Let me take you back to 17th century England, 1643 to be precise.

King Charles I was increasingly hostile to the Puritans and their reformed theology.

And members of Parliament, many of whom were Puritans and Puritan sympathizers,

were becoming increasingly aggrieved by the king.

They were convinced that there was still a lot of work to be done in the Church of England,

that it still needed to be reformed in light of scripture.

Although the English Church had separated itself from Rome during the English Reformation more than 100 years earlier,

the Puritans felt it hadn't gone far enough.

So with that in mind, Parliament called upon Reform theologians to meet at Westminster Abbey.

Their job was to advise Parliament on issues of worship, doctrine, government and discipline in the Church of England.

Despite a royal proclamation prohibiting its meeting,

the Assembly first met on 1st of July 1643

at the Henry the 7th Chapel in Westminster Abbey,

before later moving to the Abbey's Jerusalem chamber.

This Westminster Assembly consisted of 151 men, which included 20 lay people from the House of Commons

and 10 from the House of Lords.

The Assembly lasted officially until 1649, although it continued to meet occasionally until 1652, and those

present certainly did not slack during that time.

Over the course of six years between 1643 and 1649 they met 1,163 times.

The documents they produced are known as the Westminster standards, namely the Westminster Confession of Faith, the larger

and shorter catacisms, the directory for the public worship of God, which is a sort of liturgical

manual, and the form of presmaterial church

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