66 a

3. Censure for Slander may be Reached only after Trial. The Committee to whom was referred Judicial Case No. 7, being complaint of the Rev. John Crozier and the Rev. John Mack against the decision of the Synod of Illinois," report the following minute as the deliverance of the Assembly.

That the irregularities which the Synod made the ground of their decision, and of sustaining the complaint against the action of Presbytery, were not such as to invalidate the decision of Presbytery, except in resolution 6th, and that therefore the complaint be sustained, and the action of Presbytery be reaffirmed, except resolution 6th. As to the character and truthfulness of that resolution the Assembly expresses no opinion but that the action of Presbytery was thereon extra-judicial.

Our Book of Discipline, chap. v., sec. vii., pronounces a man a slanderer who fails on trial to make good his charges.

S. L. Hobson was censured as a slanderer without the court reaching by trial the point contemplated in our Book.-1867, p. 355, O. S.

VIII. When complaint is laid before the Presbytery, it must be reduced to writing; and nothing further is to be done at the first meeting, (unless by consent of parties,) than giving the minister a full copy of the charges, with the names of the witnesses annexed; and citing all parties, and their witnesses, to appear and be heard at the next meeting; which meeting shall not be sooner than ten days after such citation.

IX. When a member of a church judicatory is under process, it shall be discretionary with the judicatory, whether his privileges of deliberating and voting, as a member, in other matters, shall be suspended until the process is finally issued, or not.

1. Suspension from the Ministry during Process.

a. Overtured, that a Committee be sent to Rehoboth, with full power from the Synod to act in their names and by their authority, in the affair between Mr. Clement and that people; and that Mr. Clement be suspended from the exercise of his ministry, until the determination of that Committee. This overture was carried by a vote in the affirmative, nemine contradicente.-1720, p. 62.

b. The consideration of Mr. Alexander Miller's complaint resumed, and upon full inquiry the Synod conclude that, as the Presbytery of Hanover are not present, and it has not been made to appear before us that they were cited to be present, or informed that Mr. Alexander Miller intended to lodge a complaint against them before the Synod at this time, we cannot now enter upon the consideration of the merits of the complaint, but order both the Presbytery and Mr. Alexander Miller to attend our next Synod, prepared for a full hearing, and in the mean time, on account of Mr. Miller's unjustifiable delay for some years to enter his complaint before us, the irregularity of his proceedings during that time, and the atrocious nature of the crimes laid to his charge, we do hereby declare him suspended from the exercise of the ministerial office till his complaint can be fully heard.-1769, p. 396.

2. Suspension from Privileges of Membership.

a. That as citation on the foregoing plan is the commencement of a process involving the right of membership in the Assembly, thereforeResolved, That, agreeably to a principle laid down, chap. v., sec. ix., of the Form of Government, the members of said judicatories be excluded from a seat in the next Assembly until their case shall be decided. Adopted by yeas 128, nays 122.-1837, p. 425.

See above, under iv., xviii.

b. The Assembly of 1866, O. S., excluded the commissioners from Louisville Presbytery from a seat until the Assembly should decide upon the conduct of their Presbytery.-1866, p. 12. See Form of Government, chap. xii., sec. v.

X. At the next meeting of the Presbytery, the charges shall be read to him, and he shall be called upon to say whether he is guilty or not. If he confess, and the matter be base and flagitious; such as drunkenness, uncleanness, or crimes of a higher nature, however penitent he may appear, to the satisfaction of all, the Presbytery must, without delay, suspend him from the exercise of his office, or depose him from the ministry; and, if the way be clear for the purpose, appoint him a due time to confess publicly before the congregation offended, and to profess his penitence,

XI. If a minister accused of atrocious crimes, being twice duly cited, shall refuse to attend the Presbytery, he shall be immediately suspended. And if, after another citation, he still refuse to attend, he shall be deposed as contumacious.

XII. If the minister, when he appears, will not confess, but denies the facts alleged against him; if, on hearing the witnesses, the charges appear important, and well supported, the Presbytery must, nevertheless, censure him; and admonish, suspend, or depose him, according to the nature of the offence.

XIII. Heresy and schism may be of such a nature as to infer deposition; but errors ought to be carefully considered; whether they strike at the vitals of religion, and are industriously spread; or, whether they arise from the weakness of the human understanding, and are not likely to do much injury.

XIV. A minister, under process for heresy, or schism, should be treated with Christian and brotherly tenderness. Frequent conferences ought to be held with him, and proper admonitions administered. For some more dangerous errors, however, suspension may become necessary.

[See case of Alexander Craighead, under chap. xii., sec. v., Form of Government.]

XV. If the Presbytery find, on trial, that the matter complained

of amounts to no more than such acts of infirmity as may be amended, and the people satisfied; so that little or nothing remains to hinder his usefulness, they shall take all prudent measures to remove the offence.

XVI. A minister deposed for scandalous conduct, shall not be restored, even on the deepest sorrow for his sin, until after some time of eminent and exemplary, humble and edifying conversation, to heal the wound made by his scandal. And he ought in no case to be restored, until it shall appear, that the sentiments of the religious public are strongly in his favor, and demand his restoration.

1. Restoration of a Deposed Minister-Caution Enjoined.

a. An extract from the records of the Presbytery of New York was laid before the Assembly and read. From this and the explanation given, it appeared that a certain Aaron C. Collins, formerly a member of that Presbytery, had been deposed by them from the office of the gospel ministry; that the crimes for which he was deposed were scandalous and highly aggravated; that his submission to the sentence of deposition had been only partial; he having exercised the functions of a gospel minister during a part of the time he lay under the sentence; that Mr. Collins had lately applied to that Presbytery to restore him to his office, and certain circumstances were stated as evidences of his penitence. The Presbytery therefore requested the advice of the General Assembly in the premises. And as the principal crime for which Mr. Collins had been deposed was committed within the limits of the General Association of Connecticut, which had formerly taken cognizance of the offence, the Presbytery requested the co-operation of the Assembly for bringing the case before the Association for their advice.

The Assembly having taken this subject into consideration, and obtained the necessary information,

Resolved, 1. That they cannot advise the Presbytery of New York to restore Mr. Collins under existing circumstances.

2. That this Assembly comply with the latter request made by the Presbytery of New York; they accordingly did, and hereby do enjoin it on their delegates to the next General Association, to take the necessary measures for bringing this subject before that body, for their advice.-1805, p. 335. b. The General Association of Connecticut, having taken into consideration the case of Mr. Aaron C. Collins, who has been deposed from the office of the gospel ministry, on account of an aggravated sin, by which he has brought scandal on himself and the ministry, and having attended to documents and vouchers presented by the delegates from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, were happy to hear the profession of penitence made by Mr. Collins, and the testimony by which it was accompanied to prove it sincere.

But as it appeared that he had only partially submitted to the sentence of deposition, and continued during part of the time he lay under censure to exercise the functions of a gospel minister, and that he had made no retraction for such disorderly conduct, therefore they agree with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, that under existing circumstances, it would not be conducive to the interests of religion for the Presbytery of New York to restore Mr. Collins to the office of the gospel ministry.

Extracts from the doings of the General Association, at their annual session in Guildford, Connecticut, June 18, 1805.

2. Presbytery other than that which Deposed, Authorized to

Restore.

Petitions from the churches at Mount Pleasant and Greensburg, in New York, and from five ministers of the gospel residing in the vicinity of Mr. George Bourne, requesting that Mr. Bourne might be restored to the office. of the gospel ministry, were overtured, and application on behalf of Mr. Bourne was made by Dr. Ely, that on the profession of his penitence he may be restored :-Whereupon it was

Resolved, That the case of Mr. George Bourne be referred to the Presbytery of New York, in whose bounds he now resides; and it is hereby ordered, that the Presbytery of New York be furnished by the Presbytery of Lexington, with all the documents relative to the position of Mr. Bourne; that they receive testimony as to the character and deportment of Mr. Bourne since his deposition, and also the evidences of repentance which Mr. Bourne may furnish. And it is ordered, moreover, that the said Presbytery of New York do proceed to issue the case, and either continue the sentence of deposition, or restore him, the said Bourne, to the gospel ministry, as they may judge proper.-1824, p. 124.

3. The Assembly Recommends Restoration, the End of Discipline being gained.

Resolved, That the prayer of the memorialist be granted so far as that this General Assembly recommend to the Presbytery of Fayetteville to reconsider their decision in the case of the Rev. Archibald McQueen; and if, in their judgment, it should appear conducive to the peace of the Church, and the promotion of religion in the region around them, to restore Mr. McQueen to the communion of the Church, and to the exercise of the functions of the gospel ministry, on the ground that in his case the ends of discipline are attained by the operation of the sentence under which Mr. McQueen has been lying for a period of three years.—1845, p. 32, O. S.

4. Deposition and Excommunication, Distinct Acts.

a. The records of the Synod of Geneva are approved, with the exception of a resolution, which declares that a deposed minister ought to be treated as an excommunicated person. In the judgment of this Assembly, the deposition and excommunication of a minister are distinct things, not necessarily connected with each other, but when connected, ought to be inflicted by the Presbytery, to whom the power of judging and censuring ministers properly belongs.-1814, p. 549.

b. Resolved, That though the causes which provoke deposition are almost always such as to involve the propriety of exclusion from the sacraments, yet the two sentences are not essentially the same, the one having reference to office, and the other to the rights of membership; and, therefore, Presbyteries should be explicit in stating both, when they mean both. When, however, a Presbytery interpret deposition to involve suspension from the sacraments, and pronounce the censure in that sense, the sentence obviously includes both.-1848, p. 34, O. S.

5. A Suspended Minister may not Exercise any Function of the Ministry.

1. That in the opinion of this Assembly, ministers of the Presbyterian Church when regularly suspended by the competent judicatories have no right to exercise the functions of a minister during that suspension.-1825, p. 156.

6. Does not Rank as a "Common Christian in Good Standing.” Mr. Foreman, being suspended from the ministry, ought by no means to be considered as occupying the ground of a "common Christian in good standing."-1821, p. 15.

7. The Names of Deposed Ministers in Certain Cases to be

Published.

Resolved, That it be recommended to the Presbyteries under the care of the General Assembly, when they shall depose any of their members from the exercise of the ministerial office; and when any person so deposed shall, without having been regularly restored, assume the ministerial character, or attempt to exercise any of the ministerial functions, that in such case, with a view to prevent such deposed person from imposing himself on the churches, Presbyteries be careful to have his name published in the Assembly's magazine, as deposed from the ministry, that all the churches may be enabled to guard themselves against such dangerous impositions.1806, p. 360.

XVII. As soon as a minister is deposed, his congregation shall be declared vacant.

CHAPTER VI.

OF WITNESSES.

I. JUDICATORIES ought to be very careful and impartial in receiving testimony. All persons are not competent as witnesses: and all who are competent are not credible.

II. A competent witness is one who ought to be admitted and heard. The competency of a witness may be affected by his want of the proper age; by a want of any of the senses essential to a knowledge of the matter which he is called to establish; by weakness of understanding; by infamy of character; by being under Church censure for falsehood or perjury; by nearness of relationship to any of the parties; and by a variety of considerations which cannot be specified in detail.