On Eules of Order and Parliamentary Usage, the
standard authorities have been consulted and used,
with constant reference to their application to whatever is peculiar in our Ecclesiastical Courts and Conferences.
Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 1,1870. A MANUAL OF THE DISCIPLINE.
CHAPTER I.
THE CONFERENCES.
SEC. I.—THE GENERAL CONFERENCE.
1. At the first, those traveling preachers who
had stood out a certain probation and met at
the appointed time and place, whether many or
few, constituted the General Conference, which
then possessed unrestricted powers. In 1808
there were five hundred and forty traveling
preachers, and one hundred and twenty-eight
of that number, being present, constituted the
General Conference. Satisfied of the propriety
and utility of the system, they resolved to confirm and perpetuate it. “To this end,” says
Bishop McKendree, “they constituted a delegated General Conference, formed a constitution,
and so limited and restricted the powers of their
representatives as to preserve the system of gov
(9) 10
THE CONFERENCES.
ernment inviolate, and secure the rights and
privileges of all the members. . The General Conference, thus constituted, is invested
with ‘full powers to make rules and regulations
for the Church, under certain limitations and
restrictions,’ and to enforce those rules ...
A manual of the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal church, South [electronic resource], including the decisions of the College of bishops and rules of order applicable to ecclesiastical courts and conferences.
