Page:The church manual (Church of the Brethren 1916).djvu/36

Rh 3. If these efforts both fail to secure a reconciliation, it shall be the duty of the offended to lay the matter before the church, and submit to her action in the case.

4. If any member of the church shall be publicly guilty of any crime or gross impropriety, it shall be the duty of the member, knowing the transgression, to inform the elder, who shall see or write to the offender, and inform him that the matter will be laid before the church, that he may appear in his own defense.

5. When common report charges a crime against a member, it shall be the duty of the one hearing it to report it to the elder, who shall have the member visited or informed of the report, and if there is reason to believe that it is true, to have the most judicious steps taken to ascertain its correctness, and then lay the report and its evidence before the church for action in the case.

6. When circumstances are impracticable to have a member who is reported to have been guilty of crime visited, it shall be the duty of the elder, hearing of such crime, to take the most judicious measures to ascertain the truth in regard to the report, and lay the matter before the church.