CHAPTER VI
THE COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM, CHARITIES AND BENEVOLENCES,
AND CHURCH EXTENSION
¶ 130. The Board
of Administration shall constitute the Board of Evangelism, the Board of
Charities and Benevolences, and the Church Extension Society. It shall
elect seven of its members to be known as the Commission on Evangelism,
Charities and Benevolences, and Church Extension, one of whom shall be
a bishop. The acts of this commission shall be subject to the approval
of the Board of Administration.
I. Evangelism
¶ 131. 1. The
commission shall meet at least once each year to plan for the evangelistic
work of the church and to do such other business as may be necessary to
carry on the work successfully.
2. The commission shall work in conjunction
with the annual conference evangelistic boards in holding evangelistic
conventions, raising funds for evangelistic work, employing evangelists
and organizing bands for evangelistic work.
3. The commission shall have authority to
raise funds, employ evangelists, band workers, and helpers and to carry
on aggressive evangelism throughout the church.
4. The first Wednesday in January shall
be oh served as a day of fasting and prayer for general evangelism.
5. The general church treasurer shall be
the treasurer of the Commission on Evangelism.
6. Each annual conference is required to
organize a Conference Evangelistic Board, which shall be authorized to
carry on aggressive evangelistic work within its bounds. This board shall
have power to raise funds and to employ evangelists, band workers and helpers
to labor within the conference bounds, who, with the concurrence of the
district elders, shall be authorized to establish new societies where the
interests of the cause of God require, providing that it make provision
and be responsible for the support of all the laborers which it employs.
7. In connection with conference evangelism.
through the Conference Evangelistic Board, on annual conference Sunday
a collection and subscription are to be taken, and 90% of the fund taken
is to be retained in the conference for annual conference evangelism, and
10% is to be sent to the general church treasurer for general evangelism
through the Commission on Evangelism in the weaker conferences in need
of help.
8. It shall be the duty of the pastor to
raise for general missions by public collections or otherwise a sum of
not less than eight cents per annum for each member in full relation, sixteen
years of age and over, to be forwarded to the conference treasurer and
by him to the treasurer of the Commission on Evangelism. (This section
refers to moneys to be raised in Conference Claims and is not to be confused
with Sec. 7.)
9. The general missions fund raised according
to Section 8, shall be administered by the Commission on Evangelism.
10. The eight cents per member allocated
to this fund shall be used only in those conferences having a membership
of not over five hundred members paying conference claims.
11. There shall be a general evangelistic
secretary who shall be elected by the General Conference, and shall be
an ex officio member of the Commission on Evangelism. He shall keep the
records of the com mission, receive and answer all correspondence relative
to the evangelistic work of the church; and together with the bishop who
is president of the commission shall have general supervision of the entire
evangelistic work, subject to the direction and approval of the Com mission
on Evangelism. He shall travel at large throughout the church and raise
money for evangelism, inspire the spirit of aggressive evangelism, plan
for and supervise the extension of work into new fields, and discover and
utilize available evangelistic talent such as may be found in our schools,
pastors, 1. P. M. S., and elsewhere, to promote, in harmony with the conference
evangelistic boards and district elders, a general forward, aggressive
program.
The general evangelistic secretary shall
receive a salary, the amount to be determined by the Executive Commission.
II. Charities and Benevolences
¶ 132. 1. It
shall be the duty of the Commission on Evangelism, Charities and Benevolences
to inspect the charitable and benevolent institutions operating in and
soliciting financial support from the Free Methodist Church.
2. The commission shall determine the financial
standing of these institutions, their plan of operation, and the character
and amount of work done, and shall determine whether the institution inspected
shall receive. the endorsement and financial support of the Free Methodist
Church, as an accredited institution.
3. The commission shall have power to regulate
the establishment of charitable and benevolent institutions, not for the
purpose of restricting works of charity and benevolence in the church,
but to so limit the multiplication of charitable or benevolent institutions
as to avoid their becoming so numerous as to jeopardize the perpetuity
and success of those al ready in the field.
4. No charitable or benevolent institution
of the same character shall be established in the patronizing territory
of any such institution already established without first obtaining consent
of the commission.
5. All accredited institutions shall report
annually to the commission as to their financial condition, the work done,
and the general plan and scope of their work.
6. The accredited institutions of the Free
Methodist Church are:
The Gerry Homes, Gerry, New York.
The Chicago Industrial Home for Children
and the Old People’s Rest Home at Woodstock, Illinois.
The Life Line Orphanage, Kansas City, Kansas.
The Home of Redeeming Love, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
The Wesley-Roberts Deaconess School of the
Home of Redeeming Love, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
And all others established by the Commission
on Charities and Benevolences.
7. It shall be the duty of each pastor to
preach a sermon at least once a year at each appointment on his charge
where classes are formed, on the subject of practical charity, and take
a collection for the poor; the proceeds of this collection to he used for
the relief of the poor on the circuit where the collection is taken if
there he any needing such help—if not, it shall then be sent to some accredited
institution in whose patronizing territory the collection is taken.
8. Each annual conference shall at its annual
session appoint among its regular committees, a committee on charities.
III. Church Extension
¶ 133. 1. The
object of the Church Extension Society shall be to aid needy churches or
societies by donations or loans for the erection of churches.
2. This society shall publish in the official
paper of the church an annual report of its work, and also submit a full
report quadrennially to the General Conference.
3. The general church treasurer shall be
the treasurer of the Church Extension Society.
4. Each annual conference shall appoint
a society of five members which shall constitute a Conference Church Extension
and Aid Society, the officers of which shall be a president, secretary
and treasurer.
5. The Conference Church Extension and Aid
Society shall be auxiliary to the commission, and shall, under its direction,
have charge of all the work of the Church Extension and Aid Society within
its bounds.
6. The treasurer of the conference society
shall, at least once in three mouths, remit all funds in his hands to the
treasurer of the commission.
7. It shall be the duty of every preacher
in charge of a circuit to raise annually an amount equal to at least twelve
cents per member for this fund. Should any conference be deficient in its
assessment for this fund, such deficiency shall be deducted from any appropriation
made from this fund or from the Church and Parsonage Aid Fund to any circuit
in such conference at the time payment on appropriation is made by the
general treasurer. Such deficiencies as are not de ducted in any one year
shall be held for future deduction unless paid by the conference.
The Board of Administration should be careful
not to make appropriations beyond available funds.
8. The conference society shall make a full
report of its work to the conference at its annual session.
9. All applications for aid shall be first
submitted to the conference society, and said society shall certify its
action thereon to the commission; and aid shall be granted only by the
concurrent action of the conference society and the commission.
10. All such applications for aid shall
be in accordance with blank forms furnished by the general society, and
shall set forth:
(1) The number of members of the Free Methodist
society, and the size of the congregation.
(2) The fact. that the board of trustees
is legally incorporated.
(3) The size and valuation of the site,
the validity of the title, and whether deeded to the Free Methodist Church.
(4) A description of the building for which
aid is asked.
(5) The estimated cost.
(6) The amount of available and reliable
means secured.
(7) What provisions have been made for suitable
accommodations for the Sunday school.
(8) Any other information that the commission
may require.
11. In case a church which has received
aid from the funds of the Church Extension and Aid Society shall be sold,
it shall pay back to this society an amount equal to that received as aid,
unless it be used on the same circuit and for the same purpose. |