The General conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from 1792 to 1896.

Preface

In preparing a history of the General Conference, the greater part of our information must be derived from the Journals of that body. These Journals are of varying fullness, the earlier ones being extremely meager, and some of them giving but little more than catch-word hints of Conference action, and containing none of the reports or addresses. They were not originally intended for publication, and the Minutes as printed seem to be only the vague notes from which the secretary might prepare — though he did not — a full report of the proceedings. The later Journals are full ; and, since 1848, there has been issued a daily paper, containing a verbatim transcript of the debates, addresses, resolutions, and reports. These, and other bound volumes, have all been consulted in the preparation of this work, especially in part two.

As no copy was ever found of the Journal for 1792, the General Conference of 1892 directed the Publishing Agents to employ some one to reproduce it, as nearly as could be done, from whatever sources of information were accessible. This task was committed to Rev. T. B. Neely, D. D., than whom none is more competent to accomplish it. The result in

■iv Preface.

of his labors appears in the present volume. This may be accepted as tiie full Journal of proceedings of that Conference, and it is an important addition to our Methodist historical literature.

The proceedings of all the other General Conferences are given only in abstract. These have been prepared by competent writers, employed by the Western Methodist Book Concern, expressly for use in this volume. Only the more important actions are referred to ; but, in the two parts, the chronological and the topical, it is believed that the average student of our Church history will find all that he cares to know about the great Governing Conference. For more minute information as to what was said or suggested, he must examine the Journals themselves, and the files of the

Daily Advocate.

LEWIS CURTS.

Cincinnati, March, 1900.

Part I.— Chronological

.TEAR, PRINCIPAL TOPICS. PAGE.

1792. Establishment of the General Conference. — Schism of

James O'Kelly. — Eevision of Discipline, 1

1796. Church Polity.— Chartered Fund Established.— Form of

Deed for Church Property. — Local Preachers, 5i

1800. Presiding Elders. — Slavery. — Ministerial Support, 59

1804. Book Concern (Eemoved to New York). — Slavery, 65

1808. Delegated General Conference. — Eestrictive Rules.— Presiding Elders, „ 70

1812. First Written Episcopal Address (from Bishop McKendree) . — Pastoral Address to the Church. — Two Book Agents, c . 75

1816. Slavery. — "Methodist Magazine" Ordered. — Episcopacy, 79

1820. Election of Presiding Elders. — Revision of Hymn Book

— Status of Local Preachers. — Book Concern, 84

1824. The Presiding Elder Question. — Lay Representation

(Refused), 90

1828. The "Radical" Movement.— Presiding Elder Question

Settled, 99

1832. Missions. — Canada Claims, . 107

1836. Abolitionism, . ' , 113

1840. Slavery. — Temperance. — Woman's Magazine ("Ladies'

Repository") Ordered, 121 vi Contents.

TEAR. PRINCIPAL TOPICS. PAGE.

1844. Slaveholding in the Ministry. —Plan of Separation

Adopted, 128

1848. Plan of Separation Pronounced Void. — Kelations of the General Conference to the Church, South. — Temperance.— Revision of Hymn Book, 139

1852. Mission Interests.— Lay Delegation Considered.— Church

Sittings, 146

1856. Slavery. — Missionary Bishops.— Lay Delegation, 151

1860. Slavery. — Lay Delegation (Submitted to Vote of the

1864. Pastoral Term Extended. — Lay Delegation Approved.

— Church Extension. — Slavery, 162

1868. Lay Delegation Question. — Freedmen's Aid Society. —

Board of Education, 169

1872. Lay Delegates Admitted. — Ecclesiastical Jurisprudence.

—Book Concern, , 177

1876. Separate Conferences for Colored Preachers. — Revision

of Hymn Book, 188

1880. Ecumenical Conference. — Rights of Women Denned. —

Use of Tobacco. — Colored Bishops, 196

1884. New Church Enterprises. — Marriage and Divorce, 202

1888. Eligibility of Women as Delegates.— Constitutional Commission.— Deaconess Work Authorized, •. 208

1892. Young People's Societies (Epworth League).-1- The Woman Question. — Constitutional Commission Report (Indefinitely Postponed), 211

1896. Commission on Organic Law. — Women Delegates. — Conference Evangelists. — Deaconesses to be Consecrated, 222

Contents. vii PART II.— TOPICAL.

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. The Ministry, 233

II. The Ministry (Continued), 250

III. Slavery, 271

IV Slavery (continued), 290

V Fraternal Eelations, 310

VI. Lay Delegation : Men — Women, 332

VII. Church Institutions and Societies, 352

VIII. Church Work in the South, 372

IX. The Constitution, 390

X. The Constitution (Continued), 407

PART I.

CHRONOLOGICAL.

The General Conferences.

(BY REV. THOS. B. NEELY, D. D., LL. D.)

THE first quadrennial General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America met in the city of Baltimore, Maryland,' on Thursday, the first day of November, in the year Seventeen Hundred and Ninety-two.

This General Conference had been regularly called to meet in Baltimore at that date. Every preacher in full membership in any Annual Conference was entitled to a seat in the General Conference, and the attendance was very general.

Bishop Thomas Coke and Bishop Francis Asbury were present, and presided; Dr. Coke, as senior, doubtless presiding at the beginning of the session.

On the first day the Conference appointed a committee of the oldest preachers and a few of the younger ministers to prepare business for consideration and action by the Conference. When a majority of the committee agreed upon a proposition, and especially upon any alteration in the form of Discipline, it was to report to the Conference for its decision. Subsequently the membership of the committee was increased. The intention of the Conference in the creation of the committee was to expedite business ; but as after test it was found that it did not prevent or shorten discussions in the Conference, the plan of working through a committee was abandoned, and the committee was discharged. After that, any member of the Conference was at liberty to present directly to the body any matter he might desire.

On the first day rules of order were adopted. One rule was as follows: " It shall take two-thirds of all the Conference

2 Tlie General Conference. [1792.

to make a new rule or abolish an old one ; but a majority may alter or amend any rule."

One rule as to debate was, " That each person, if he choose, shall have liberty to speak three times on each motion."

SECOND DAY— FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2.

On the second day of the session, the Rev. James O'Kelly, of Virginia, offered an amendment to the law making it the duty of the Bishop "to fix the appointments of the Preachers for the several circuits," so that preachers might have the right of appeal from the appointment given by the Bishop to the Annual Conference.

The amendment was as follows : "After the Bishop appoints the Preachers at Conference to their several circuits, if any one think himself injured by the appointment, he shall have liberty to appeal to the Conference and state his objections; and if the Conference approve his objections, the Bishop shall appoint him to another circuit."

The proposed amendment led to a long and animated discussion. As the matter related more to the administration of Bishop Asbury than to that of Bishop Coke, who was frequently absent from the country, Bishop Asbury declined to preside, and also absented himself from the session during the pendency of this question, and sent to the Conference the following letter:

My Dear Brethren, — Let my absence give you no pain — Dr. Coke presides. I am happily excused from assisting to make laws by which myself am to be governed ; I have only to obey and execute. I am happy in the consideration that I never stationed a preacher through enmity or as a punishment. I have acted for the glory of God, the good of the people, and to promote the usefulness of the preachers. Are you sure, that if you please yourselves, that the people will be as fully satisfied? They often say. " Let us have such a preacher ;" and sometimes, " We will not have such a preacher— we will sooner pay him to stay at home." Perhaps I must say, " His appeal forced him upon you." I am one— ye are man^. I am as willing to serve you as ever. I want not to sit in any man's way. I scorn to solicit votes ; I am a very trembling, poor creature to hear praise or dispraise. Speak your minds freely ; but remember, you are only making laws for the present time; it may be, that as in some other things, so in this, a future day may give you further light. I am yours, etc.,

Francis Asbury.

After considerable debate upon Mr. O'Kelly's proposition, the Rev. John Dickins moved that the question be divided thus: "First — Shall the Bishop appoint the preachers to the circuits? Second — Shall a preacher be allowed an appeal?*'

The first part giving the Bishop the power of appointment being put to vote, it was carried unanimously.

On the second part, as to the preacher having the right of appeal, a question was raised as to whether the .proposition was a new rule or only an amendment to an old rule, and the Conference decided the law point by voting that it was only an amendment to an old rule.

THE THIRD DAY— SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3.

The debate on Mr. O'Kelly's amendment was continued on Saturday, the third day of the session, but no conclusion was reached.

THE FOURTH DAY— MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5.

On Monday, the 5th of November, the discussion was resumed, and the debate continued throughout the entire day.

Among those who took part in these discussions were James O'Kelly, Richard Ivey, Hope Hull, Freeborn Garrettson, William McKendree, and Richard Swift, in favor of the right of appeal; and Henry "Willis, Jesse Lee, Thomas Morrell, Joseph Everitt, and Nelson Reed, who opposed Mr. O'Kelly's amendment.

At 5 o'clock on Monday afternoon, the Conference went to the German Reformed Church, of which the Rev. Philip Otterbein was pastor, and there remained in session until about 8 o'clock that evening. During this session in the German Reformed Church a decisive vote was taken upon Mr. O'Kelly's amendment, and the proposition granting the preacher the right of appeal from the appointment by the Bishop to the Annual Conference was decided in the negative by a large majority.

THE FIFTH DAY— TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6.

The next morning, Tuesday, November 6th, immediately after assembling, the Conference received a letter from the Rev. James O'Kelly and other preachers, who, being dissatisfied with the adverse action of the body on the proposition to grant preachers the right of appeal from the appointment of the bishop, announced that they could no longer occupy seats in the Conference, and that, therefore, they withdrew from the General Conference, and that they would also leave the traveling connection.

Having received the communication, the Conference appointed a committee, consisting of the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson and two others, to wait upon the parties who had withdrawn, and to endeavor to persuade them to reconsider their purpose and to resume their seats. The committee reported its failure to reconcile the parties to the decision of the Conference and to induce them to resume their places in the body.

REVISION OF THE DISCIPLINE.

After the withdrawal of Mr. O'Kelly and his followers, the Conference took up the general revision of the Book of Discipline and other formularies of the Church.

THE COUNCIL.

It was agreed to discard the plan for "the Council" which had been adopted by the preachers in the Conferences of 1789, upon the recommendation of the Bishops. The plan was as follows :

C>. Whereas the holding of general conferences on thi/ extensive Continent would be attended with a variety of difficulties, and many inconveniences to the work of God; and ivhereas we judge it expedient that a council should he formed of chosen men out of the several districts as representatives of the whole connection, to meet at stated times; in what manner is this council to be formed, what shall be its powers, and what further regulations shall be made concerning itf

A. First— Our bishops and presiding elders shall be the members of this council ; provided, that the members who form the council be never fewer than nine. And if any unavoidable circumstance prevent the attendance of a presiding elder at the council, he shall have authority to send another elder out of his own district to represent him ; but the elder so sent by the absenting presiding elder, shall have no seat in the council without the approbation of the bishop or bishops, and presiding elders present. And if, after the above mentioned provisions are complied with, any unavoidable circumstance or any contingencies reduce the number to less than nine, the bishop shall immediately summon such elders as do not preside, to complete the number.

Secondly — These shall have authority to mature everything they shall judge expedient. 1. To preserve the general union; 2. To render and preserve the external form of worship similar in all our societies through the continent ; 3. To preserve the essentials of the Methodist doctrines and discipline pure and uncorrupted ; 4. To correct all abuses and disorders ; and, lastly, they are authorized to mature everything they may see necessary for the good of the church, and for the promoting and improving our colleges and plan of education.

Thirdly— Provided nevertheless, that nothing shall be received as the resolution of the council, unless it be assented to unanimously by the council ; and nothing so assented to by the council, shall be binding in any district, till it has been agreed upon by a majority of the conference which is held for that district.

Fourthly— The bishops shall have authority to summon the council to meet at such times and places as they shall judge expedient.

Fifthly— The first council shall be held at Cokesbury, on the 1st day of next December.

This plan for the Council was not printed in the Book of Discipline, but was printed in the Annual Minutes of the Conferences. It was nevertheless a law of the Church. The law had been a dead letter for nearly two years. Practically dead for that time, now at the General Conference of 1792 it actually and formally ceased to be.

THE GENERAL CONFERENCE.

Provision was made for holding General Conferences in the future, the time and place of the next General Conference was agreed upon, the composition of the body was settled, and its powers were determined. The law relating to the General Conference adopted and placed in Section III of the Book of Discipline of 1792 is as follows:

Quest. 2. Who shall compose the General Conference?

Answ. All the Traveling Preachers who shall be in full connection at the time of holding the Conference.

Quest. 3. When and where shall the next General Conference be held?

Answ. On the 1st day of November, in the year 1796, in the town of Baltimore.

The use of the phrase General Conference was not new. Thus it had been used by the Rev. John Wesley in his letter requesting the holding of a General Conference in 1787, and it was used in the preamble to the plan for the Council; but

6 The General Conference. [17D2.

heretofore there had been no arrangement in the law for the meeting of a General Conference at a fixed time. The action of the General Conference established the General Conference as a fixed institution in the Church, and established it as a quadrennial meeting. From that time the Quadrennial General Conference became a part of the ecclesiastical economy. The powers of this General Conference were fixed definitely and the specifications as to this power were stated in different places in the new law.

According to the new arrangement the supreme executive control of the Church vested in the General Conference, and the power to make laws for the government of the Church was taken from the annual sessions of the ministers and vested in the quadrennial gathering called the General Conference, the power to elect bishops was likewise centered in the General Conference, and these officers were made amenable to that body, and in addition the General Conference was made a court of appeal.

PRESIDING ELDERS.

The General Conference fully recognized and defined the office of a Presiding Elder. Presiding Elders de facto had existed from the beginning of the Church, and the title appears in the plan for the Council published in 1789; but the General Conference of 1792 formally adopted the title for these supervisory officers, and distinguished between the functions of a plain elder and the Presiding Elder, who was to have the supervision of a District, and the preachers therein contained. In doing so, the Conference adopted a new section (Section V), "Of the Presiding Elders, and of their Duty," as follows:

Quest. 1. By whom are the Presiding Elders to be chosen? Answ. By the Bishop.

Quest. 2. What are the duties of the Presiding Eider? Answ. 1. To travel through his appointed District.

2. In the absence of a Bishop, to take charge of all the Elders, Deacons, Traveling and Local Preachers, and Exhorters in his District.

3. To change, receive, or suspend Preachers in his District during the intervals of the Conferences, and in the absence of the Bishop.

4. In the absence of a Bishop, to preside in the Conference of his District.

5. To be present, as far as practicable, at all the Quarterly Meetings; and to call together at each Quarterly Meeting all the Traveling and Local Preachers, Exhorters, Stewards and Leaders, of the Circuit, to hear complaints, and to receive Appeals.

6 To oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the Societies in his District.

7. To take cai*e that every part of our Discipline be enforced in his District.

8. To attend the Bishop when present in his District ; and to give him when absent all necessary information, by letter, of the state of his District.

Quest. 3. By whom are the Presiding Elders to be stationed and changed?

Answ. By the Bishop.

Quest. 4. How long may the Bishop allow an Elder to preside in the same District?

Answ. For any term not exceeding four years successively.

Quest. 5. How shall the Presiding Elders be supported?

Answ. If there be a surplus of public money, in one or more Circuits in his District, he shall receive such surplus, provided he do not receive more than his annual Salary. In case of a deficiency in his Salary, after such surplus is paid him, or if there be no surplus, he shall share with the Preachers of his District, in proportion with what they have respectively received, so that he receive no more than the amount of his Salary upon the whole.

DISTRICT CONFERENCES.

The General Conference decided upon the title of District Conference for the Annual Conferences of the ministers in different sections of the country. Before they were simply spoken of as the "Conference" or "Conferences," but now as the title General Conference was fixed upon for the quadrennial body, it was necessary to distinguish the annual meetings by a special name, and hence "District Conference" was selected.

The General Conference determined the boundaries, the membership, and the business of the District Conference. The Presiding Elder's District was the basis of the District Conference, but it might be composed of a number of districts. The law covering the District Conferences was placed in

Section III of the Discipline of 1792, as follows:

Quest. 4. Who are the members of the District Conferences? Answ. All the Traveling Preachers of the District or Districts respectively, who are in full connexion.

Quest. 5. How often are the District Conferences to be held?

Answ. Annually

Quest. 6. How many Circuits shall send Preachers in order to form a District Conference?

Answ. Not fewer than three, nor more than twelve.

Quest. 7 Shall the Bishop be authorized to unite two or more Districts together, where he judges it expedient, in order to form a District Conference?

Ansuo. He shall, as far as is consistent with the rule immediately preceding.

Quest. 8. Who shall appoint the times of holding the District Conferences ?

Ansiv. The Bishop.

Quest. 9. What is the method wherein we usually proceed in the District Conferences?

Answ. We inquire,

1. What Preachers are admitted on trial?

2. Who remain on trial?

3. Who are admitted into full connexion?

4. Who are the Deacons?

5. Who are the Elders?

6. Who have been elected by the unanimous suffrages of the General Conference to exercise the Episcopal Office, and superintend the Methodist Episcopal Church in America?

7. Who are under a Location, through weakness of body, or family concerns?

8. Who are the Supernumeraries?

9. Who have died this year?

10. Are all the Preachers blameless in life and conversation?

11. Who are expelled from the connexion?

12. Where are the Preachers stationed this year?

13. What numbers are in Society?

14. What has been collected for the contingent expenses?

15. How has this been expended?

16. What is contributed towards the fund for the Superannuated Preachers, and the Widows and Orphans of the Preachers?

17. What demands are there upon it?

18. Where and when shall our next Conference be held?

Quest. 10. Is there any other business to be done in the District Conferences?

Answ. The Electing and Ordaining of Elders and Deacons.

Quest. 11. How are the Districts to be formed?

^usiv. According to the judgment of the Bishop.

N. B.— In case that there be no Bishop to travel through the Districts and exercise the Episcopal Office, on account of death, the Districts shall be regulated in every respect by the District Conferences and the Presiding Elders till the ensuing General Conference, (Ordinations only excepted.)

SUPERNUMERARY PREACHERS.

To this section was appended a foot-note defining a Supernumerary Preacher. It read :

A Supernumerary Preacher is one so worn out in the Itinerant service as to be rendered incapable of preaching constantly ; but at the same time is willing to do any work in the ministry which the Conference may direct and his strength enable him to perform.

THE EPISCOPACY

The General Conference of 1792 made various changes in regard to the Episcopacy, but the key to nearly all these modifications was in the creation of the Quadrennial General Conference. Before this, a Bishop could be elected by "a majority of the Conference," but under the new law a Bishop must be elected by the General Conference. Under the old law the laying on of the hands of one Bishop was sufficient, but according to the new regulation it required three Bishops, or at least one Bishop and two Elders; but it was further provided that when there was no Bishop the new Bishop should be set apart by Elders selected for that purpose by the General Conference. The duties and limitations of the Bishopric were more carefully stated. Now the Bishop was " to travel through the connexion at large," instead of traveling "through as many circuits as he can." A Bishop was to be amenable to the General Conference, and provision was made for the trial of a Bishop during the interval between two General Conferences, and this court was to have power to suspend a Bishop until the next session of the General Conference.

The law as amended by the General Conference was as follows :

THE MAKING OF BISHOPS AND THEIR DUTY.

Section IV. — Of the Election and Consecration of Bishops, and of their Duty.

Quest. 1. How is a Bishop to be constituted in future?

Answ. By the election of the General Conference, and the laying on of the hands of three Bishops, or at least of one Bishop and two Elders.

Quest. 2. If by death, expulsion, or otherwise, there be no Bishop remaining in our Church, what shall we do?

Ansiv. The General Conference shall elect a Bishop ; and the Elders, or any three of them, that shall be appointed by the General

Conference for that purpose, shall ordain him according to our Office of Ordination.

Quest. 3. What is the Bishop's duty?

Answ. 1. To preside in our Conferences.

2. To fix the appointments of the Preachers for the several Circuits.

3. In the intervals of the Conferences, to change, receive, or suspend Preachers, as necessity may require.

4. To travel through the connexion at large.

5. To oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the Societies.

6. To ordain Bishops, Elders, and Deacons.

Quest. 4. To whom is a Bishop amenable for his conduct?

Answ. To the General Conference, who have power to expal him for improper conduct, if they see it necessary.

Quest. 5. What provision shall be made for the trial of an immoral Bishop, in the interval of the General Conference?

Answ. If a Bishop be guilty of immorality, three Traveling Elders shall call upon him, and examine him on the subject ; and if the three Elders verily believe that the Bishop is guilty of the crime, they shall call to their aid two Presiding Elders from two Districts in the neighborhood of that where the crime was committed, each of which Presiding Elders shall bring with him two Elders, or an Elder and a Deacon. The above mentioned nine persons shall form a Conference, to examine into the charge brought against the Bishop ; and if two-thirds of them verily believe him to be guilty of the crime laid to his charge, they shall have authority to suspend the Bishop till the ensuing General Conference, and the Districts shall be regulated in the meantime as is provided in the case of the death of a Bishop.

Quest. 6. If the Bishop cease from traveling at large among the people, shall he still exercise his Office among us in any degree?

Answ. If he cease from traveling without the consent of the General Conference, he shall not thereafter exercise any ministerial function whatsoever in our Church.

N. B. — The Bishop has obtained liberty, by the suffrages of the Conference, to ordain Local Preachers to the Office of Deacons, provided they obtain a testimonial from the Society to which they belong, and from the Stewards of the Circuit, signed also by three Elders, three Deacons, and three Traveling Preachers.

TRAVELING ELDERS.

With, the full recognition of two classes of Elders — namely, those who possessed the orders of an Elder and those Elders who held the office of Presiding Elder — the General Conference found it necessary carefully to define the duties of each class, and therefore made two sections, one defining the official duties of a Presiding Elder, and another defining the duties of the ordinary Elders.

1792.] The General Confe?,ence. 11

It was now provided that Elders were to be elected by the District Conference instead of "the Conference." In contradistinction to the Presiding Elders these are called " Traveling Elders," and the specifications which related to the official work of a Presiding Elder were taken out and placed in the section upon the Presiding Eldership, and the modified law appeared in the following form :

ELECTION, ORDINATION, AND DUTY OF TRAVELING

ELDERS.

Section VI. — Of the Election and Ordination of Traveling Elders, and of their Duty.

Quest. 1. How is an Elder constituted?

Answ. By the election of a majority of the District Conference, and by the laying on of the hands of a Bishop, and of the Elders that are present.

Quest. 2. What is the duty of a Traveling Elder?

Answ. 1. To administer Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and to perform the office of matrimony, and all parts of divine worship.

2. To do all the duties of a Traveling Preacher.

N. B. — No Elder that ceases to travel without the consent of the District Conference, certified under the hand of the President of the Conference, shall on any account exercise the peculiar functions of his office amongst us.

TRAVELING DEACONS.

The title of the Deacons who were members of the District

Conferences was changed to Traveling Deacons, in order to

distinguish them from the Local Preachers, who had Deacons'

orders. Instead of being elected by "the Conference," they

were now to be elected by the "District Conference." The

old duty of a Deacon, "To see that the other Preachers in his

circuit behave well, and want nothing," was taken out of the

special duties of a Deacon and is made the duty of any

Preacher who has charge of a circuit, but the Traveling

Deacon is to perform "all the duties of a Traveling Preacher."

With these changes the new law read :

ELECTION, ORDINATION, AND DUTY OF TRAVELING

DEACONS.

Section VII. — Of the Election and Ordination of Traveling Deacons, and of their Duty.

Quest. 1. How is a Traveling Deacon constituted?

Answ. By the election of the majority of the District Conference, and the laying on of the hands of a Bishop.

Quest. 2. What is the duty of a Traveling Deacon? Answ. 1. To baptize, and perform the office of matrimony, in the absence of the Elder.

2. To assist the Elder in administering the Lord's Supper.

3. To do all the duties of a Traveling Preacher.

N. B. — No Deacon that ceases to travel without the consent of the District Conference, certified under the hand of the President of the Conference, shall on any account exercise the peculiar functions of his office.

ADMISSION OF PREACHERS INTO THE DISTRICT

CONFERENCE.

The law relating to the admission of Preachers into the regular ministry in the Conference was revised in several particulars. Before the Preacher was to be received by "the Conference," now he is to be received "by the District Conference." Under the old form he could be received temporarily by "the Bishop, or an Elder, until the sitting of the Conference," but now it was to be "by the Bishop, or Presiding Elder of the District, until the sitting of the Conference," and according to the former law the "written license" was to be "from his Elder or Bishop," now it was to be "from the Bishop or Presiding Elder."