750 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 403

(b) The members of the corporation shall be the mem-
bers of the Quarterly Conference.

(c) Trustees shall be elected by The Quarterly Confer-
ence in accordance with the provisions of the Discipline of
The Methodist Church whether the church is incorporated
or not, and in the case of incorporated churches the
Trustees shall be the directors of the corporation.

(d) The by-laws of the corporation shall include the
Discipline of The Methodist Church as from time to time
enacted, authorized and declared by its General Conference
and no other by-laws shall be adopted inconsistent with the
provisions of the Discipline.

(e) All real, personal, and mixed property owned by any
Methodist Church, including any former Methodist Episco-
pal Church, Methodist Protestant Church, or Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, whether incorporated, unincor-
porated, or abandoned shall be held in trust by the trustees
of such Church for the uses of The Methodist Church and
shall be subject to the Discipline, usage, and ministerial
appointments of The Methodist Church as from time to
time authorized and declared by The General Conference of
The Methodist Church.

(f) The absence of the trust clause in deeds and convey-
ances previously executed shall in no way exclude a local
church from or relieve it of its Methodist connectional re-
sponsibilities or from the provisions of this enactment. Nor
shall it absolve a local congregation or Board of Trustees of
its responsibility to The Methodist Church provided that
the intent and desire of the founders and/or the later con-
gregations and Boards of Trustees is shown by any or all
of the following indications: (a) the conveyance of the
property to the trustees of the local Methodist church or
any of its predecessors; (b) the use of the name, customs,
and polity of The Methodist Church in such a way as to be
thus known to the community as part of this denomination;

(g) The acceptance of the pastorate of ministers ap-
pointed by a bishop of The Methodist Church or employed
by the superintendent of the district in which it is located.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall
take effect June 1, 1953.

Approved April 6, 1953.