ship in the Church where he resides. He shall report to the Fourth Quarterly Conference and to the Pastor all Marriages solemnized and all Baptisms administered. If he resides without the bounds of the Conference of which he is a Member, he shall annually forward to his Conference a certificate of his Christian and Ministerial conduct, together with an account of the number and circumstances of his family, signed by the Presiding Elder of the District or the Pastor of the Charge within whose bounds he resides; without which the Conference shall not be required to allow his claim, and may locate him without his consent. 114 CHAPTER I. LOCAL PREACHERS. ¶ 196. Wherever a District Conference exists, the powers hereinafter conferred on Quarterly Conferences in relation to Local Preachers and Exhorters shall be exercised only by the District Conference; but it shall not license any person to preach, nor renew the License of any person to preach or exhort, nor recommend any Local Preacher to the Annual Conference for Orders, or for Recognition of Orders, or for Reception on Trial, without the previous recommendation of the Quarterly Conference, or of the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting of the Charge of which such person or Preacher is a Member. ¶ 197. The Quarterly Conference, where no District Conference exists, shall have authority 1. To license proper persons to preach; provided, they shall have been previously recommended by the Society of which they are Members, or by the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting; shall have passed a satisfactory examination in the studies prescribed for candidates for License to preach; shall have been examined in the presence of the Conference on the subject of Doctrine and Discipline; and shall also have satisfactorily answered the question, Will you wholly abstain from the use of tobacco? And no Member of the Church shall be at liberty to preach without such a License. 2. To examine Local Preachers in the Course of Study prescribed for them; to inquire into the gifts, labors, and usefulness of each by name; and to renew their Licenses annually when, in the judgment of the Conference, their gifts, grace, and usefulness, and their faithfulness and proficiency in study, warrant such renewal. 3. To recommend to the Annual Conference Local Preachers who are suitable candidates for Deacons' or Elders' Orders (¶¶ 165, 168), for Recognition of Orders (¶ 154), or for Reception on Trial (¶ 146), such candidates having been previously examined in the presence of the Quarterly Conference on the subject of Doctrine and Discipline. 4. To try, suspend, deprive of Ministerial office and Credentials, expel, or acquit any Local Preacher of the Circuit or Station against whom Charges shall have been preferred. ¶¶ 236–243. NOTE. For the Licensing, Amenability, and Appeal of Local Preachers in Missions in the United States and Territories, see ¶ 356. ¶ 198, § 1. Every Local Preacher, ordained or unordained, not having a Pastoral Charge, shall be a member of, and amenable to, the Quarterly Conference where he resides. § 2. But if he has a Pastoral Charge, his Quarterly Conference membership shall be in that Charge. § 3. Whenever a Preacher is Located or Discontinued by an Annual Conference he shall thereupon hold his Quarterly Conference membership where he resides at the time of Location or Discontinuance. § 4. When a Local Preacher shall change his residence he shall procure from the Pastor of the Charge from which he removes, or from the Presiding Elder of the District, a Certificate of his Official Standing and of Dismissal, and shall present it to the Pastor of the Charge to which he removes. If he neglects to do this he shall |