CANON VIII. Of the Mode of securing an Accurate View of the State of the Church from time to time. (Former Canons on this subject were the eleventh of 1804, the forty-fifth of 1808, the third of 1814, the first and third of 1820, and the fifty-first of 1832.] SECT. 1. As a full and accurate view of the state of the church, from time to time, is highly useful and necessary, it is hereby ordered, that every minister of this church shall present, or cause to be delivered, on or before the first day of every annual convention, to the bishop of the diocese, or, where there is no bishop, to the president of the convention, a statement of the number of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals, and of the number of communicants in his parish or church, and of all other matters that may throw light on the state of the same. every other clergyman, not regularly settled in any parish or church, shall also report the occasional services he may have performed; and if he have performed no such services, the causes or reasons which have prevented the same. And these reports, or such parts of them as the bishop shall think fit, may be read in convention, and shall be entered on the journals thereof. And SECT. 2. At every annual diocesan convention, the bishop shall deliver an address, stating the affairs of the diocese since the last meeting of the convention; the names of the churches which he has visited; the number of persons confirmed; the names of those who have been received as candidates for orders, and of those who have been ordained, suspended, or degraded ; the changes by death, removal, or otherwise, which have taken place among the clergy; and, in general, all matters tending to throw light on the affairs of the diocese; which address shall be inserted on the Journals. SECT. 3. At every General Convention, the journals of the different diocesan conventions, since the last General Convention, together with such other papers, viz.: Episcopal charges, addresses, and pastoral letters, as may tend to throw light on the state of the church in each diocese, shall be presented to the house of clerical and lay deputies. A committee shall then be appointed to draw up a view of the state of the church, and to make report to the house of clerical and lay deputies; which report, when agreed to by the said house, shall be sent to the house of bishops, with a request that they will draw up, and cause to be published, a pastoral letter to the members of the church. And it is hereby made the duty of every clergyman having a pastoral charge, when any such letter is published, to read the said pastoral letter to his congregation on some occasion of public worship. SECT. 4. It shall be the duty of the secretary of the convent tion of every diocese, or of the person or persons with whom the journals or other ecclesiastical papers are lodged, to forward to the house of clerical and lay deputies, at every General Convention, the documents and papers specified in this canon. SECT. 5. It is recommended that the bishop, the standing committee of the church in every diocese, or if there be no bishop, the standing committee only, prepare a condensed report and a tabular view of the state of the church in their diocese, previously to the meeting of every General Convention, for the purpose of aiding the committee on the state of the church, appointed by the house of clerical and lay deputies, in drafting their report. SECT. 6. The 7th canon of 1835 is hereby repealed. CANON IX. Of Candidates for Orders. SECT. 1. Every person who desires to become a candidate for orders in this church, shall, in the first instance, give notice of his intention to the bishop of the diocese in which he intends to apply, or, if there be no bishop, to the standing committee; in which notice he shall declare whether he has ever applied for admission as a candidate in any other diocese. No person who has previously applied for admission as a candidate in any diocese and has been refused admission, or, having been admittedhas afterwards ceased to be a candidate, shall be admitted as a candidate in any other diocese, until he shall have produced from the bishop, or, if there be no bishop, from the standing committee of the former diocese, a certificate, declaring the cause for which he was refuse dadmission, or for which he ceased to be a candidate. SECT. 2. No person shall be considered as a candidate for orders in this church, unless he shall have produced to the bishop to whom he intends to apply for orders, a certificate from the standing committee of the diocese of the said bishop, that from personal knowledge, or from testimonials laid before them, they believe that he is pious, sober, and honest; that he is attached to the doctrines, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and a communicant of the same; and, in their opinion, possesses such qualifications as will render him apt and meet to exercise the ministry to the glory of God and the edifying of the church. And when the standing committee do not certify as above, from personal knowledge, the testimonials laid before them shall be of the same purport, and as full as the certificate above required, and shall be signed by at least one presbyter and four respectable laymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church. SECT. 3. In addition to the above testimonials, the person wishing to become a candidate must lay before the standing committee a satisfactory diploma, or other satisfactory evidence that he is a graduate of some university or college, or a certificate from two presbyters appointed by the bishop, or, where there is no bishop, the clerical members of the standing committee, to examine him, of his having satisfactorily sustained an examination in Natural Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, and Rhetoric, and in the Greek Testament, and the Latin tongue. SECT. 4. When a person applying to be admitted a candidate, wishes the knowledge of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and other branches of learning not strictly ecclesiastical, to be dispensed with, the standing committee shall not recommend him as a candidate, until he has laid before them a testimonial, signed by at least two presbyters of this church, stating, that in their opinion, he possesses extraordinary strength of natural understanding, a peculiar aptitude to teach, and a large share of prudence; and the bishop, with the consent of the standing committee, shall have granted said dispensation. This dispensation shall not be granted to any person under twentyseven years of age, nor shall any person be ordained under such dispensation until he shall have attained thirty years of age. And in regard to the knowledge of the Hebrew language, in all cases in these canons the bishop shall have the sole discretion of dispensation, without reference to the age of the candidate, as mentioned in this section. SECT. 5. With this enumeration of qualifications it ought to be made known to the candidate, that the church expects of him, what can never be brought to the test of any outward standardan inward fear and worship of ALMIGHTY GOD; a love of religion and a sensibility to its holy influence; a habit of devout affection; and, in short, a cultivation of all those graces which are called in scripture the fruits of the Spirit, and by which alone His sacred influences can be better manifested. SECT. 6. The requisition of this canon being fulfilled, the bishop may admit the person as a candidate for orders, and shall record the same in a book to be kept for that purpose, and notify the candidate of such record. And in any diocese where there is no bishop, the standing committee may, on the same conditions, admit the person as a candidate, and shall make record and notification in the same manner. SECT. 7. If, after obtaining the canonical testimonials from the standing committee, the person be admitted as a candidate by the bishop, or, if there be no bishop, by the standing committee, he shall remain a candidate for the term of three years before his ordination, unless the bishop, with the consent of the standing committee, shall deem it expedient to ordain the candidate after the expiration of a shorter period, not less than one year. SECT. 8. A candidate for orders may, on letters of dismission from the bishop or standing committee of the diocese in which he was admitted a candidate, be transferred to the jurisdiction of any bishop of this church; and if there be a bishop within the diocese where the candidate resides, he shall apply to no other bishop for ordination without the permission of the former. SECT. 9. If any candidate for orders shall not, within three years after his admission, apply to have the first and second examinations held as hereafter prescribed, or if he shall not, within five years from his admission, apply to have his third examination held (unless the bishop, for satisfactory reasons to him assigned, shall allow him further time), the said person shall, in either case, cease to be a candidate. SECT. 10. A person desirous of becoming a candidate for holy orders, shall apply to the bishop, or if there be no bishop to the standing committee of the diocese in which he resides, unless the said bishop or ecclesiastical authority shall give their consent to his application in some other diocese. Candidates shall not change their canonical residence but for bona fide causes, requiring the same to be judged of by the bishop, or, if there be no bishop, the standing committee: and they shall not be dismissed from the dioceses in which they were admitted, or to which they have been duly transferred, for the convenience of attending any theological or other Seminary. SECT. 11. The 4th canon of 1838 is hereby repealed. CANON X. Of Clergymen ordained by Bishops not in Communion with this Church, and desirous of Officiating or Settling in this Church. When a deacon or priest ordained by a bishop not in communion with this church, shall apply to a bishop for admission into the same as a minister thereof, he shall produce a written certificate from at least two presbyters of this church, stating, that from personal knowledge of the party, or satisfactory evidence laid before them, they believe that his desire to leave the communion to which he has belonged, has not arisen from any circumstance unfavorable to his religious or moral character, or on account of which it may be inexpedient to admit him to the exercise of the ministry in this church; and shall also, not less than six months after his application, in the presence of the bishop and two or more presbyters, subscribe the declaration contained in the seventh Article of the Constitution; which being done, the bishop being satisfied of his theological acquirements, may receive him as such. Done in General Convention in the City of New York, Attested, By order of the House of Bishops, ALEXANDER V. Griswold, D. D., Presiding Bishop. By order of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. Attested, WILLIAM E. WYATT, D. D., President. WILLIAM COOPER MEAD, D. D., Secretary. 28* |