CANON XXIX.-Of the duty of Ministers to keep a Register.

[Former Canons on this subject were the fifteenth of 1789, and the fortieth of 1808.]

Sect. 1. Every Minister of this Church shall keep a Register of Baptisms, Confirmations, Communicants, Marriages, and Funerals within his Cure, agreeably to such rules as may be provided by the Convention of the Diocese where his Cure lies; and if none such be provided, then in such a manner as, in his discretion, he shall think best suited to the uses of such a Register.

And the intention of the Register of Baptisms is hereby declared to be, as for other good uses, so especially for the proving of the right of Church Memberships of those who may have been admitted into this Church by the Holy Ordinance of Baptism.

Sect. 2. And further, every Minister of this Church shall make out and continue, as far as practicable, a list of all families and adult persons within his Cure; to remain for the use of his successor, to be continued by him and by every future Minister in the same Parish.

CANON XXX.-Of the Election and Institution of Ministers into Parishes or Churches.

[Former Canons on this subject were the seventeenth of 1789; the third of 1799; and the first of 1804; the twenty-ninth of 1808; and second of 1814.]

Sect. 1. It is hereby required, that on the election of a Minister into any Church or Parish, the Vestry shall deliver, or cause to be delivered to the Bishop, or, where there is no Bishop, to the Standing Committee of the Diocese, notice of the same, in the following form, or to this effect:

"We, the Church Wardens, (or, in case of an assistant Minister, We, the Rector and Church Wardens,) do

certify to the Right Rev. [naming the Bishop] or to the Rev. [naming the President of the Standing Committee] that [naming the person] has been duly chosen Rector [or, Assistant Minister, as the case may be] of [naming the Parish, or Church, or Churches."]

Which certificate shall be signed with the names of those who certify.

Sect. 2. And if the Bishop or the Standing Committee be satisfied that the person so chosen is a qualified Minister of this Church, the Bishop, or the President of the Standing Committee, shall transmit the said Certificate to the Secretary of the Convention, who shall record it in a book to be kept by him for that purpose.

Sect. 3. But if the Bishop or the Standing Committee be not satisfied as above, he or they shall, at the instance of the parties, proceed to inquire into the sufficiency of the person so chosen, according to such rules as may be made in the respective Dioceses, and shall confirm or reject the appointment, as the issue of that inquiry may be.

Sect. 4. And if the Minister be a Presbyter, the Bishop or President of the Standing Committee may, at the instance of the Vestry, proceed to have him instituted according to the office established by this Church, if that office be used in the Diocese. But if he be a Deacon, the act of institution shall not take place till after he shall have received Priest's Orders. This provision concerning the use of the office of institution, is not to be considered as applying to any Congregation destitute of a house of worship.

CANON XXXI.-Of the officiating of Ministers of this Church in the Churches, or within the Parochial Cures of other Clergymen.

[Former Canons on this subject were the sixth of 1792; the fifth and seventh of 1795; the thirty-third of 1808; and the seventh of 1829.]

No Clergyman belonging to this Church shall officiate, either by preaching, reading prayers, or otherwise, in the Parish, or within the Parochial Cure of another Clergy. man, unless he have received express permission for that purpose from the Minister of the Parish or Cure, or, in his absence, from the Church Wardens and Vestrymen, or Trustees of the Congregation. Where Parish boundaries are not defined by law, or otherwise, each City, Borough, Village, Town, or Township, in which there is one Protestant Episcopal Church or Congregation, or more than one such Church or Congregation, shall be held, for all the purposes of this Canon, to be the Parish or Parishes, of the Protestant Episcopal Clergyman or Clergymen, having charge of said Church or Churches, Congregation or Con. gregations. But if any Minister of a Church shall, from inability, or any other cause, neglect to perform the regular services to his Congregation, and shall refuse, without good cause, his consent to any other Minister of this Church to officiate within his Cure, the Church Wardens, Vestrymen, or Trustees of such Congregation shall, on proof of such neglect and refusal before the Bishop of the Diocese, or, if there be no Bishop, before the Standing Committee, or before such persons as may be deputed by him or them, or before such persons as may be, by the regulations of this Church in any Diocese, vested with the power of hearing and deciding on complaints against Clergymen, have power to open the doors of their Church to

any regular Minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. And in case of such a vicinity of two or more Churches as that there can be no local boundaries drawn between their respective Cures or Parishes, it is hereby ordained, that in every such case no Minister of this Church, other than the Parochial Clergy of the said Cures, shall preach within the common limits of the same, in any other place than in one of the Churches thereof, without the consent of the major number of the Parochial Clergy of the said Churches.

CANON XXXII.-Of Episcopal Resignations.

Whereas, the Resignation of the Episcopal Jurisdiction of a Diocese is to be discountenanced, but circumstances may sometimes create an exigency which would render an adherence to this principle inexpedient; it is hereby declared that the Episcopal Resignation of a Diocese may take place under the following restrictions: that is to say—

Sect. 1. A Bishop desiring to resign, shall declare his desire to do so, with the reasons therefor in writing, and under his hand and seal, to his Council of Advice, which shall record the said writing, and send a copy of the same forthwith to every Clergyman and every Parish in the Diocese.

Sect. 2. At the next Convention of the said Diocese, held not less than three months after the delivery of the said writing to the Council of Advice, the proposed resignation of its Bishop shall be considered; and if two thirds of the Clergy present, entitled to vote in the election of a Bishop, and two thirds of the Parishes in union with the said Convention, and entitled to a vote, and at that time represented, each Parish having one vote by its Delegate or Delegates, shall consent to the proposed resignation,

the subject shall be referred to the General Convention; but otherwise, the tender of resignation shall be void.

Sect. 3. The writing aforesaid, and the proceedings of the Diocesan Convention consenting to the resignation, shall be laid before the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies at the next General Convention, which shall have cognizance of all matters relating to them; and if a majority of each order of that House, voting by States, shall agree to the measure, the said writing and proceedings shall be laid before the House of Bishops of that Convention; but otherwise, the said writing and proceedings shall be void.

Sect. 4. The said writing and proceedings being laid before the House of Bishops, it shall have cognizance of all matters relating to them; and the Bishop who proposes to resign, may sit and vote as before in that house; and if a majority of the members present of that House shall agree to the proposed resignation, the presiding Bishop shall declare that it is confirmed; and this declaration shall be entered on the Journal of the House. majority of the Bishops present do not agree to the resignation, all the previous proceedings shall be void.

But if a

Sect. 5. If no meeting of the General Convention is expected to be held within one year of the sitting of the Diocesan Convention aforesaid, the President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese shall transmit copies of the said writing and proceedings of the Diocesan Convention to the Standing Committees of all the Dioceses of this Church, and if a majority of them consent to the proposed resignation, the said President shall transmit copies of the said writing and proceedings, and of the consent of the majority of the Standing Committees, to every Bishop of this Church; and if a majority of the Bishops shall notify the senior Bishop of their consent to the proposed resignation, he shall declare, under his hand and seal, that the