Page:A short account of the rise and progress of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America.djvu/41

 Preachers may have more authority to exercise their functions in the church than they now have ; and whereas, it is reported that, should the Legislature deem it expedient to grant the request of the memorialists and enact the said special Act of Incorporation, it will very materially change the present manner of conducting the temporal concerns of the said church; (as the Trustees or Stewards to be appointed according to the contemplated mode, will hold the property of the Society in trust for the Preachers in Conference instead of, or more than for the members of the Society) and whereas, in consequence of the aforementioned schism, a very different explanation is given relative to the contents of the said memorial, and fearing that the said report is true, and that our church property will be involved in the same difficulties should the contemplated Act of Incorporation be obtained, having no desire to transfer our church property to the Methodist Preachers in Conference; therefore, we have Resolved—

1. That we cannot fairly understand the intention of the said Preachers, in praying the Legislature for a special Act of Incorporation, and having some reason to fear that the above mentioned report is correct, we are much dissatisfied and do highly disapprove of the said memorial. 2. That in consequence of the dissatisfaction and doubt existing on our minds, relative to the intended special Act of Incorporation, and to the conduct of the Preachers in Conference requiring such an Act, we decline receiving any further services from them as respects our church government.