RULES of the GENERAL
CONFERENCE of the A.
M. E. CHURCH # *
COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED BY
E. W. LA MPT ON, D. D.,
FINANCIAL SECRETARY
Rnlt$ of General Conference, i$96.
RULES OF PROCEDURE.
We, the General Conference of the A. M.
E. Church, in session assembled, do hereby
enact the following Rules of Procedure, in
the place and stead of Section II, as pub¬
lished in Discipline 1892, page 397 :
OPENING PROCEEDINGS AND DAILY ORDER.
Rule I.—On the first day of the session
the Bishops, General Officers, Delegates
and Alternates shall assemble at 9 A. M., at
a place to bte fixed by the Council of Bish¬
ops, in conjunction with the Local Com¬
mittee of Arrangements, and at 9.45 A. M.
they shall proceed to the place of meeting
in the following order: Bishops, General
Officers, Delegates and Alternates, begin¬
ning with the Conference first organized
and continuing in the order of seniority.
Rule II.—At 10 A. M. the senior Bishop
shall call the Conference to order, and it
4 Rules of General Conference, 1896.
shall continue in session until the program
arranged by the Council of Bishops, 111
conjunction with the Local Committee of
Arrangements, shall be disposed of; pro¬
vided, however, that the morning hours
shall be devoted to public worship, the
Quadrennial Sermon, and the organization
of the Conference, and thereafter an ad¬
journed session shall be held the same day
for the addresses of welcome and the re¬
sponses thereto.
Rule III.-—The Conference shall meet
daily from 9 A. M. to 12 M., and from 2
P. M. to 5 P. M., unless otherwise ordered.
Rule IV.—The Presiding Bishop shall
take the chair precisely at the hour of
meeting, and the following shall be the
Order of Business :
(1) Devotional exercises.
(2) Reading of the Journal of the preced¬
ing day.
(3) Reconsideration.
(4) Matters affecting the organization of
the Conference.
(5) Appointment of Committees.
Rules of General Conference, 1896. 5
(6) Communications from the Bishops
and General Officers.
(7) Fraternal Greetings from other relig¬
ious bodies and responses thereto.
(8) Unfinished business.
(9) Reports of Committees.
(10) Resolutions, petitions, memorials and
appeals.
(11) Hearings upon appeals.
(12) Miscellaneous business.
SPECIAL ORDERS.
Rule Y.—The Quadrennial Address and
the reports of the General Officers shall be
made on the second day of the session; and
the same shall be the special order on that
day, and from day to day until they are all
made; and they shall be referred to the
appropriate committees without debate.
Rule VI. — The Presiding Bishop shall
strictly require the order or orders of the
day to be taken up and considered at the
appointed time, unless otherwise ordered
by a two-thirds vote; and the consideration
of any order may be interrupted, or post¬
poned, at any stage, by a two-thirds vote.
6 Rules of General Conference, 1896.
SEATS OF DELEGATES.
Rule VII.—The Conference shall fix its
bar.
Rule VIII.—The seats "of Delegates and
Alternates shall be located by Episcopal
Districts ; and the Conference in each Dis¬
trict shall be entitled to choose seats ac¬
cording to seniority.
Rule IX.—No member shall be recog¬
nized by the Presiding Bishop unless he
addresses him from the seat of his Confer¬
ence or District; but he may leave it while
addressing the Conference.
Rule X.—Any member refusing to take
his seat or come to order, when ordered to
do so by the Presiding Bishop, may be sus¬
pended by a two-thirds vote of the Confer¬
ence, unless he makes to the Presiding
Bishop an apology, satisfactory to the Con¬
ference.
RESTRICTIONS AS TO SPEAKING.
Rule XI.—No member shall be interrup¬
ted while speaking except by the Presiding
Rules of General Conference, 1896.
Bishop calling liim to order, when he de¬
parts from the question, or uses personal¬
ities, or uses discourteous language.
Rule XII.—No member shall be allowed
to speak upon any question more than ten
minutes, unless by a majority vote of the
Conference; nor shall any member be al¬
lowed to speak more than once upon the
same subject, unless no other member de
sires to speak upon it; nor shall any mem¬
ber be allowed to speak more than twice
upon the same subject, unless by a majority
vote of the Conference.
Rule XIII.—AY hen any member rises to
speak the Presiding Bishop shall announce
his name and his Conference.
ABSENCE AND VOTING.
Rule XIV.—No member shall absent
himself from the Conference without per¬
mission from the Presiding Bishop, unless
on account of sickness, or other unavoidable
circumstances: and the Conference shall be
the final judge of the sufficiency of all ex¬
cuses.
8 ■ Rules of General Conference, 1896.
. Rule XV.—No member shall be allowed
to vote 011 a question who is not within the
bar at the time when the question is stated
by the Presiding Bishop, or before the com¬
pletion of a roll call, except by a majority
vote of the Conference.
Rule XVI.— Every member who shall be
within the bar at the time a question is put
shall vote, unless excused by the Confer
ence.
MEMORIAL SERVICES.
Rule XYII.—All memorial and other re¬
ligious services or exercises shall be held
at such evening sessions as the Council of
Bishops, in conjunction with the Local
Committee of Arrangements, may deem
best.
REVISION OF THE DISCIPLINE.
Rule XYIII.—All proposed amendments
to the Discipline shall be read before the
Conference, and shall lie over until the day
following its first reading, or the same shall
be referred to the appropriate committee,
before any action shall be taken thereon ;
Rules of General Conference, 1896. 9
and before finally adopting an amendment
the same shall receive three readings before
the Conference. This rule shall not be
suspended, except by unanimous consent,
unless on the last day of the session by a
two-thirds vote.
Rule XIX.—The Committee on Revision
of the Discipline, after the first week of the
session, shall make a partial report each
day, and the same shall be considered by
the Conference daily at 2 P. M., or as other¬
wise ordered.
QUESTIONS OF ORDER
Rule XX.—The Presiding Bishop shall
decide all questions of order subject to an
appeal to the Conference; but in case of
such an appeal, only the Presiding Bishop
and the appellant shall be heard.
COMMITTEES.
Rule XXI.—The Presiding Bishop shall
appoint all committees not otherwise or¬
dered, but any member may decline to
serve on more than one committee at the
io Rules of General Conference, i8g6.
same time, unless upon a special committee,
and every committee shall choose its own
chairman.
Rule XXII.—Each committee shall re¬
port to the Secretary of the Bishops' Coun¬
cil and to the Secretary of the Conference
the name of its Chairman and Secretary
and its place of meeting.
Rule XXIII.—A reasonable time shall
be given for the minority to report before
final action upon the majority' report.
MOTIONS.
Rule XXIV.—All motions and resolu¬
tions shall be reduced to Avriting upon the
demand of the Presiding Bishop, Secretary
or any three members.
Rule XXY.—When a motion is made and
seconded, or a report is read or is presented
to the Secretary, or stated by the Presiding
Bishop, it shall be deemed in possession of
the Conference; but any motion may be
withdrawn by the member making it at any
time before decision or amendment, by per¬
mission of a majority vote of the Conference.
Rules of General Conference, 1896. 11
Rule XXYI.—No new motion shall be
made or resolution offered until the one
under consideration is disposed of, except
a motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, for
the previous question, for indefinite post¬
ponement, to refer to committee, to post¬
pone to a definite period, to recommit, or
an amendment, or a substitute.
Rule XXYII.—A motion to adjourn, to
lay on the table, for a previous question,
shall be decided without debate of any kind,
but a motion to adjourn cannot be made
(1) while a member is speaking; (2) while
the Conference is voting, or (3) after a vote
in favor of the previous question has been
taken, nor until the main question has been
decided. A motion to adjourn to a definite
time is debatable.
Rule XXYIII.—The previous question
shall not be put until two members shall
have been heard, one in favor and one in
opposition thereto.
Rule XXIX.—No reconsideration of any
of the proceedings of the Conference shall
be in order on the day following unless
notice of motion is given on the day such
12 Rules of General Conference, 1896.
proceedings are had. or before the approval
of the Journal on the following day.
Rule XXX.—A motion prevailing by a
two-thirds vote to lay upon the table a
motion to reconsider disposes of the matter
for the session, and it cannot be renewed
except by unanimous consent or unless 011
the last day of the session, when the same
may be brought up by a two-thirds vote.
PRIVILEGED QUESTIONS.
Rule XXXI.— The following are privi¬
leged questions, and shall have precedence
in the order named: (1) Adjournment; (2)
Matters affecting the rights of the Confer¬
ence as a body—its safety, dignity and the
integrity of its proceedings ; (3) The rights,
reputation and conduct of the members in¬
dividually in their respective capacity: (4)
Orders of the day.
Rule XXXII.—When any question of
order is l'aised, all other business must be
suspended until the point is settled. The
Presiding Bishop must decide the point
without allowing debate of any kind; but
Rules of General Conference, 1896. 13
an appeal may be taken from his decision
to the Conference and the same shall be
debatable.
Rule XXXIII.—A point of order involves
a supposed breach of the Rules or the rights
of the Conference as a body, or of the mem¬
bers individually in their respective capac¬
ity, or a special order; and no member shall
interrupt another speaking except to make
such point of order.
Rule XXXIY.—The Conferences shall
appear m all records according to seniority
upon demand of any one Conference and a
majority vote of the General Conference,
and such demand may be made at any time.
GENERAL MATTERS.
Rule XXXY.—The Secretary shall re¬
cord the proceedings of the Conference
without comments of any kind, compli¬
mentary or otherwise.
Rule XXXVI.—111 the case of permanent
absence, or total disability of the principal,
the name of the alternate shall be placed
upon the roll, and he shall take the place of
14 Rules of General Conference, 1896.
his principal upon all committees, unless
otherwise ordered.
Rule XXXVII.—A bulletin board shall
be provided by the Local Committees of
Arrangements, and shall be placed in a con¬
spicuous place convenient of access, and all
notices shall be posted thereon.
Rule XXXVIII.—The yeas and nays
shall be called upon the demand of one-
third of the members present.
Rule XXXIX. — No ballot shall be
counted that does not contain the proper
initials of a member, if two or more mem¬
bers of the same surname shall be candi¬
dates for the same office.
Rule XL.—The General Officers shall be
elected in the order of seniority, beginning
with the Bishops.
Rule XLI.—All resolutions shall appear
in the minutes at the place where final ac¬
tion thereon is recorded.
Rule XLII.—The duty of the Marshals
shall be to protect the bar of the Confer¬
ence from persons not entitled to enter it,
and to assist the Presiding Bishop in keep¬
ing order, when requested so to do.
Rules of General Conference, 1896. 15
Rule XLIII.—No Rule shall be sus¬
pended or altered except by a two-thirds
vote of the members present.
Rule XLIY.—These rules shall govern
the proceedings of each ensuing General
Conference, unless otherwise ordered.
Rule XLY. — Reed's Parliamentary
Rules shall be the authority upon all points
not covered by the foregoing Rules.
Approved:
H. M. Turner,
W. J. Gaines,
Ben.j. W. Arnett,
B. T. Tanner,
A. Grant,
J. A. Handy,
B. F. Lee,
M. B. Halter.
Bishops.
T. McCants Stewart,
J. W. Beckett,
James A. Davis,
A. A. Williams,
J. M. Goodloe,
W. M. Thomas,
B. W. Roberts,
D. S. Bentley,
P. A. Hubbard.
M. M. Moore.
Committee.