MINISTER IN THE SECOND DEGREE.
A minister is forwarded from the first to the second degree by the request of the church in which he resides, and by the assistance of adjoining elders called for this purpose. He is advanced or installed according to the following form, in which will also be found his added duties:
Dear brother [calling his name], the church having called you into the first degree of the ministry, and on trial has confidence in your fidelity and integrity, now proposes to advance you into the second degree, and thereby your labors will be increased and your duties will become more onerous, and will require a greater sacrifice on your part. The church now authorizes you to appoint meetings for preaching, according to the general order of the Brethren, to administer the ordinance of baptism, and, in the absence of an elder, to take the counsel of the church on the admission of an applicant for baptism, to serve the Communion in the absence of any elder, or at his or their request, if present; to solemnize the rite of marriage according to the laws of the State and the usages of the church; in brief, to perform all the duties of an ordained elder, except that you have no authority to install officers in the church, neither by giving a charge, as I am now doing, nor by laying on hands in ordaining a brother into the full degree of
