Do I need to memorize The Manual or Bourinot?
You don’t need to commit The Manual to memory, or even feel you have to read it all from cover to cover, but you do need to own a copy! And it wouldn’t hurt to take it to your meetings, in case you need to refer to it. You can look up sections in the index before the meeting that refer to special issues such as buildings, calling a minister, presbytery visits, etc.