services within the bounds of any charge, when requested by the preacher in charge not to hold such services, shall be deemed guilty of imprudent conduct, and shall be dealt with as the law provides in such cases. (¶¶725-752, 766.)

CHAPTER VII.

APPEALS.

SECTION I.

OF THE APPEAL OF A TRAVELING PREACHER.

¶303. There shall be a Committee of Appeals to review and determine all cases of appeals by traveling preachers. (¶¶737, 740, 744, 746-748, 750, 751, 755, 765, 766.) The committee shall be composed of one Bishop, to be selected by the College of Bishops, having regard to the accessibility of the Bishop of that year, and also four traveling ministers who are elders, and three lay members, to be elected by the General Conference on nomination of the Committee on Itinerancy, to hold office until the close of the next General Conference.

¶304. The Bishop shall preside at all meetings, and a vote of four members of the committee concurring shall be sufficient to decide all questions.

¶305. No member of the committee of trial or representative of the accused or any person connected with the case or personally interested in it shall sit at the hearing of an appeal. (¶746.)

9306. If any member of the committee be challenged, he shall withdraw, and the remainder of the committee shall decide whether he is competent to sit in the case. (¶747.) The Bishop and four members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.

¶307. If a vacancy occur by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be filled by the committee, and the appointee shall hold office till the close of the next General Conference.

¶308. At the call of the presiding Bishop, unless for good reasons he shall designate a different place, the committee shall sit at the Publishing House in Nashville, Tennessee.

¶309. The Committee of Appeals shall meet once a year, unless there be no business before it, or unless the appeal be continued by agreement of the parties.

¶310. When a case is called, the appellant shall file a written statement of the errors he complains of and of the reasons he assigns and relies upon for a reversal of the decision. He shall then, in person or by representative, state the grounds of his appeal, and shall be permitted to make his argument without interruption, so long as his defense is within the record of the case.

4311. The representative of the committee of trial shall then be permitted to respond, and the appellant may reply. At the conclusion of

the argument, the committee shall consider the case privately and announce its decision to the respective parties. The committee may take the case under advisement for such time as may be necessary properly to examine it, and by letter notify the parties of the decision, if they be not present. If either party have no representative present, the committee shall appoint some one to represent him. The decision of the committee shall be final, and shall be reported to the next General Conference for record.

¶312. The committee shall appoint one of its members secretary, who shall keep a complete record, which shall be committed to the custody of the Publishing Agents.

¶313. As soon as practicable after adjournment of the committee of trial, its secretary shall send all records and documents relating to the appeal in some secure manner to the Publishing Agents, who shall preserve them for the use of the Committee of Appeals. Also, the secretary of the committee of trial, from which the appeal is taken, shall immediately notify the presiding Bishop of the Committee of Appeals that an appeal has been taken and the record sent.

9314. If the presiding Bishop appointed be unable to sit, or if he be interested in the case,

another Bishop shall be designated by the College of Bishops, who shall have all the powers of the presiding Bishop.

¶315. If the Committee of Appeals decide that the appellant be expelled from the membership of the Church or from the ministry, he shall not be restored to the communion of the Church until he gives satisfactory evidence of repentance of the offense for which he was expelled, unless the Annual Conference become convinced of his innocence, in which case he may be restored to his former standing by a two-thirds vote of the Conference. (¶¶667, 679.)

¶316. The Committee of Appeals may reverse the decision of a committee of trial, or remand the case for a new trial, or affirm the decision. In all cases the secretary of the Committee of Appeals shall notify the Annual Conference concerned (¶755) of its decision, and if a written decision be filed, shall send a copy. (¶679.) In case of reversal the appellant is restored to the position he held prior to the trial. If the case be remanded, the secretary shall send to the Annual Conference concerned all records and documents sent with the appeal to be used, if needed, in the new trial.

¶317. Whenever cases of conflict in authority or administration arising in any of the General Boards or with any other Church authority, or