¶32

The regional conferences shall have the following powers and duties as the special conditions and the mission of the Church in the area require, subject to the limits fixed by the Constitution, and such others as may be conferred by the General Conference: 1. To promote the evangelistic, educational, missionary, social-concern, and benevolent interests and institutions of the Church within their own boundaries. 2. In regional conferences without jurisdictions, to elect the bishops for the respective regional conferences in number as may be determined from time to time, upon a basis fixed by the General Conference; to fix the tenure of their bishops, the episcopal areas and residences, and to assign the bishops who are to reside in the respective regional conference to their areas; and to cooperate in carrying out such plans for the support of their bishops as may be determined by the General Conference. 3. To establish and constitute such regional conference boards as may be required and to elect their administrative officers. 4. To determine the number, names, and boundaries of the annual conferences in accordance with ¶ 40. 5. To legislate rules and regulations for the administration of the work within their boundaries including changes and adaptations of the general Discipline as follows, while upholding the Constitution and the decisions of General Conference in accordance with ¶ 16.17: a) To establish and publish a regional Discipline with legislation and provisions pertaining to the regional, annual, district, and charge conferences within its boundaries, including qualifications and educational requirements of clergy and specialized lay ministries, and forms of organization according to the laws of the country or countries. b) To set standards of character and other qualifications for admission of lay members. c) To acknowledge annual conferences as the basic bodies of the church (¶ 33) voting on all matters relating to the character and conference relations of its clergy members, and therefore considering the requirements set forth in a regional Discipline regarding specialized lay ministry and license, ordination, or conference membership, as minimum requirements. d) To establish and publish a regional hymnal and ritual of the Church, including ecclesial acts of marriage and burial, subject to the limitations of the first and second Restrictive Rules, but authorizing to interpret Article XXIII of the Articles of Religion so as to recognize the governments of the country or countries. e) To allow the annual conferences to adopt structures adequate to their mission while upholding mandated structures. When adapting the investigative and trial process, each regional Book of Discipline shall guarantee confidentiality, protections of the accused, protection of the accusers along with the ability to adapt the process based on the legal system of each country. 6. To appoint a judicial court to determine legal questions arising from the rules, regulations, and such revised, adapted, or new sections of the regional Discipline enacted by the regional conference. 7. To adopt rules of procedure governing the investigation and trial of its clergy, including bishops, and lay members of the Church and to provide the necessary means and methods of implementing the said rules; provided, however, that the ordained ministers shall not be deprived of the right of trial by a clergy committee, and lay members of the Church of the right of trial by a duly constituted committee of lay members; and to make changes in the chargeable offenses and their penalties. A regional conference or a jurisdiction, if a regional conference has jurisdictions, shall appoint a committee on appeals to hear and determine the appeal of a clergy or lay member of the respective conference from the decision of a committee on trial.