Rule in our Discipline which requires all who desire to continue among us to "do no harm," and to "avoid evil of every kind." We therefore affectionately admonish all our Ministers and people to keep themselves pure from this great evil, and to seek its extirpation by all lawful and Christian means.

CHAPTER IV.

MEMBERSHIP.

I. Reception on Probation.

¶ 41. In order to prevent improper persons from gaining admission into the Church, and in order to the exercise of the power of godly admonition and discipline,

§ 1. Let great care be taken in receiving persons on Probation, and let no one be enrolled as a Probationer unless he give satisfactory evidence of an earnest desire to be saved from his sins, and to enjoy the fellowship of God's people.

§ 2. Let the Pastor and the Class Leaders see that all persons on Probation be early made acquainted with the doctrines, rules, and regulations of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

§ 3. Probationers are expected to conform carefully to all the rules and usages of the Church; they are entitled to all its spiritual privileges and aids; but they may not be members of the Quarterly Conference, nor take part in judicial proceedings except as witnesses.

II. Admission into Full Membership.

¶ 42, § 1. Let no one be admitted into Full Membership in the Church until he has been at least six months on Probation, has been recommended by the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting, or, where no such meeting is held, by his Leader, has been baptized, and, on examination by the Pastor before the Church, has given satisfactory assurances both of the correctness of his faith and of his willingness to observe and keep the rules of the Church. ¶ 444.

§ 2. Nevertheless, a Member in good standing in any Orthodox Evangelical Church desiring to unite with us may, on giving satisfactory answers to the usual inquiries (¶ 444), be received at once into Full Membership.

§ 3. Let the Pastor and the Committee on Church Records be careful to see that the names of all persons received into the Church are duly recorded; and the Pastor shall report at each Quarterly Conference all changes that have occurred in the membership during the quarter. ¶ 193, § 26.

III. Baptized Children and the Church.

43. We hold that all children, by virtue of the unconditional benefits of the atonement, are members of the kingdom of God, and therefore graciously entitled to Baptism; but, as Infant Baptism contemplates a course of religious instruction and discipline, it is expected of all parents or guardians who present their children for Baptism that they will use all diligence in bringing them up in conformity to the word of God; and they should be solemnly admonished of this obligation, and earnestly exhorted to faithfulness therein.

¶ 44. We regard all children who have been baptized as placed in visible covenant relation to God, and under the special care and supervision of the Church.

¶ 45. The Pastor shall make an accurate register of the names of all the baptized children within his pastoral care; giving the dates of their birth and baptism, the names of their parents, and the places of their residence. And he shall give a certificate of such registration to the parents of all such children removing from his Charge, which certificate shall transfer the relation of said children to the Charge to which they are removed.

¶ 46. The Pastor shall organize the baptized children of the Church, when they shall have reached the age of ten years, or at an earlier age, when it is deemed advisable, into Classes, and appoint suitable Leaders (male or female), whose duty it shall be to meet them in Class once a week, and instruct them in the nature, design, and obligations of Baptism, and in the truths of religion necessary to make them "wise unto salvation; " to urge them to give regular attendance upon the means of grace; to advise, exhort, and encourage them to an immediate consecration of their hearts and lives to God, and to inquire into the state of their religious experience; provided, that unbaptized children shall not be excluded from these Classes.

¶ 47. Whenever baptized children shall understand the obligations of religion, and shall give evidence of piety, they may be admitted into Full Membership in the Church, on the recommendation of a Leader with whom they have met at least six months in Class, upon publicly assenting before the Church to the Baptismal Covenant, and also to the usual questions on Doctrines and Discipline. ¶444.

¶ 48. Whenever a baptized child shall, by orphanage or otherwise, become deprived of Christian guardianship, the Pastor shall ascertain and report to the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting the facts in the case; and such provision shall be made for the Christian training of the child as the circumstances of the case admit and require.

IV. Transfer of Membership by Certificate.

¶ 49, § 1. An acceptable Member of the Church desiring to remove his membership from one Pastoral Charge to another is entitled to a Certificate from the Pastor, or, if there is no Pastor, from the Presiding Elder, in the following form:

"This certifies that A. B., the bearer, is an acceptable Member of the.... Methodist Episcopal Church in and is affectionately commended to the fellowship of the Methodist Episcopal Church in...... or in any other place where he may take up his residence. When admitted to another Church his relation to this Church will cease."

A footnote shall be subjoined to the Certificate as follows:

NOTE. This is not a letter of dismissal, and does not terminate the connection of the Member with the Church which gives it.

§ 2. When a Pastor shall have received a Member on said Certificate, he shall notify the Pastor of the Church from which it was issued in the following form:

"You are hereby notified that A. B. has been duly enrolled as a Member of this Church upon a Certificate issued from the Church of which you are Pastor, and signed by

§ 3. This Certificate of Church Membership shall not be valid for a longer period than one year; but if for

any cause it has been impracticable to present it to another Church within that time, it should be renewed by the Pastor of the Church from which it was issued.

§ 4. During the time in which a Member shall hold a Certificate his membership shall be in the Church which issued said Certificate; and if charges are presented against him during this time, he cannot avoid trial thereon before said Church by presenting the Certificate to another Church. But when a Member shall have been duly received on Certificate by any Church he shall be responsible to such Church for his previous conduct.

§ 5. The Pastor shall inform Members about to change their residence that without a Certificate of Membership they will not be received as Members of the Church in another place; and shall also inform them of the period during which such Certificate will be valid, and of the conditions under which, if it has become invalid, it may be renewed.

§ 6. The Pastor who gives a Certificate shall, if practicable, give notice of the fact to the Pastor of the Charge to which the Member receiving the Certificate shall have removed. If a Member of the Church shall remove from a Charge without applying for a Certificate of Membership, the Pastor of such Charge shall, if practicable, inform the Pastor of the Charge within whose bounds said Member has taken up his residence.

§ 7. If the residence of the Member who has thus removed cannot be ascertained for one year, the words "Removed without Certificate" shall be written against his name in the Record of Church Membership; and such name shall not be counted in the returns of statistics. But membership in the Church can be terminated only by the withdrawal, expulsion, or death of the Member. § 8. A Certificate of Membership may not be refused,