Ordination at a Regular Meeting of the Association. The church may, if it prefers, request the ordination of its minister at a regular meeting of the Association; or, may request that the Association at its regular meeting review its records and examine and approve its candidate, and that it provide for the public service of ordination at the church itself, and at a later date.

As this method is likely to be employed frequently, and as it involves more points of difficulty than either of the others, it may properly be discussed at length.

The church, in sending invitations to the Association, should notify it seasonably that room may be reserved for the examination of the candidate and for such other business as the occasion may require. And the registrar or advisory committee must see to it that this is done, even if the notice arrives tardily. This may involve some conflict with the plans of the programme committee, which commonly are ambitious for the oratorical aspects of the programme. But the programme committee must leave room for the business of the Association, or if it does not, so much the worse

for the programme. Our programmes are almost universally overloaded, and programme committees are sinful men in respect of their determination to sacrifice all else to talk.

Reports are current of ordinations by Association in which the examination has been crowded into the odds and ends of time grudgingly conceded by the programme committee, making the examination a farce and the ordination service an undignified race against time. If a distinguished speaker from abroad has been invited, and it is time for him to speak, he may very properly address the general congregation, while the Association itself withdraws to another room or building, and attends to the business of the Association. And any member of the Association who remains to

hear the speech would deserve the censure of the Association for neglecting the business which had brought him thither.

This point must be insisted upon, because this is the rock on which the new method will go to wreck if we are not careful. If a church sends its minister to be ordained by an Association, that business, having been undertaken by the Association, has the right of way over the regular order of the day, and must be done decently and in order.

The church which sends its minister for ordination will also send a delegate. He will bear the records, and will introduce the candidate. If the church has chosen to send a larger delegation to accompany its new minister they should be received as corresponding members, without vote, and be permitted to represent the church in the discussion, up to the time when the Association is by itself, when all but the regular delegates will withdraw. If the church has invited other churches and pastors outside the Association they should be made corresponding members, and entitled to participate in the discussion. It would be proper, however, that the names of churches and ministers whom the church expects to invite to participate in the services should be noted in the call, with the statement that the delegate from the church will move that they be made corresponding members. But in case another name were added, it would not invalidate the proceeding. A Council cannot increase its own membership, but an Association can elect corresponding members at its pleasure, under its regular rules.

The Public Service. The candidate having been examined and approved, may be ordained immediately. But it will often be desired that the public service be held in the church which has requested the service of ordination. In this case the Association may appoint

certain members to represent it with power in such a public service, and to do all that is necessary in the name of the Association in carrying out this authority. This public service might very properly be held upon a Sunday, and be made a very impressive service. The moderator of the Association would naturally preside, but in his absence the members acting for the Association would have full authority to elect one of their own number to preside, and another if need should be to keep the records and to certify them to the scribe of the Association, and sign them as scribe pro tem of the Association.

These members, acting with power, would be the Association de facto, and could provide for necessary changes in the programme. It could invite another minister who might be present to share in the service, and, in short, do whatever a Council would have authority to do at this stage of the proceedings. But it could not in any way modify the instructions of the Association, unless it should discover some grave moral hindrance to proceeding with the work assigned, in which case it would have power to adjourn, and report to the Association for further instructions.

A number less than a quorum of the Association could thus act as the Association in carrying out what the Association had determined upon; and its meeting would have the full weight of a full meeting of the Association for the purpose of its instructions, and not otherwise.

It would be fitting that there should be a brief responsive service just before the ordaining prayer, in which the church and the Association and the candidate participate. Indeed, we need such a service for ordinary ordinations.

Becomes a Member. The man ordained or installed either at the regular or special meeting of the Associa

tion thereby becomes a member of that body without further examination or formality.

As to Dismission-If the Association is called to dismiss a minister, and the whole body of churches invited to act in the capacity of an Association, the minister may take with him his credentials, instead of being required to wait for the next annual or semiannual meeting of the Association, as is the case where he is dismissed by Council.

In Other Matters. For convenience this chapter assumes that the Association is asked to ordain a minister. In manner very like to this the Association may be called to organize a church, to settle a difficulty or to give advice.

If the method here outlined is followed, no serious difficulty will be found in calling an Association to act in the capacity of a Council.

VIII. THE STATE CONFERENCE.

The Name. In 1907 thirty-seven of our state organizations were known as associations, four as conventions, and four as conferences, and two states maintained state ministerial bodies known as associations. At that time negotiations were under way looking toward the possible union with the United Brethren and Methodist Protestants, in which churches the state bodies are known as conferences. The Committee on Polity of the National Council reporting at Cleveland in 1907 recommended that Congregational state bodies be known as conferences, and there has been a general though reluctant movement in this direction. Had it not been for the influence of the United Brethren and Methodist Protestants it is probable that most of our states would have preferred to give the district body the name of conference and the state body the name of association, since that name was generally used. However, uniformity is better than any one system of nomenclature and we are likely to retain the name of Conference for our state body as a permanent reminder of our approach to union with these two sister denominations.

Conferences and Associations. A State Conference is composed of all the District Associations within the state. The rule of the National Council, adopted at Cleveland in 1907, is:

"VIII. That the membership of a State Association be constituted by representatives of all such churches as and by all such ministers as are in good standing in the local association of the state."

A State Conference has no power to determine the