the unfitness of the President, Vice- President or Secretary of the Conference or the Chairman of a District (Book II, Part 1). See clauses (13) to (15) below. (13) For the purposes of clause 31 of the Deed of Union: (i) any issue whether the President, Vice-President, Secretary or Secretary-Elect of the Conference is incapable of acting or unfit to act on grounds not apt to be the subject of a charge within Section 02 shall be determined by the Methodist Council Executive, in this clause called the executive'; (ii) if the responsible officer believes that the President, Vice-President, Secretary or Secretary-Elect of the Conference is so incapable or unfit he or she shall refer the matter to the executive; (iii) any two persons, being ministers or members, may request the responsible officer in writing to exercise his or her powers under (ii) above and, if dissatisfied with the response, may refer the matter to the executive; (iv) the President, Vice-President, Secretary or Secretary-Elect may appeal to the Methodist Council against any decision by the executive that he or she is incapable of acting or unfit to act; (v) on any reference or appeal under (ii), (iii) or (iv) above the executive or the council, as the case may be, shall determine its own procedure, and on any such appeal the decision of the council shall be final; (vi) the power to suspend the President, Vice-President, Secretary or Secretary-Elect of the Conference from all or any of his or her functions pending determination of any such issue shall be exercisable by the responsible officer; (vii) the committee to fill a casual vacancy not otherwise filled shall be the Methodist Council. (14) For the purposes of clause 42 (c) and (d) of the Deed of Union: (i) any issue whether a Chairman is incapable of acting or unfit to act on grounds not apt to be the subject of a charge within Section 02 shall be determined by the Pastoral Committee; (ii) if the responsible officer believes that a Chairman is so incapable or unfit he or she shall refer the matter to the Pastoral Committee; (iii) any two persons, being ministers or members, may request the responsible officer in writing to exercise his or her powers under (ii) above and if dissatisfied with the response, may refer the matter to the Pastoral Committee; (iv)on any reference to the Pastoral Committee under (ii) or (iii) above it shall determine its own procedure and its decision shall be final; (v) the power to suspend a Chairman from all or any of his or her functions pending determination of any such issue shall be exercisable by the responsible officer. (15) For the purposes of clauses (13) and (14) above the responsible officer' in relation to the Vice-President, Secretary or Secretary-Elect of the Conference or a Chairman means the President and in relation to the President means the former President who most recently held office as such and is able and willing to act.
014 Gambling and other Activities. (1) It is not permissible in any circumstances to raise funds for Church purposes by any form of gambling which could not be permitted on Methodist premises under Standing Order 924. (2) Entertainments and diversions forbidden on Methodist premises by Standing Orders 925 and 927 shall not be held elsewhere in the name of the Church and no entertainment inconsistent with Standing Order 927(1) may be arranged by any Methodist organisation. (3) Activities relating to intoxicants and forbidden on Methodist premises by Standing Order 922 shall not take place elsewhere in the name of the Church
015 Archives. (1) All minute books, account books, baptismal and burial registers, and any other records relating to district, circuit and local church affairs which are deemed worthy of permanent preservation by the district archivist and recipient archivists, when no longer needed for current reference in the conduct of business, shall be deposited on permanent loan with a public authority having appropriate repository facilities, and the connexional archives liaison officer shall be informed. [. . .] As to certain connexional records see S.O. 125. As to district minutes see also S.O. 415. As to the functions of the district archivist see S.O. 473 As to the connexional committee see S.O. 337. (1A) Connexional records no longer needed for current use and worthy of permanent preservation shall be deposited on similar terms in the connexional archives. In the process of deciding what records should be so deposited the managing trustees or other persons responsible for them shall obtain and take into account the advice of the Archives and History Committee. (2) The responsibility for supervising and arranging the deposit of circuit and local church records shall rest with the Superintendent. The responsibility for district records shall rest with the Chairman. The responsibility for [. . .] connexional records shall rest with the relevant [. . .] secretary or convener [. . .]. (3) Unless the deposited material has already been made public, and subject to clauses (3A) and (3B) below, there shall be a restriction of thirty years on access, except where the responsible supervisor for the time being otherwise informs the depositee in writing, either on the occasion of the deposit or subsequently. Any variation may lengthen, shorten, remove or suspend the restriction otherwise applicable and may be general or relate to specific documents or categories of documents or to inspection by specific persons. (3A) A restriction of seventy five years on access shall apply to records of a confidential nature, including correspondence, papers and machine-readable records containing personal details of a sensitive nature relating to individuals in respect of complaints, disciplinary procedures, interviews, invitations, stationing, pastoral matters, case- studies and assessment files, and the responsible supervisor shall inform the depositee accordingly whenever such records are deposited. (3B) Notwithstanding clauses (3) and (3A) above records deposited before the 1st September 1994 shall continue to be subject to the same restrictions as applied on the 31st August 1994, but without prejudice to the power to vary those restrictions in accordance with clause (3). For the restrictions applying on 31st August 1994 see S.O. 015(3) in the 1993 revision of this volume. (4) Nothing in this Standing Order derogates from the rights and duties of the owners of any records or of the managing trustees of any records which are Model Trust property, including their rights of access.
016 Nominations. Where provision is made in these Standing Orders for the nomination or proposal of a name or names by a committee or officer to an appointing or nominating body for appointment or nomination respectively by that body then in the absence of provision to the contrary members of that body may add other names before the vote takes place and unless some other procedure is specified may do so orally when the business is called. For an example of a provision specifying some other procedure see S.O. 131(4)(a).
016A Single Transferable Vote (1) When the Conference or any other body is required by Standing Order to hold an election by single transferable vote or resolves to do so (as it may at any time unless Standing Orders require otherwise) it shall be done in accordance with this Standing Order. Elections are required to be held by single transferable vote under S.O. 103(2) (Conference-elected representatives) and 110(6) (President and Vice-President). (2) The name of every candidate shall be listed on the ballot paper. Every voter shall enter on the ballot paper the number 1 against the name of the candidate to whom he or she gives first preference, and may enter further numbers (2,3 and so on) against the names of some or all of the other candidates in order of preference. No voter may place more than one number against any name, nor the same number against more than one name; a voting paper shall not be valid unless the voter's first preference is clearly expressed, and no preference shall be effective which is expressed in breach of this clause or is lower than one which is so expressed. (3) When the number of valid voting papers has been counted the number necessary to obtain the required majority shall be determined, and, unless some specified majority greater than a clear majority is required by the Deed of Union or Standing Orders, shall be calculated by dividing the total number of valid voting papers by one more than the number of places to be filled, and taking the number, to two decimal places, next above the exact quotient. (4) The candidate or candidates (if any) who have the required majority of first preference votes are thereby elected. (5) Subject to clause (4) above vacancies shall be filled by the transfer of votes in accordance with the following clauses, and after each transfer the further candidate or candidates (if any) who have the required majority of votes are thereby elected. (5A) Any candidate who has died, withdrawn or become ineligible for election or incapable of acting is thereby excluded, and the returning officer's ruling on any question of ineligibility or incapacity shall be final. (6) If at any time there is no elected candidate, or none has more than the required majority of votes remaining, then the unelected candidate with the fewest votes is thereby excluded or, if there is a tie, the tied candidate with the fewest first preference votes or if there is still a tie the candidate with the fewest second preference votes, and so on through successive preferences until the tie is broken, or if there is ultimately a tie throughout the preferences then the tied candidate chosen by lot to be excluded. (6A) The votes of a candidate excluded under clause (5A) or (6) above shall be transferred in accordance with the provisions of clauses (8) and (9) below unless the number of continuing candidates after that exclusion is equal to the remaining vacancies, in which case they are all thereby elected. (7) If at any time one or more elected candidates have more than the required majority of votes then the surplus shall be transferred in accordance with the provisions of clauses (8) and (10) below, taking first the candidate with the largest surplus, and if there is a tie casting lots. (8) A transferred vote shall go to the continuing candidate with the highest effective preference on the voting paper. If there is no such candidate the voting paper is not available for transfer of votes. (9) Votes transferred from an excluded candidate under clause (6A) above are transferred at face value. (10) The transfer of surplus votes from an elected candidate under clause (7) above is effected by transferring all the available voting papers in the batch most recently allocated to that candidate, but at a reduced value in votes obtained by taking the face value of each such voting paper before the current transfer, multiplied by the number of surplus votes for that candidate and divided by the face value of all the voting papers (available for transfer or not) in that batch. The value of each transferred voting paper shall be calculated as exactly as is reasonably practicable and the total number of votes transferred to each recipient shall be rounded down in the second decimal place if necessary. (11) The face value of a voting paper shall initially be one vote, and at any time thereafter shall be one vote or the fractional part of a vote which it carries by virtue of the operation up to that time of clauses (9) and (10) above, and which shall be endorsed on its face or on the face of a bundle of equally valued voting papers. (12) In the above clauses, for the avoidance of doubt and, if required, by way of interpretation: (i) effective' in relation to a preference has the meaning given in clause (2); (iA) valid voting papers' means all voting papers completed in accordance with clause (2) except any which express only preferences for one or more candidates who have all at the relevant time become liable to be excluded for one of the reasons specified in clause (5A); (ii) required majority' has the meaning given in clause (3); (iii) a continuing' candidate is one who at the relevant time has not been elected or excluded; (iv) available' in relation to the transfer of votes has the meaning given in clause (8); (v) face value' has the meaning given in clause (11); (vi) the batch' of voting papers most recently allocated to' a candidate means the voting papers comprised in the most recent transfer of votes to that candidate or, if there has been no such transfer, that candidate's first preference voting papers; (vii) all references importing a numerical value to votes are to the total value in votes or parts of votes at the relevant time of the relevant voting papers, calculated in accordance with the provisions of clauses (9) to (11) (13) Every voting paper shall carry the following instructions: Enter the figure 1 against the name of one candidate to whom you give your first preference. Enter the figures 2, 3 and so on, against the names of other candidates in order of your preference for them, until you are indifferent as between the remaining candidates whom you have not marked. These second and subsequent choices will be taken into account only if your higher preferences have more votes than they need to be elected (and there is more than one place to be filled) or have been excluded through insufficient support. Do not vote with an X.' (14) When the election is declared, the returning officer shall provide a written statement of the calculations upon which it has been based. 017 Annotations. The annotations to these Standing Orders in small type are inserted for information and assistance only; they are not part of the Standing Orders and except where otherwise stated have no authority, save that the notes to the Agendas of particular meetings and committees in Part 10 are authorised by the Conference.
017A MMS Constitution. These Standing Orders shall be read and construed in conjunction with the Constitution of the Methodist Missionary Society, as approved and authorised by the Conference, but in the case of any conflict between the provisions of that constitution and those of Standing Orders concerning discipline, then in relation to ministers in full connexion, probationers, deaconesses and deacons, local preachers and members of the Methodist Church the latter shall prevail. See also Art. 17 of the constitution in Book IV B, Part 3.
018 Employment of Lay Persons. (1) This Standing Order applies to all connexional, district, circuit and local bodies of the Church and all other bodies under the authority of the Conference insofar as any such body employs lay persons. (2) Every such body shall comply with the legislation for the time being in force governing the supply to each employee of documents and information as to the terms of employment, and with the relevant Standing Orders. The principal statutory requirements at present are that every employee must be given a written statement of the main terms and conditions of the employment. For the relevant Standing Orders see in particular S.O. 438A and note also S.O. 462, 570-3, 575, 670-2. (3) Every such body shall publish and implement an equal opportunities policy statement substantially to the effect of that distributed under Standing Order 438A(3)(iv).
019 Data Protection Act, 1984. All connexional, district, circuit and local bodies storing personal data by electronic means shall register under the above Act through the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes group registration or, where that is not sufficiently comprehensive, directly with the Data Protection Registrar.
020 General. (1) In this Section and in other provisions of these Standing Orders relating to discipline, unless the context otherwise requires, charge' means a charge against a person involving his or her standing in relation to the Church, but does not include matters falling solely within Section 03 or Standing Orders 564 to 567, and party' (except in Standing Orders 023 and 024) means the person charged or proposed to be charged or the person bringing the charge or proposing that it be brought. (2) A charge may be brought on the ground of any breach of the discipline of the Church, as contained in the Deed of Union, Standing Orders or the usage of the Church, or on the ground of any words, acts or omissions incompatible with the office or standing of the person charged in relation to the Church. (3) In addition to complying with the specific requirements of these Standing Orders all persons concerned in disciplinary proceedings shall at all times have regard to the general principle that persons against whom a charge is being pursued should have adequate opportunity of meeting that charge and dealing with the evidence against them and should receive a fair hearing by the church court which is to decide the case. (4) (a) Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in these Standing Orders no person shall sit as a member of any church court deciding a disciplinary charge or appeal who is or has been involved as a party to the case, or has sat on any inquiry under Standing Order 022 into the subject matter, or has sat on any church court at an earlier hearing of the case or any connected case, or who has any personal interest in the outcome, or who has received in confidence information relevant to the case, or who has sat on a Pastoral Committee under Standing Order 013 concerning a party, or who by reason of close friendship or relationship with a party or otherwise might or might reasonably be supposed to be open to partiality or embarrassment in adjudicating. (b) If, by reason of the operation of sub-clause (a) above or otherwise, any church court would for the hearing of the case have less than five members then for the purposes of that hearing the Chairman (in the case of local or circuit courts) or the President (in the case of connexional courts) shall appoint additional members to bring the court to a membership of five. (c) Subject to sub-clause (b) above, no proceeding or decision of any court shall be invalidated by reason of its consisting, as constituted for any particular case, of less than the number of persons specified in these Standing Orders, whether by reason of illness, disqualification or any other cause. (d) No person shall sit as a member of any inquiry team or church court deciding a disciplinary charge or appeal who is under 18 years of age and, subject to the provision in Standing Order 028(6) relating to ecumenical pastoral committees, no person shall sit as a member of any inquiry team or court who is not a member of the Methodist Church. (5) Except as otherwise specifically provided in these Standing Orders every church court hearing a disciplinary charge or appeal shall have power to regulate its own procedure in the light of the principle set out in clause (3) above. (6) If charges or appeals arising out of the same or similar facts or connected with the same subject matter are pending against two or more persons before more than one church court, the courts concerned shall have power, subject to clauses (3) and (4) above, to sit jointly to hear some or all of the evidence or reports and of the arguments and to consult together. Each court shall reach its own decisions separately on the evidence relevant to the charge or appeal before it. This clause is permissive only and the bounds set by the words subject to clauses (3) and (4) above' and by the last sentence will be noted. This procedure cannot properly be used merely for administrative convenience or even out of pastoral concern if the principles of natural justice embodied in clauses (3) and (4) are in consequence discarded or a charge decided otherwise than on all and only the evidence relevant to it and properly received for or against the person charged. It will not normally be found feasible to combine two hearings at different stages (e.g. an initial hearing of one case with an appeal in another) or of different kinds (e.g. an appeal by way of rehearing with an appeal by way of report). (7) In all church courts separate minutes shall be kept for cases of discipline. In the case of local, ecumenical and circuit Pastoral Committees and Local Preachers' Meetings they shall be in the care of the Superintendent, who shall be responsible for their safe custody and for guarding their confidential nature. All records of [. . .] inquiries held under this Section or [. . .] of hearings before connexional courts under this Section or Section 03 and all records relating to the resignation, discontinuance or discipline of ministers, probationers, deaconesses and deacons and those in training for the ministry or the diaconate shall be deposited with the Secretary of the Conference for safe custody. (8) Any person who is or has been a member of any church court or inquiry team dealing with a charge or complaint under this Section shall observe at all times the confidentiality of those proceedings.
021 Suspension. (1) When a charge is proposed under Standing Order 022 or brought under Standing Order 027 or 028, the responsible officer, as defined in Standing Order 022(2), or the Superintendent, as the case may be, shall have power to suspend the person charged from all or any of his or her functions as a minister, deaconess, deacon, local preacher, member, probationer (ministerial or diaconal) or student (ministerial or diaconal) or from the exercise of any or every office in the Church, and to lift or vary any such suspension. (2) Similar powers shall also arise where criminal charges are pending against a person within the scope of clause (1) above of such a kind that in the event of conviction that person's standing in relation to the Church might require to be reviewed, and such powers shall be exercisable by the person who would be required to take any necessary action as responsible officer or Superintendent in that event. (3) These powers shall be additional and without prejudice to any power of suspension which may arise or have arisen under Standing Order 013 and a suspension validly in force under any of these provisions may continue notwithstanding the termination of that imposed under another. (4) The power conferred under clause (1) above shall continue until either: (i) a connexional inquiry team has declined to lay a charge and, as the case may be, the appeal, if any, under Standing Order 022(9) has been rejected or the time for the complainant to act in person under Standing Order 022(11) has expired, or (ii) a competent church court has dismissed the charge, either at first instance or on appeal, and leave to appeal against that dismissal has been refused or the time for appeal has expired, or (iii) any judgment reached has taken effect. (5) The power conferred under clause (2) above and any suspension in force under it shall cease if the person prosecuted is acquitted or, after he or she has been convicted, a decision is taken in accordance with the provisions of this Section not to proceed with any charge, but otherwise any such suspension shall continue after conviction as if made under clause (1) above, and the provisions of that clause and clause (4) above shall apply accordingly. (6) When a person within the scope of Standing Order 751(1) is suspended under clause (1) or (2) above, the Circuit or other body responsible for provision of the stipend shall continue to provide that stipend and pay all expense allowances [. . .] which are of a continuing nature, but not those for expenses which cease during suspension, until the suspension ceases or the expiration of the quarter during which the initial hearing of the charge occurs, whichever is the earlier, and he or she shall for the same period be entitled to continue residing in the manse or diaconal accommodation. (7) When such a person is or may be so suspended the Discipline Committee conducting the initial hearing shall direct what payments, if any, by way of stipend or allowances shall be made, and what accommodation, if any, provided, during any period of suspension which may occur after the expiration of that dealt with by clause (6) above. All payments so directed shall be made out of the Methodist Church Fund under Standing Order 365(6), and any Circuit or other body making or providing for any payment or providing any accommodation under clause (6) above or this clause may also apply for a discretionary payment from the fund under Standing Order 365(7).
022 Ministerial and Diaconal Charges: Initiation and connexional Inquiry. (1) The provisions of this Standing Order apply when any person proposes that a formal charge should be laid against any of the following persons: (i) a minister or probationer; (ii) a student in training for the ministry; (iii) a deaconess or deacon (including a probationer); (iv) a student in training for the Methodist Diaconal Order. (2) (a) For the purposes of this and the next Standing Order the responsible officer' shall, subject to sub-clauses (b) to (d) below, be the Chairman of the District in which the person charged is a member of the Synod or (if he or she is not a member of any Synod) of a District nominated by the President ( the District involved') provided that in all cases [. . .] where the person who would otherwise be the responsible officer is the complainant under clause (3) below the President shall appoint another minister in full connexion to be the responsible officer. (b) Where a charge is proposed against a person under head (i) or (iii) of clause (1) above who is stationed or resides outside the home Districts and either: (i) he or she is not a member of a Synod under the Conference or under the Irish or another autonomous Conference nor subject to the discipline of another church, or (ii) he or she is charged in relation to matters alleged to have arisen in the home Districts, or (iii) the charge has not been, and is not expected to be, entertained by a competent church court outside the home Districts, or such a court has referred the case to the Church or has declined to reach a decision as to whether the charge is proved or as to the action to be taken or both, the responsible officer' shall be the secretary of the [. . .] Methodist Missionary Society. (c) Where a charge is proposed against a person under head (ii) of clause (1) above, the responsible officer' shall be the secretary of the Ministerial Candidates and Probationers' Oversight Committee, or a person nominated by him or her to act in that behalf. (d) Where a charge is proposed against a person under head (iv) of clause (1) above, the responsible officer' shall be the Warden of the Order.
(3) The person proposing that a formal charge should be laid ( the complainant') shall request the responsible officer to initiate the procedure laid down in this Standing Order. Any such request shall be made in writing and shall indicate the general nature of the complaint being made. Any other person to whom such a request is officially made shall ensure that it is passed forthwith to the responsible officer. Where the person who would otherwise be the responsible officer proposes such a charge he or she shall first inform the President of the need to act in accordance with clause 2(a) above. (4) On receiving such a request the responsible officer shall consider whether it would be appropriate to use the pastoral consultation process referred to in clause (12) below, and if so shall initiate it. (5) Where the responsible officer does not consider such consultation appropriate, or the complainant or person complained of refuses to accept the offer of such consultation, or after such consultation the complainant indicates an intention to proceed with the complaint, then the responsible officer shall refer the complaint to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for inquiries, who shall thereupon inform the person complained of (if not already so informed) that the complaint has been made. (6) If, as a result of litigation (civil, criminal, matrimonial or otherwise) or other matter of public knowledge, in respect of which no charge has been proposed by the responsible officer or any other person, the responsible officer nevertheless considers that a person's standing in relation to the Church should be reviewed, then the responsible officer shall refer the matter to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for inquiries, who shall inform the person concerned that the reference has been made. (7) Upon receiving a reference under clause (5) or (6) above or under Standing Order 040(12), the convener shall thereupon arrange for the matter to be investigated by an inquiry team consisting of three members of the connexional panel, and shall appoint one of those members as convener of the inquiry team. The membership shall include in all cases at least one person with appropriate legal expertise, and, where the complaint involves a possible issue of doctrine, at least one person with appropriate theological expertise. S.O. 040(12) concerns discovery of ground for a charge by a committee investigating incompetence. (8) Except where the inquiry team decides at the outset, in accordance with clause (9) below, that no further steps should be taken, they shall proceed to investigate the matter in order to determine whether a formal charge should be laid and, if so, upon what grounds. Such investigations shall normally include an interview with the complainant, if any, and the person under investigation [. . .]. Those persons shall be notified of the date at which the inquiry is expected to be completed and of any unexpected delay. (9) The inquiry team may decide, before beginning their investigation of the substance of the matter, that no further steps should be taken on the grounds that the matters complained of do not come within the scope of Standing Order 020(2) or that the proposed charge is frivolous or vexatious or otherwise an abuse of the disciplinary process, having regard among other matters to the length of time since the events in question and to whether the substance of the matter appears to have been adjudicated upon previously. If they decide on these grounds that no further steps should be taken, their convener shall send a copy of the decision to the complainant, the person complained of, the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for inquiries and the Secretary of the Conference, who shall notify the person complained of that the appeal has been brought. The complainant may within one week of receiving notice of such decision appeal by notice in writing to the Secretary of the Conference. The appeal shall be considered by an ex-President or ex-Vice- President appointed by the President, with power either to uphold the decision of the inquiry team or to refer the complaint back to the team for further investigation in accordance with clause (8) above. Where the decision of the inquiry team is upheld, the complainant shall not be entitled to take any further steps [. . .] towards bringing a charge upon his or her own initiative. (10) If, after investigation, the inquiry team decides that a charge should be laid, their convener [. . .] shall formulate the terms of the charge, specifying the words, acts or omissions complained of and, in the case of a charge concerning doctrine, the doctrine from which departure is alleged. The convener shall send to the complainant, the person to be charged and the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Discipline Committees a copy of this charge, together with a statement of such facts as have been agreed by the parties concerned during the investigation process and a memorandum of such matters as remain in dispute. (11) If, after investigation, the inquiry team decide that no charge should be laid, either on the substance of the matter or on the grounds that what is alleged does not come within the scope of Standing Order 020(2) or that the proposed charge is frivolous or vexatious or otherwise an abuse of the disciplinary process, they may recommend that no further action be taken. Alternatively they may recommend, where appropriate, that the responsible officer should initiate the pastoral consultation process referred to in clause (12) below if not already used. The convener [. . .] shall send a copy of this decision, including any recommendations made, to the complainant, the person complained of, the convener of the Panel responsible and the Secretary of the Conference. No appeal shall lie against the inquiry team s decision under this clause, but the complainant may nevertheless proceed, at his or her own expense, to bring a charge upon his or her own initiative. In such a case the complainant shall formulate its terms, specifying the matters referred to in clause (10) above, and shall supply written copies thereof to the person charged and the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Discipline Committees within two weeks of receipt of the written copy of the inquiry team s decision, or, where a pastoral consultation is held in consequence of the decision, within one month of the consultation's having taken place. (12) Where, in accordance with clauses (4) or (11) above, the pastoral consultation process is to be used, the responsible officer shall initiate it by appointing such person or persons as he or she thinks suitable to offer pastoral counsel to the parties involved with a view to resolving the issues. In order that the counsellor or group may be consulted freely and in confidence they shall undertake not to take part in any subsequent proceedings in any connexional inquiry or church court on the charge. The parties shall observe the confidence of the consultation; their obligations in this regard shall be explained to them when they first meet the counsellor or group and nothing said or done during the consultation shall be reported to any connexional inquiry or admissible in evidence before any church court except by the agreement of both parties and the counsellor or person convening the group, but this provision shall not operate to exclude evidence which has come into existence independently of the consultation, even if considered or referred to in the course of it.
023 Ministerial and Diaconal Charges: initial Hearing by Discipline Committee. (1) The provisions of this Standing Order apply where a charge is laid against a person under Standing Order 022. (2) For the purposes of this Standing Order: (i) the person bringing the charge' is, in the case of charges brought under Standing Order 022(10), the convener of the inquiry team, and, in the case of charges brought under Standing Order 022(11), the complainant; (ii) the parties' are the person charged, the complainant and additionally, in the case of charges brought under Standing Order 022(10), the convener of the inquiry team. (3) (a) The court of first instance shall be a connexional Discipline Committee, composed as follows: (i) in the case of a charge brought against a person under head (i) of Standing Order 022(1), other than one covered by Standing Order 022(2)(b), four persons, of whom not less than two shall be ministers, chosen from the connexional Panel and three persons, of whom not less than two shall be ministers, appointed by the Chairman of the District involved, provided that no minister who is stationed or resides in the District involved shall serve on the committee other than as convener or as one of the ministers appointed by the Chairman of the District; (ii) in the case of a charge brought against a person under head (ii) of Standing Order 022(1), seven persons, of whom not less than four shall be ministers, chosen from the connexional Panel; (iii) in the case of a charge brought against a person under head (iii) of Standing Order 022(1), other than one covered by Standing Order 022(2)(b), four persons, of whom not less than two shall be deaconesses or deacons, chosen from the connexional Panel and three persons, of whom not less than two shall be deaconesses or deacons, chosen by the Chairman of the District involved; (iv) in the case of a charge brought against a person under head (iv) of Standing Order 022(1), seven persons chosen from the connexional Panel, including not less than four deaconesses or deacons; (v) where clause (2)(b) of Standing Order 022 applies, four persons chosen from the connexional Panel and three persons chosen from the World Church Committee [. . .] by the [. . .] secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society, including in the total not less than four ministers where a minister is charged and not less than four deaconesses or deacons where a deaconess or deacon is charged. (b) Where under sub-clause (a) above persons are to be chosen from the connexional Panel, they shall be chosen by the relevant convener of the panel and shall include a convener or deputy convener of the panel, who shall act as reporting officer, and an ex-President, who shall chair the committee. (4) On receiving a charge laid in accordance with clause (10) or (11) of Standing Order 022, the reporting officer of the appropriate court of first instance shall ascertain who will, subject to clause (5) below, be the members of the court, arranging for any selections or appointments necessary for that purpose and taking account of any known disqualifications under Standing Order 020(4), and shall then inform the parties of the membership of the court and of their rights under clause (5) below. (5) If any party objects under Standing Order 020(4) to any member of the court he or she shall within seven days of being informed of its membership submit the objection in writing, with reasons, to the reporting officer, who shall, after making such enquiries as he or she thinks fit rule on it. A ruling sustaining the objection shall be final but an objection which is not sustained by the reporting officer may be renewed before the court itself when it first sits, provided that the party has notified the reporting officer at least seven days beforehand of such intention. A party who knows of facts amounting to a ground of objection under Standing Order 020(4) but does not object within the first above period of seven days shall be deemed to have waived the objection. Any member of the court who comes to know of any reason under S.O. 020(4) for not sitting will of course disqualify himself or herself whether or not there is an objection. (6) (a) On receiving a charge laid in accordance with Standing Order 022(11), the reporting officer shall, subject to sub- clause (b) below, obtain from the complainant and supply to the person charged a copy of any documents which the complainant intends to place before the court and such further particulars, if any, of the charge as the reporting officer thinks necessary to enable the person charged to be aware of the nature of the case alleged. The reporting officer shall also obtain from the convener of the inquiry team such documents as the convener considers relevant to the hearing of the charge and shall supply them to the complainant and the person charged. (b) If, upon receiving such a charge, the reporting officer considers at the outset that it does not indicate clearly and in sufficient detail on what grounds it is brought, he or she shall advise the complainant accordingly and invite the complainant to submit it in a revised form within a specified time, not exceeding four weeks. The reporting officer shall encourage the complainant, where appropriate, to seek advice about formulating and presenting the charge. Upon receipt of such revised charge, or the expiration of the time specified, the reporting officer shall notify the person charged of the form of the charge and deal with the matters in sub-clause (a) above, with regard to the revised or original charge, as the case may be. (7) The reporting officer shall ensure that a person charged is aware of the right to be represented and, where the reporting officer thinks it necessary, shall encourage and assist him or her to make use of that right. If requested by the person charged, the President shall suggest the names of three persons willing to act as representatives in the case. (8) Having dealt with the above matters, the reporting officer shall convene the court, which shall not commence its hearing until at least 14 days after the reporting officer has supplied to the person charged any documents and particulars obtained in accordance with clause (6)(a) above. (9) The responsibility for presenting the case against the person charged shall lie with the person bringing the charge. All parties shall have the right to attend and be heard, and, in the case of the person charged and the complainant, to be represented. Additionally, where a charge is brought under Standing Order 022(11), the convener of the inquiry team shall have the right to attend and be heard. Where a charge is brought under that clause it shall lapse if, without good reason, neither the person bringing it nor his or her representative is present at any hearing appointed by the court. (10) The court shall investigate every charge properly before it and shall reach a decision both as to whether the charge is established and as to any action to be taken. Its decisions shall be reached solely on the charge brought and on evidence which is both presented to it and available to all the parties. The evidence shall include in all cases the written report by the inquiry team under clause (10) or (11) of Standing Order 022. The court shall have the power to adjourn its hearing from time to time, specifying in all such cases the time of resumption, and shall in particular consider whether to exercise this power, if it has found the charge to have been established, in order to receive expert evidence to assist it in deciding upon the appropriate action to be taken. Having reached its final decision, the court shall also deal with the matters specified in clauses (5) and (6) of Standing Order 025. (11) The court shall have power at its discretion to allow amendments to the wording of the charge but shall decline to do so or shall adjourn the hearing if to allow the amendment without adjournment would be unfairly prejudicial to the person charged. (12) The reporting officer shall take notes of the oral evidence received by the court and of its findings on that evidence and those notes, with any documents received in evidence by the court, shall form the basis of its report in the case of an appeal. (13) Subject to Standing Order 026(3), the court shall have power, on finding a charge proved, to adjudge that the person charged shall, as the case may be, cease to be a minister in full connexion or member of the Methodist Diaconal Order, or shall not continue on probation or in training, or be without appointment at his or her own charges or become a supernumerary or retire, shall not resume or shall lose the status of a local preacher and shall cease to be a member, or shall suffer some lesser penalty. (13A) In every case where the court adjudges that the person shall cease to be a minister in full connexion or member of the Methodist Diaconal Order, or shall not continue on probation or in training, it shall make a declaration as to the status of the person as a local preacher and member. (14) The decision of the court shall be communicated immediately to the President of the Conference, the responsible officer and the parties, and additionally: (i) in cases against persons under head (i) or (ii) of Standing Order 022(1), to his or her Superintendent; (ii) in cases against persons under head (ii) or (iv) thereof, to the principal of the student's college, or, where the student is training on a course not attached to such a college, to the tutor appointed under Standing Order 713(3);
(iii) in cases against persons under head (iii) thereof, to the Warden of the Methodist Diaconal Order. The communication to the parties shall be made orally and shall subsequently be confirmed in writing, accompanied by the relevant information about their entitlement to appeal under these Standing Orders.
024 Ministerial and Diaconal Charges: Appeal to Appeal Committee. (1) An appeal by way of report and without any rehearing or further evidence (except evidence admitted under clause (4)(vi) below) shall lie from the decision of a court under Standing Order 023(10) to a connexional Appeal Committee. (2) Such Appeal Committee shall consist of seven persons, chosen from the connexional Panel by the relevant convener, and shall include a convener or deputy convener of the panel, who shall act as reporting officer, and an ex-President, who shall chair the committee. No person shall serve on the committee who was a member of the court which made the initial decision. (3) Where an appeal is brought concerning a person under head (i) or (ii) of Standing Order 022(1) the committee shall contain not less than four ministers. Where an appeal is brought concerning a person under head (iii) or (iv) thereof the committee shall contain not less than four members of the Methodist Diaconal Order. (4) An appeal may be brought upon any one or more of the following grounds: (i) that there was a material procedural irregularity in the initial hearing; (ii) that the court made a mistake about a relevant point of law or of the constitution or discipline of the church; (iii) that the court erred in its conclusion as to whether such of the words, acts or omissions complained of as it has found to have been established amount to a breach of the discipline of the Church or are incompatible with the office or standing of the person charged in relation to the Church; (iv) that the court erred in its interpretation of the doctrines of the Church; (v) that the penalty imposed was too severe or too lenient, as being either disproportionate to the gravity of the charge as found proved, or unjustly inconsistent with that previously imposed in similar cases; (vi) that, in the light of events occurring since the decision, or of evidence of which the appellant could not reasonably be expected to have been aware at that time, substantial doubt has been cast upon the correctness of the decision.
(5) An appeal may be made: (i) in the case of a charge brought under Standing Order 022(10), by the person charged or the convener of the inquiry team; and (ii) in the case of a charge brought under Standing Order 022(11), only by the person charged. For the purposes of this Standing Order, the parties shall be the person charged and the person bringing the charge as defined by Standing Order 023(2), but in an appeal made under head (ii) above the convener of the inquiry team shall have the right to attend and be heard. (6) (a) An appeal shall be made by giving written notice thereof to the Secretary of the Conference within two weeks of receipt of the written communication of the court s decision. At the time of giving such notice or within two weeks thereafter the appellant shall supply to the Secretary a written statement indicating on which of the grounds specified in clause (4) above the appeal is brought and the specific nature of the error, omission or other matter relied upon for each such ground. The Secretary of the Conference [. . .] shall thereupon transmit the notice and statement to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Appeal Committees. (b) Where a notice or statement under sub-clause (a) above is received outside the specified time limits the Secretary shall nevertheless transmit it to the convener, together with a note of the date of its receipt and any explanation furnished for the delay. The convener shall have discretion, taking into account all the circumstances, either to deal with it as if it had been given or supplied in time in time or to refer it to the President and Secretary, who shall decide whether the appeal should be entertained. (7) Where no party has appealed, but the President, having consulted with the Ex-President and the Secretary of the Conference, considers that the penalty imposed should be reconsidered upon ground (v) of clause (4) above, he or she may, within three weeks of receipt of the written communication of the court's decision, refer it to the relevant convener of the panel, who shall thereupon arrange for the matter to be dealt with by a connexional Appeal Committee as if an appeal had been made by one of the parties upon that ground, but no person shall be regarded as the appellant for the purposes of this Standing Order. The reference shall be in writing, setting out the reasons for seeking such reconsideration. (8) Upon receipt of an appeal or reference, the convener shall thereupon ascertain who will, subject to the provisions of clause (9) below, be the members of the committee, taking into account any known disqualifications under Standing Order 020(4), and shall then inform the parties of the membership of the committee and of their rights under clause (9) below. (9) The provisions of Standing Order 023(5) shall apply as if the Appeal Committee were the court of first instance.
(10) At the hearing of the appeal the parties shall have the right to attend, to be heard and to be represented. If, without good reason, neither the appellant nor his or her representative is present at any hearing appointed by the committee the appeal shall be dismissed. (11) (a) Unless an appeal is dismissed under clause (10) above the reporting officer of the Discipline Committee concerned shall first summarise the evidence and report the findings and decision of that committee. The appellant and/or his or her representative may then address the Appeal Committee, followed by any of the other parties present and/or their representatives. The appellant or his or her representative shall have the right of reply, but limited to answering points made by the respondent(s). The parties and their representatives shall then retire and the person presiding over the committee shall remind it that it is acting in a judicial capacity and that its decision must be taken solely on the material already presented, and that an appeal may be allowed only upon one or more of the grounds set out in clause (4) above. (b) Where the hearing is upon a reference under clause (7) above, the Appeal Committee shall adapt the procedure set out in sub-clause (a) above as appropriate. The convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Discipline Committees shall attend in addition to the reporting officer of the Discipline Committee concerned, in order to provide information relevant to the grounds upon which the written reference is made. (12) The Appeal Committee may decide to dismiss the appeal or to uphold the appeal wholly or in part. Where the committee decides to uphold the appeal it may either substitute its own decision as to whether or not the charge is found to be proved and/or as to the penalty to be imposed or, where it thinks it more appropriate, refer the whole matter back to a newly constituted Discipline Committee for a re-hearing. It shall also deal with the matters specified in clauses (5) (where relevant) and (6) of Standing Order 025 and clause (13A) of Standing Order 023. (13) Standing Order 023(14) shall apply to the communication of the decision of the Appeal Committee. (14) Where the Appeal Committee decides to refer the matter back for re-hearing under clause (12) above, the reporting officer shall also communicate this decision to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Discipline Committees, who shall thereupon arrange for the re-hearing. (15) Where a charge has been found proved and the party charged has not appealed in time, or has done so but the appeal (or further appeal under Standing Order 024A) has been wholly or partly dismissed, he or she may subsequently make application to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Appeal Committees for the case to be re- opened. This shall only be done upon the ground that, in the light of events occurring since the case was disposed of, or of evidence of which the applicant could not reasonably be expected to have been aware at that time, substantial doubt has been cast upon the decision disposing of the case. The convener shall thereupon arrange for five members of the panel not previously involved with the case to hear and consider the application. If this group considers that the applicant has established such substantial doubt it shall notify the convener, who shall thereupon arrange for a fresh hearing. No appeal shall lie against the decision of the group. (16) Where a fresh hearing is held under clause (14) or (15) above, the provisions of Standing Order 023 shall apply thereto, and, where the original charge was brought under Standing Order 022(10), the convener of that inquiry team shall continue to be treated as the person bringing the charge, but if he or she is unavailable the present convener of the connexional Panel responsible for inquiries shall so act. The decision of the court re-hearing the case shall be treated as an initial decision for the purposes of an appeal under clause (1) above.
024A Ministerial and Diaconal Charges: further Appeal to Conference. (1) (a) Subject to sub-clauses (b) and (c) below, where a decision has been reached by an Appeal Committee under Standing Order 024(12) an appeal from that decision may be made to the Conference, upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Standing Order 024(4), as if the Appeal Committee were the court conducting the initial hearing. Such appeal may be made by the person charged as of right, but by any other party to the proceedings before the Appeal Committee only with the leave of that committee granted before it disperses. (b) A decision upon a reference under Standing Order 024(7) may only be appealed from by the person charged. (c) Where an Appeal Committee decides to refer the matter back for a re-hearing, no appeal shall lie against that decision, but this shall be without prejudice to the parties' rights under Standing Order 024(16) to appeal against the decision of the court re-hearing the case. (2) Subject to clause (2A) below, the appeal shall be made by giving written notice of appeal to the Secretary of the Conference not later than two weeks from the receipt of the written communication of the decision under Standing Order 024(13). At the time of giving such notice the appellant shall supply to the Secretary a written statement containing the particulars required by Standing Order 024(6)(a). (2A) Where the decision of the Appeal Committee is made later than two weeks before the opening of the next or current Conference in its relevant session, the appellant shall give notice of appeal before such opening or within 24 hours of the oral communication of the decision, whichever is the later. Such notice may be given to the Secretary orally and shall subsequently be confirmed in writing together with an outline of the particulars required by Standing Order 024(6)(a). (3) The appeal shall lie to the Ministerial Session in cases against persons under heads (i) and (ii) of Standing Order 022(1) and to the Representative Session in other cases. The appeal shall be by way of report and without any rehearing or further evidence (except evidence admitted under Standing Order 024(4)(vi)), and clauses (10) to (13) of Standing Order 024 shall apply, with the necessary modifications, except that the Conference shall not refer the case back for a re-hearing under clause (12) thereof. (4) The appeal shall be heard in closed session and no-one may be present except members of the Conference being both entitled to vote on the business under consideration and not disqualified under Standing Order 020(4), the parties and their representatives, the reporting officer of the court appealed from, any persons whom the Conference may require to be present as advisers to the Conference or its officers, and the Secretary of the Conference, who shall be entitled to be present throughout in order to advise upon matters of procedure and practice notwithstanding any previous involvement with the case which would preclude him or her from speaking on the substance of the case or voting upon the appeal. Where the President is disqualified from sitting under Standing Order 020(4), the former President who has most recently held the office and who is present and willing to act and is not so disqualified shall act as President. Before the hearing of the appeal the President shall remind the members of the requirements of Standing Order 020(4). (5) Subject to any exercise of its power of re-consideration under Standing Order 025(5) or to a later re-opening of the case under Standing Order 024(15), the decision of the Conference shall be final, but without prejudice to Standing Orders 787A, 788 and 827.
025 Ministerial and Diaconal Charges: Reports and Supervision. (1) The provisions of this Standing Order shall apply to cases concerning persons within the scope of Standing Order 022(1). (2) When a charge has been heard and determined by a competent church court, either at first instance or on appeal, its judgment shall take effect as soon as the time for appeal or (where appropriate) further appeal has expired without the giving of notice of appeal and shall be reported to the next ensuing Conference, except that any judgment of the Conference shall have immediate effect. (3) Any report to the Conference under clause (2) above shall be made to both sessions in the case of persons within the scope of heads (i) and (ii) of Standing Order 022(1) and to the Representative Session in the case of persons within the scope of heads (iii) and (iv) thereof. Any such report to the Conference in its Representative Session and any report on appeals made to that session under clause 23(e) of the Deed of Union shall be confined to the following matters: (i) the number of charges and appeals heard and determined during the year, the numbers of charges ultimately dismissed and found proved, in whole or in part, and the nature of the orders made in the case of charges' being proved; (ii) the names of persons who have ceased to be ministers, deaconesses, deacons, probationers (ministerial or diaconal) or students (ministerial or diaconal), or have become supernumeraries or retired deaconesses or deacons as the result of such orders; (iii) the substance of any interpretation of or ruling as to doctrine involved in the determination of a doctrinal charge, whether dismissed or found proved. (4) In addition to any reports under clause (2) above a general report shall be made to the Conference in both sessions by a convener of the connexional Panel at least once every three years. This report shall deal with any questions of principle raised in the cases dealt with, but without reference to any personal details, and it shall be open to either session to debate those questions. Nothing said or resolved in any debate upon a report made under this clause or clause (2) above shall be used as grounds, under Standing Order 024(15) or otherwise, for the taking of any further steps under this Section by or against a person with regard to a case which has already been disposed of in the ordinary course. (5) Where the decision of a court finds the charge proved and directs any course of action to be taken as a result of its decision, it shall also name a person or persons who shall be responsible (in the absence of any appeal being made) for ensuring that all such directions are followed and for reporting thereon within a specified time to the relevant convener of the Panel. If the convener, on receipt of such report, is not satisfied that a direction is being properly complied with, he or she shall re-convene the court or as many members thereof as are still available, for the purpose of reconsidering the question of penalty. The person charged, any other person to whom the direction was given and the person responsible for its being followed shall have the right to address the court. The court shall have the power to give directions calculated to ensure fulfilment of its original decision or to substitute for its original decision as to penalty any other such decision which it could originally have reached, and to make such new decision either unconditionally or conditionally upon non-compliance by a specified date or time with its original decision. Any such new decision shall be subject to appeal as if it had been the original decision. (6) The court, whether on initial hearing or appeal, shall in every case determine, before it disperses, whether to direct that the outcome be officially announced. Such announcement should normally be directed where the person charged has been suspended or where it is a matter of public knowledge that a charge has been brought, and may be so directed, at the court's discretion, in other cases. The court shall determine the terms and manner of the announcement and the appropriate persons to whom it should be made (usually including the members of the Circuit Meeting in the case of a person appointed to a Circuit). When the time for appeal has expired, the reporting officer (or the Secretary of the Conference in the case of a decision by the Conference) shall be responsible for ensuring that the announcement is duly made. (7) It shall be the responsibility of the Secretary of the Conference to ensure, whenever disciplinary charges are being dealt with, that the person charged and, where relevant, the complainant, and those connected with them, are entrusted, during the process and at its conclusion, to appropriate local pastoral care.
026 Ministerial and Diaconal Charges: special Cases. (1) If it is proposed that a charge be laid against the President all functions under this Section which would otherwise be performed by the President shall be performed by the former President who most recently held office as such and is able and willing to act. (2) If it is proposed that a charge be laid against a Chairman all functions under this Section which would otherwise be performed by the Chairman shall be performed by the President. (3)(a) The procedure prescribed by the foregoing Standing Orders for the investigation and hearing of charges where the person involved is by virtue of clause 43(b), 44(b) or 45(a) of the Deed of Union for the time being recognised and regarded as a minister of the Methodist Church admitted into full connexion shall have effect subject to the [. . .] modifications set out in the following sub-clauses: (b) Charges shall be investigated and heard only in relation to matters alleged to have arisen in the home Districts, and, in the case of ministers of the Irish Conference, only if the minister concerned is appointed to a station in one of the home Districts. All other cases shall be referred to the appropriate authority of the person s own conference or church. (c) If a church court finds a charge to be proved, it shall have power to take one or more of the following actions: (i) to administer an admonishment; (ii) to recommend a change of station, if the person is available for stationing elsewhere; (iii) to determine that a person who is recognised and regarded as a minister by virtue of clause 44(b) or 45(a) of the Deed of Union be removed from the stations and thereby cease to be so recognised and regarded; (iv) in the case of persons serving on the stations by virtue of an arrangement with a conference or church overseas, to recommend to the appropriate authority of the conference or church that the person be recalled; (v) to make recommendations to the person s own conference or church concerning further action which it judges should be taken. (d) In every case under this clause the Secretary of the Conference or the President, as the case may be, shall, on receiving the report of the inquiry team s decision under Standing Order 022(11) or the decision of the church court under Standing Orders 023(14) or 024(13), or as soon as an appeal to the Conference under Standing Order 024A has been determined, send a report of the case to the appropriate authority of the person s own conference or church, including any recommendations for further action which the court determining the case may have made. (4) (a) The provisions of this clause shall apply to cases concerning persons within the scope of Standing Order 022(1). (b) If at any time the person charged or proposed to be charged gives notice of wishing to resign from the ministry or the Methodist Diaconal Order or to withdraw from probation or training under Standing Order 786 the proceedings under this Section shall be adjourned until a decision is made by the person or body with authority to do so under that Standing Order, unless the person who has given such notice requires that the complaint or charge be disposed of first under this Section. (c) If the resignation or withdrawal is accepted, no further steps shall be taken under this Section by any person in relation to the matters forming the basis of the complaint or charge. (d) If it is not accepted, the proceedings under this Section may continue. The person or body making that decision shall supply to the inquiry team or court a formal statement of the reasons together with any documentary evidence upon which the decision was based. The person responsible at the relevant stage under this Section for supplying documents shall ensure that copies of these are provided to those entitled to receive them.
027 Local Preachers: initial Hearing. (1) Any person bringing a charge against a local preacher (other than a deaconess or deacon, who shall be dealt with under Standing Orders 022 to 026 above) shall do so in writing to the Superintendent of the Circuit in which the person charged is a local preacher, specifying the words, acts or omissions complained of and, in the case of a charge concerning doctrine, the doctrine from which departure is alleged. (1B) For the purposes of this Standing Order and Standing Order 028 the responsible officer shall be the Superintendent of the Circuit in which the person charged is a local preacher or, as the case may be, a member, provided that where the Superintendent is a party to this or a connected case or has had prior knowledge of or involvement with the matter then the Chairman of the District may, upon request by the Superintendent, the person bringing the charge or the person charged or upon his or her own initiative, appoint another minister in full connexion to be the responsible officer. The Superintendent shall inform the Chairman immediately upon becoming aware that there may be grounds upon which the Chairman might so act. (2) Upon receiving the charge the responsible officer shall, unless he or she dismisses it under clause (4) below, [. . .] furnish the person charged with a copy of its terms. (3) If there are grounds for believing that a complaint has been or may be made about a person within Standing Order 022 arising out of the same or similar facts or connected with the same subject matter, the responsible officer shall consult the convener of the Panel responsible for inquiries, and shall normally delay the hearing of the charge pending the outcome of any inquiry held under that Standing Order. No appeal shall lie against such a decision to delay, nor shall any resulting delay be ground for any complaint or appeal in any proceedings arising out of the proposed charge.
(4) If it appears to the responsible officer, either from personal observation or otherwise, that the charge is frivolous or vexatious or otherwise an abuse of the disciplinary process he or she may summarily dismiss the charge, and for that purpose may have regard, among other matters, to the length of time since the events complained of and to whether the substance of the charge appears to have been adjudicated upon previously. If the charge is summarily dismissed the person bringing it may within one week appeal by written notice to the Secretary of the Conference. The appeal shall be determined by an ex-President or ex-Vice- President appointed by the President, with power either to uphold the decision of the responsible officer or to refer the charge back to be dealt with in accordance with the following clauses of this Standing Order. Where the responsible officer s decision is upheld, the person bringing the charge shall not be entitled to require any further steps to be taken under this Standing Order to deal with the charge. (5) Having dealt with the matters in clauses (2) to (4) above the responsible officer shall consider whether it would be appropriate to offer a pastoral consultation to the person bringing the charge and the person charged ( the parties ). If this offer is accepted by both parties, then the provisions of Standing Order 022(12) shall apply [. . .]. (6) Where no such pastoral consultation takes place or, after such consultation, the person bringing the charge indicates an intention to proceed, the responsible officer shall then send a copy of the charge to the secretary of the Local Preachers' Meeting. (7) If, as a result of litigation (civil, criminal, matrimonial or otherwise) or other matter of public knowledge, in respect of which no charge has been brought in accordance with clause (1) above, the responsible officer considers that a person's standing as a local preacher should be reviewed, he or she shall arrange for another minister or a local preacher (acting ex officio and not in a personal capacity) to formulate an appropriate charge, inform the person charged of its terms, send a copy to the secretary of the Local Preachers' Meeting and accept responsibility for its presentation. (8) Where a charge is laid against the secretary of a Local Preachers' Meeting, the responsible officer shall appoint another local preacher in the Circuit to perform all the functions under this and the next Standing Order which would otherwise be performed by the secretary. (9) On receiving a charge in accordance with clauses (6) or (7) above the secretary shall call a special Local Preachers' Meeting, constituted in accordance with clause (10) below, for the purpose of dealing with the charge under clause (12) below, and shall inform the parties of the membership of the meeting and of their rights under clause (11) below. The meeting shall not commence its hearing until at least 14 days after the person charged has received a copy of the terms of the charge and the membership of the meeting. (10) (a) Subject to Standing Order 020(4), the Local Preachers' Meeting shall, for the purpose of dealing with a charge, consist solely of voting members of the meeting under Standing Order 560, together with the responsible officer if not otherwise a member. (b) Where the number of persons qualified to act would be twenty or more, the membership of such meeting shall be the responsible officer, such other ministers, probationers, deaconesses and deacons, up to a maximum of seven, and such local preachers, up to a maximum of eight, as are appointed in each case by the Chairman of the District. The responsible officer shall chair the meeting. (11) If any party objects under Standing Order 020(4) to any person sitting as a member of the meeting such objection shall be made before or at the commencement of the hearing of the charge. A party who knows of facts amounting to a ground of objection but does not object by that time shall be deemed to have waived the objection. (12) The meeting shall investigate every charge properly before it and reach a decision as to whether it is established and as to any action to be taken. It shall reach its decisions solely on the charge brought, although it shall have power at its discretion to allow amendments to the wording of the charge, but shall decline to do so or shall adjourn the hearing if to allow the amendment without adjournment would be unfairly prejudicial to the person charged. Its decision shall be reached solely on evidence which is both presented to it and available to the parties, who shall have the right to attend and be represented. A charge, other than one brought ex officio, shall lapse if, without good reason, neither the person bringing it nor his or her representative is present at any hearing appointed by the meeting. (13) The meeting shall have power, on finding a charge proved, to deprive the person charged of the status of a local preacher or to impose any lesser penalty. The decision of the meeting shall be communicated immediately to the parties orally and shall subsequently be confirmed in writing, accompanied by the relevant information concerning their entitlement to appeal. (14) If the meeting decides upon deprivation of status, it shall have power to refer the case for further consideration to a local, ecumenical or circuit Pastoral Committee, constituted as the case may be under Standing Order 028(6) and (7). In such a case, once the time for appeal referred to in Standing Order 027A(1) has expired, the secretary of the meeting shall send a copy of the charge and of the findings of the meeting to the secretary of the relevant Pastoral Committee, who shall arrange for the case to be heard in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 028, clauses (8) to (11). The parties shall have the right to attend and to be represented. The Pastoral Committee shall not have power to reopen the question of whether the charge has been proved, nor to deal with status as local preacher, but shall have power to impose, as an additional penalty, any penalty which it could have imposed under Standing Order 028(11). The provisions of Standing Order 028A as to appeals shall apply to its decision. (15)(a) Where a charge is proposed relating to matters alleged to have arisen in a home District against a person who has the status of or equivalent to a local preacher in an overseas District or another conference or church overseas and who has not been admitted into membership of the Church under Standing Order 808(2) the responsible officer shall consult the Secretary of the Conference. If the appropriate authority overseas requests the Conference to deal with the charge the Secretary of the Conference shall arrange for it to be dealt with in accordance with this Standing Order by the Local Preachers Meeting of the Circuit in which the matter is alleged to have arisen or of a Circuit specified by the President. Standing Order 027A shall apply. (b) If any church court acting under this Standing Order or Standing Order 027A considers that any decision should be reached on the charge other than its dismissal or re-hearing, it shall not give any effect to its decision but shall refer it to the President, who shall transmit it forthwith to the referring authority overseas. (c) In every other case under this clause, the secretary under this Standing Order or reporting officer under Standing Order 027A shall send a report of the court s decision to the Secretary of the Conference who shall communicate its contents to the referring authority overseas.
027A Local Preachers: Appeals. (1) Either party may appeal within two weeks of receipt of the written communication of the decision under Standing Order 027(13), by giving written notice of appeal to the Secretary of the Conference. Where the decision appealed against deprives the person charged of status as a local preacher, that status shall be or remain suspended until the appeal is disposed of. (2) The Secretary of the Conference, upon receiving such a notice, shall send it to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Discipline Committees, who shall arrange for it to be heard by a connexional Discipline Committee. The committee shall be composed of four persons, including one to chair the committee, chosen from the connexional [. . .] Panel by the convener and three persons appointed by the Chairman of the District in which the person charged is a member, and shall include in its total at least three local preachers. The reporting officer and convener of the committee shall be a convener or deputy convener of the connexional Panel. (2A) Where the notice of appeal is given outside the time limit specified in clause (1) above the provisions of Standing Order 024(6)(b) shall apply, the convener for this purpose being the convener of the Panel responsible for Discipline Committees. (3) The appeal shall be dealt with by way of a re- hearing and the provisions of Standing Order 023(4) to (12) shall apply with the necessary modifications. The committee shall have power to impose any penalty which could have been imposed by the Local Preachers' Meeting under Standing Order 027(13) and/or by a Pastoral Committee under clause (14) thereof. (4) When the committee has made its decision, it shall communicate it immediately to the parties [. . .], the Superintendent and the secretary of the Local Preachers' Meeting, which shall give effect to the decision. The communication to the parties shall be made orally and shall subsequently be confirmed in writing, accompanied by the relevant information about their entitlement to appeal under these Standing Orders. (5) An appeal shall lie from the decision of the committee to the Conference in its Representative Session, upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Standing Order 024(4), as if the committee were the court conducting the initial hearing. The person charged may appeal as of right, but the person bringing the charge only with the leave of the committee, granted before it disperses. Any appeal shall be made by giving written notice to the Secretary of the Conference, stating on which of the grounds the appeal is brought and the specific nature of the error, omission or other matter relied upon on each ground. Such notice shall be given not later than two weeks from the receipt of the written communication of the decision, unless the decision is made later than two weeks before the opening of the next or current Conference, [. . .] in its Representative Session [. . .]. In such a case notice of appeal shall be given before such opening or within 24 hours of the oral communication of the decision, whichever is the later, and may be given to the Secretary orally, to be subsequently confirmed in writing together with an outline of the particulars required to be stated. In all cases, pending the decision of the Conference, the last sentence of clause (1) above shall apply. (6) Such appeal shall be by way of report and without any rehearing or further evidence (except evidence admitted under Standing Order 024(4) (vi)), and clauses (10) and (11)(a) of Standing Order 024 shall apply as if the Conference were the Appeal Committee. Standing Order 024A(4) shall also apply. (7) The decision of the Conference is final, but without prejudice to the provisions elsewhere in these Standing Orders as to reinstatement. The Secretary of the Conference shall immediately communicate the decision to the parties, the Superintendent and the secretary of the Local Preachers' Meeting, which shall give effect to it.
028 Members: initial Hearing. (1) Any person bringing a charge against a member shall do so in writing to the Superintendent of the Circuit in which the person charged is a member, specifying the words, acts or omissions complained of and, in a case concerning doctrine, the doctrine from which departure is alleged. (1A) Where a charge is proposed relating to matters alleged to have arisen outside the home Districts against a member appointed to serve overseas in accordance with Article 9 of the Constitution of the Methodist Missionary Society whose membership has remained in or been transferred back to a Circuit in a home District, the secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society shall arrange for a member of the connexional Team to formulate the charge in accordance with clause (1) above and be responsible for its presentation and shall ensure that the person concerned is able to be present for the hearing of the charge and any subsequent appeal. (2) The responsible officer shall then take the steps set out in clauses (2) to (5) of Standing Order 027. As to who is the responsible officer see S.O. 027(1A). (3) Where no pastoral consultation takes place, or, after such consultation, the person bringing the charge indicates an intention to proceed, the responsible officer shall (except where clause (6)(ii) or (iv) below applies) send a copy of the charge to the secretary of the local Pastoral Committee. (4) If, as a result of litigation (civil, criminal, matrimonial or otherwise) or other matter of public knowledge, in respect of which no charge has been brought in accordance with clause (1) above, the responsible officer considers that a person's standing as a member and/or office-holder should be reviewed, he or she shall arrange for a circuit steward (acting ex officio and not in a personal capacity) to formulate an appropriate charge, inform the person charged of its terms, send a copy to the secretary of the appropriate Pastoral Committee and accept responsibility for its presentation. (5) Where a charge is laid against the secretary of a Pastoral Committee, the responsible officer shall appoint another member of the committee to perform all the functions under this Standing Order which would otherwise be performed by the secretary. (6) A charge shall normally be dealt with by the local Pastoral Committee as defined in Standing Order 644(9), or, in a local ecumenical partnership having no local Pastoral Committee but an ecumenical pastoral committee complying with the requirements of Standing Order 644(11), by that committee (and references to the local committee shall then be construed as references to the ecumenical committee). However, it shall be dealt with by a circuit Pastoral Committee, as defined in clause (7) below, when any of the following conditions applies: (i) either party so requests; or (ii) taking into account, amongst other matters, the likely number of members disqualified from sitting under Standing Order 020(4) and the nature of the case, the responsible officer, in consultation with the Chairman of the District, thinks it more appropriate to be dealt with at circuit level than by the exercise of any power to add members to the local committee under that clause; or (iii) the local committee, having been called together under clause (9) below, decides at the outset that it would be more appropriately so dealt with; or (iv) in a local ecumenical partnership, no local or ecumenical Pastoral Committee constituted under Standing Order 644(1), (2) or (9) exists, or, where only the latter exists, the case concerns a matter of doctrine. (7) The membership of a circuit Pastoral Committee when acting as a court of discipline shall comprise the responsible officer, together with other ministers, probationers, deaconesses and deacons [. . .], up to a maximum of seven, and not less than nine class leaders or pastoral visitors who are members in that or a neighbouring Circuit, all appointed by the Chairman of the District, and including one who shall act as secretary. (7A) The committee, whether local or circuit, shall be chaired by the responsible officer. (8) On receiving a charge in accordance with clauses (3) or (4) above, the secretary of the local Pastoral Committee shall call a meeting of the committee, constituted in accordance with Standing Order 644(9), for the purpose of dealing with the charge and shall inform the parties of the membership of the meeting and of their rights under head (i) of clause (6) above and under Standing Order 020(4). The meeting shall not commence its hearing until at least 14 days after the person charged has received a copy of the terms of the charge and the membership of the meeting. A party wishing to exercise such rights shall do so by informing the secretary before or at the outset of that hearing, and a party who fails to do so, whilst in the knowledge of relevant facts, shall be treated as having waived any objection to the presence of any particular person as a member of the meeting or to the committee's decision to hear the case. (9) The committee shall at the outset of the hearing, before considering the substance of the case, decide whether to hear the case itself or refer it for hearing by a circuit Pastoral Committee under head (iii) of clause (6) above. (10) Where a case is to be heard by the circuit committee, the responsible officer shall arrange for the setting up of the committee in accordance with clause (7) above. The secretary shall inform the parties of its membership and the committee shall not meet until at least 14 days thereafter. A party who objects under Standing Order 020(4) to any person sitting as a member of the committee shall do so before or at the outset of the hearing of the charge, and a party who fails to do so, whilst in the knowledge of relevant facts, shall be treated as having waived any objection. (11) The committee, whether local or circuit, shall then proceed to investigate every charge properly before it and reach a decision as to whether it is established and as to any action to be taken. In doing so, the provisions of clauses (12) and (13) of Standing Order 027 shall apply, except that the power of the committee under clause (13) shall be to remove a person from membership or from any office in the Local Church or to impose any lesser penalty. Where the decision is to deprive of membership and/or office the secretary of the committee shall inform the relevant local body, which shall give effect to that decision. Where the person against whom a charge has been established also holds office elsewhere than in the Local Church, [. . .] the responsible officer under Standing Order 027(1A) or, where relevant, Standing Order 013(3) shall consider whether to suspend the person concerned from that office. The committee, whether local or circuit, has no power to deprive of or suspend from office other than in the Local Church in which the person charged is a member, but removal from membership will exclude from any office for which membership of the Methodist Church is a requirement. (12) Members of other communions who are not members of the Methodist Church but who hold office in it or are members of its church courts, and persons who are members both of the Methodist Church and of another communion, shall be subject to discipline in accordance with these Standing Orders, but in respect only of their standing in relation to the Methodist Church, except insofar as any further effect may be given to decisions taken in accordance with this Standing Order by virtue of the constitution of any other communion or of any local ecumenical partnership or of any ecumenical area. (13)(a) Where a charge is proposed relating to matters alleged to have arisen in a home District against a member of an overseas District or another conference or church overseas who has not been admitted into membership of the Church under Standing Order 808(2) the responsible officer shall consult the Secretary of the Conference. If the appropriate authority overseas requests the Conference to deal with the charge the Secretary of the Conference shall (unless Standing Order 027(15) applies) arrange for it to be dealt with in accordance with this Standing Order by a circuit Pastoral Committee as defined in clause (7) above in the Circuit in which the matter is alleged to have arisen or in a Circuit specified by the President. Standing Order 028A shall apply. (b) If any church court acting under this Standing Order or Standing Order 028A considers that any decision should be reached on the charge other than its dismissal or re-hearing, it shall not give any effect to its decision but shall refer it to the President, who shall transmit it forthwith to the referring authority overseas. (c) In every other case under this clause, the secretary under this Standing Order or reporting officer under Standing Order 028A shall send a report of the court s decision to the Secretary of the Conference who shall communicate its contents to the referring authority overseas.
028A Members: Appeals. An appeal shall lie from the decision of the Pastoral Committee under Standing Order 028(11) to a connexional Discipline Committee, and a further appeal to the Conference. The provisions of Standing Order 027A shall apply to such appeals, with the following modifications: (i) as the last sentence of clause (1) read: Where the decision appealed against removes the person charged from membership or office, that membership or tenure of office, as the case may be, shall be or remain suspended until the appeal is disposed of. (ii) in clause (2) for three local preachers substitute three lay persons ; (iii) in clauses (4) and (7), substitute relevant local body for Local Preachers' Meeting ; (iv) in clause (7), substitute readmission for reinstatement .
030 Scope of Section 307
031 Initial Committee 308
032 Right of Appeal 308
033 Procedure on Appeals 309
030 Scope of Section. (1) The provisions of this Section relate to students and probationers in training or on trial for the ministry or the Methodist Diaconal Order and in this Section student' and probationer' shall be construed accordingly. (2) The provisions of Standing Orders 031 to 033 shall apply when the oversight committee concerned recommends discontinuance (that is to say that a student cease training or that a probationer be not continued on trial or be not recommended for ordination, as the case may be) but there is no charge which would, if established, put in question his or her standing as a member of the Church or as a local preacher. For the procedure of the district Probationers Committee see S.O. 717. As to the diaconate see S.O. 790. (3) For the purposes of this Section the oversight committee concerned is: (i) for ministerial students the oversight committee appointed under Standing Order 321(4); (ii) [. . .]; (iii) for ministerial probationers, including those who are in part-time circuit appointments, the district Probationers' Committee; and (iv) for diaconal students and probationers the Diaconal Candidates and Probationers Oversight Committee. For the district Probationers' Committee, see S.O. 484. For the Diaconal Candidates and Probationers Oversight Committee see S.O. 326. (4) If during the annual review of the progress of students and probationers the question of discontinuance of a student or probationer arises for the first time at some stage later than that referred to in clause (2) above then so much of the procedure prescribed in Standing Orders 031 to 033, or an analogous procedure, shall be followed, and with such adaptations, as the church courts considering the case think fit. (5) If there is a charge against a student or probationer within the terms of Standing Orders 020(1) and 020(2) then it shall be dealt with under Section 02 whether or not there are circumstances such that, but for the charge, the provisions of Standing Orders 031 to 033 would have applied, and if there are also such circumstances every church court dealing with the charge shall also consider the question of discontinuance, shall have the same powers in that regard as if it were responsible for dealing with that question under Standing Orders 031 to 033 and shall in that regard follow as much of the procedure prescribed under those Standing Orders, or an analogous procedure, and with such adaptations, as it thinks fit.
031 Initial Committee. (1) When this Standing Order applies a connexional Review Committee, consisting of five persons, shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Conference, who shall appoint one member of the committee to be its secretary, and that committee shall be convened by its secretary to consider the question of discontinuance and make a recommendation to the Conference. (1A) On being appointed the secretary of the committee shall obtain from the secretary of the oversight committee concerned and supply to the student or probationer a statement of the grounds for recommending discontinuance and a copy of any reports or other documents which the secretary of the oversight committee intends to place before the connexional Review Committee. (lB) The secretary of the connexional Review Committee shall ensure that students and probationers are aware of their right to be accompanied each by a friend and shall encourage and assist them to avail themselves of that right. To that end the President shall maintain a list of persons, including senior ministers, willing to act as friends. (2) At the meeting of the committee the case for discontinuance shall be presented by the secretary of the oversight committee concerned. The student or probationer shall have the right to attend and respond and to be accompanied by a friend, who shall also have the right to speak. The committee shall not meet until at least 14 days after the secretary has supplied to the student or probationer the statement of grounds and any other documents obtained in accordance with clause (IA) above. (3) Members of the committee who wish to raise any matter not referred to in the written statement of grounds shall do so before the student or probationer leaves the meeting and the student or probationer shall be given an opportunity to deal with it; no fresh matter shall be raised after he or she has left. (4) The secretary shall take notes of the proceedings which with the written statement of grounds shall form the basis of the committee's report in the case of an appeal. (5) The recommendation of the committee shall be communicated to the student or probationer in writing.
032 Right of Appeal. A student or probationer may appeal against a recommendation of discontinuance from the connexional Review Committee to a connexional Appeal Committee.
033 Procedure on Appeals. (1) A student or probationer who wishes to appeal shall within fourteen days of receiving notice of the recommendation give notice of appeal in writing to the Secretary of the Conference, who shall transmit it to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Appeal Committees under Standing Order 231(1). The convener shall arrange for the appeal to be heard and for the committee's recommendation to be brought to the Conference. (2) At the meeting of the committee the secretary of the connexional Review Committee shall first present that committee's report. (3) The student or probationer shall have the right to attend and respond and to be accompanied by a friend, who shall also have the right to speak. (4) Members of the committee who wish to raise any matter not referred to in the report given under clause (2) above shall do so before the student or probationer leaves the meeting and the student or probationer shall be given an opportunity to deal with it; no fresh matter shall be raised after he or she has left. (5), (6) [Revoked]. (7) The recommendation of the committee shall be communicated to the student or probationer in writing.
040 Failure to Fulfil Obligations 310
041 Non-compliance with Requirements 311
042 Inability to fulfil Requirements 312
040 Failure to Fulfil Obligations. (1) Where it is alleged or appears to the Chairman that a minister or ordained deaconess or deacon in the active work persistently fails adequately to fulfil the obligations of his or her appointment but there appears to be no ground for a charge under Standing Order 020(2), the Chairman may, upon receipt of a written complaint from the Circuit concerned through the Superintendent or Circuit Stewards or on his or her own initiative, request the Chairman of another District to appoint a Consultative Committee to consider the matter. (2) A Chairman so requested under clause (1) or (4) or directed under clause (3) shall appoint such a committee, consisting of not less than five and not more than eight persons, being stationed in or members in the District or neighbouring Districts. They shall not include the Chairman referring the case nor any members of a curtailment committee which has referred the case under Standing Order 544(2). The committee shall include a convener and the appointing Chairman, who shall preside. S.O. 544 concerns the curtailment of the period of a minister s invitation to a circuit. (3) If the Chairman declines to refer any complaint to such a committee, appeal may be made by the complainant to the President, and if the President upholds the appeal he or she shall direct the Chairman of another District to appoint such a committee and shall refer the complaint to it in accordance with clause (1) above. (4) The Chairman shall also request the appointment of such a Consultative Committee if a case is referred by a district curtailment committee under Standing Order 544(2) or by the Stationing Committee under Standing Order 732(3), and in such a case the procedure prescribed in this Standing Order shall apply, with any necessary changes. As to S.O. 544 see the note to cl. (2) above . S.O. 732(3) concerns ministers for whom no station can be found. (5) The person complained of shall receive from his or her Chairman a written statement of the failures alleged. The committee shall meet with the person concerned and discuss with him or her the matters which have been referred to them, and shall have power to require a medical or psychological report, to interview the complainant, and to make such other inquiries as may be required in order to arrive at a full understanding of the case. The person concerned may be accompanied by a friend. (6) The duty of the committee shall be to establish whether there has been failure of the kind alleged, in whole or in part, and if so to determine what should in its judgment be done to remedy the cause. To that end the committee shall have power to require the person concerned to comply with any conditions which the committee judges may deal with the cause of the failure established. The requirements of the committee shall be communicated to the person concerned in writing, and the complainant shall be informed that the complaint has been dealt with. (7) It shall be the duty of every minister, deaconess or deacon concerned to meet the committee when called upon to do so and to comply with its requirements made under clause (6) above. (8) The cost of any of the remedies prescribed by the committee under clause (6) above shall be a charge upon the Methodist Church Fund under Standing Order 365(6)(iii). (9) If as a result of the action of the committee under clause (6) above it becomes necessary for the person concerned to be without appointment the committee shall so direct and the provisions of Standing Order 762(9), except the last sentence, shall apply with the substitution of the Warden of the Methodist Diaconal Order for the President if the person concerned is a deaconess or deacon. S.O. 762(9) concerns the position of a minister without appointment because no station can be found. (10) The committee shall appoint a person or persons to monitor the progress of the actions it has initiated under clause (6) above and shall satisfy itself that the cause of the failure is being addressed. (11) The person complained of may appeal against the action of the committee under clause (6) above to the President, who may appoint a committee to hear the appeal and advise the President on a reply. The reply of the President upon the appeal shall be final. (12) If at any time it appears to the Consultative Committee that there is ground for a charge under Standing Order 020(2) they shall immediately refer the case to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for inquiries to be investigated under Standing Order 022 and no further action shall be taken by the committee under this Standing Order unless the inquiry team after investigation decide that no charge shall be laid.
041 Non-compliance with Requirements. If the person concerned declines to meet with the committee, or refuses or neglects to comply with its requirements under Standing Order 040(6) above, the committee may decide that a charge shall be laid against the person concerned, in which case the chairman of the committee shall bring a charge accordingly, and for that purpose the provisions of Section 02 shall apply as if the chairman were a complainant bringing a charge under Standing Order 022(11), except that the court of first instance shall be a connexional Discipline Committee composed of seven persons chosen from the connexional Panel, including not less than four ministers where a minister is complained of and not less than four deaconesses or deacons where a deaconess or deacon is complained of.
042 Inability to Fulfil Requirements. (1) If in any case not dealt with under Standing Order 041 the committee judges that its action under Standing Order 040(6) has failed to achieve its intention it may review the case and give further directions under that clause or may refer the matter to the convener of the connexional Panel responsible for Pastoral Committees, who shall appoint five members of that panel, of whom not less than two shall be ministers in the case of a minister, and not less than two deaconesses or deacons in the case of a deaconess or deacon, to constitute a connexional Pastoral Committee to investigate the matter and reach a judgment. (2) Clauses (3) and (4) of Standing Order 020 shall apply, with any necessary changes, to the appointment of the Pastoral Committee and the conduct of the investigation, but subject to those requirements the committee shall have power to regulate its own procedure. The convener shall ensure that the person concerned is aware of the right to be accompanied by a representative and, where the convener thinks it necessary, shall encourage and assist him or her to make use of that right. If requested by the person concerned, the President shall suggest the names of three persons willing to act as representatives in the case. (3) The Pastoral Committee may in a matter referred to it under this Standing Order adjudge that the minister, deaconess or deacon shall be without appointment at his or her own charges or become a supernumerary or retire (and in such a case shall direct what allowances or other payments and what other provisions shall be made), or may impose some lesser requirement. In all such cases the committee shall determine at what date its judgment shall take effect. (4) The person concerned may appeal from the Pastoral Committee to a connexional Appeal Committee, and thence to the Conference, and in relation to such appeals Standing Orders 024 and 024A shall apply, with any necessary changes. (5) Any payments to be made as a result of a direction under clause (3) above shall be a charge upon the Methodist Church Fund under Standing Order 365(6)(iii). (6) If as a result of proceedings under the provisions of this Section a minister, deaconess or deacon offers to resign, the relevant advisory committee may recommend that a payment be made from the Methodist Church Fund under Standing Order 365(7)(iii). (7) A minister, deaconess or deacon who has been made a supernumerary or required to retire or has been designated without appointment under Standing Order 040 or this Standing Order and who seeks to return to the active work shall apply (in the case of a minister) to the President, in which case the application shall be considered and determined as set out in clauses (1) to (9) of Standing Order 788, with any necessary changes, or (in the case of a deaconess or deacon) to the Warden of the Methodist Diaconal Order, who shall deal with it according to the customary procedures of the Order.