PRACTICES OF GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER III -- DEALING WITH OFFENDERS

Under normal conditions problems arising from dealing with offenders are handled originally on the local level by the appropriate committee. Care should be taken to examine thoroughly all facets of the problem in a spirit of Christian love. Where local conditions make such action necessary, the Superintendent should be called upon for counsel in dealing with any disorder or insubordination which may arise. The Elders Board of the Yearly Meeting, with the assistance of the Superintendent, are authorized to take action as necessary. The following sections explain the manner in which appeals may be made.

Section I -- Ministers

1. Grounds for Investigation. When there is evidence that a minister has lost the gift in the ministry and usefulness in his or her station, or no longer represents Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting in the ministry, or is not in harmony with the doctrines and practices of Friends as stated in this book of Faith and Practice, a person's right to retain recognition as a minister is brought into question.

2. Initiation of Action. Action requesting that a minister be investigated may originate in the local Elders Board, Area Elders Board, by the General Superintendent or the Yearly Meeting Elders Board. Action originating in the lower body is forwarded to the Yearly Meeting board.

3. Investigation and Final Action. The Yearly Meeting Elders Board, or a committee appointed by them, then investigates the case and report its findings at the earliest opportunity. If the Elders Board and the General Superintendent, after laboring with the minister in question with love and prayer, find the charges are sustained, the Yearly Meeting Elders Board approves the person's deposition from the ministry. The Certificate of Recording is immediately and indefinitely suspended and surrendered. A record of the action is filed in the Yearly Meeting Elders Board minutes, and the person's name deleted from the list of recorded ministers without further action. The action shall be reported to the Yearly Meeting. Appeals may be made before the Elders Board or before the Yearly Meeting as outlined in Section III below.

[back to top]

Section II -- Erring Members

1. Causes for Action and Preliminary Measures. Any member who fails to live a consistent moral life, who is guilty of disorder or of conduct unbecoming to a Christian, who habitually neglects attendance of meetings for worship without reasonable excuse, or who denies the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion, is dealt with in love and prayer by the local Elders Board. It is the board's responsibility to take the initiative in such a case.

2. Formal Complaints and Further Dealings. When the board has exercised proper care without avail, it lodges with the church a formal complaint in writing against the erring member. It must be evident that the board members have conferred with the member in love to seek to show the error and to lead the erring member to repentance and confession, that he or she may be reclaimed from their erring way and restored to fellowship with the church.

3. Final Action. If the exercise of due care and forbearance proves to be without avail, the offender maintaining a willful course or continuing to neglect meetings for worship (the latter for a space of three years), the church executes a minute of disownment, and the clerk furnishes the offender a copy thereof and reports to the next business session of the church that this has been done.

[back to top]

Section III -- Appeals

1. Filing An Appeal. When a member who has been under discipline as an offender is dissatisfied with the decision of the church, the member may file with the local church at its next regular session or the one succeeding it an appeal to the Yearly Meeting Elders Board for a review of the case. The church enters the same upon its minutes, sends a copy to the Elders Board, and appoints a committee of three to represent it in the case before the board.

2. Procedure Setting Aside the Judgment of the Local Church. If it is found that the offense has not been correctly adjudged, or that the charge has not been sufficiently sustained, or that by any irregularity in the proceedings the rights of the appellant have been infringed, the board sets aside the judgment of the local church. The ground of the decision is entered upon its minutes, and the local church affected is informed thereof. If the ground be one of irregularity of procedure only, the local church is at liberty to take up the case again by regular action.

3. Appeal to the Yearly Meeting. Should the appellant be dissatisfied with the decision of the Elders Board, he or she may file with the next session or the one succeeding it (but not later) an appeal to the Yearly Meeting for its review of the case. The board enters the same upon its minutes, informs the Yearly Meeting thereof, and appoints a committee of three or more to represent it in the case before the Yearly Meeting or a committee of that body.

4. Yearly Meeting Action. The Yearly Meeting appoints a committee, which examines into and adjudges the nature of the offense and the proceedings in the case. It considers fully the statement of the case by the appellant and the testimony of the respondents (the local Elders Board) and examines also the minutes of the church recording the case. It then reports its judgment to the Yearly Meeting, and the decision of the Yearly Meeting is final. The clerk notifies the appellant of this action in writing and reports the performance of this duty to the next session of the Yearly Meeting.

5. Appeal by the Local Church. The local church may appeal to the Yearly Meeting in a case where it may feel aggrieved by the decision of the Elders Board. The procedure is the same as given in paragraph 4 above.

6. Rights of Appellant. The appellant has the right to be present during the appointment of the Yearly Meeting committee in the case, and to object to any persons nominated for this committee. The objections are adjudged by the meeting.

7. Notification of Subordinate Churches. Every decision on case of appeal is recorded in the minutes of the Yearly Meeting, and the clerk of that meeting forwards a transcript thereof to the church from whence it came, with instructions to enter the same in its own minutes.

[back to top]