The
Directory was something like an agenda, but it was also something of a handbook of pastoral practice containing a lengthy section on visiting the sick, and a detailed section on preaching. The book reflected the compilers' belief in the
regulative principle of worship, which holds that only what is mandated by explicit Scripture, whether by explicit command, precept or example or by
good and necessary consequence can be deduced from Scripture was warranted in the public worship of
God. The
Directory lays down a structure of worship centered on the reading of
Scripture. The canonical scriptures are to be read in order, a chapter of each testament at a time, after which there was a long prescribed prayer and then the minister was to preach to the effect that "his own and his hearers' hearts [are] to be rightly affected with their sins."
Baptism was to be administered at this same service using a
baptismal font which the people could see and where they could hear, rather than hitherto where fonts had often been placed at the entrance of the church. A long instruction preceded the administration of the rite which, among other things, made the point that baptism is not so necessary that the child would be damned or the parents guilty if it were not administered, on the grounds that the children of the faithful "are Christians and
federally holy before baptism." There was to be prayer that the inward
baptism of the Spirit would be joined with the outward baptism of water. Communion was to take place after the morning sermon, and was to be celebrated often, though the
Directory does not specify precisely how often; to the Scots, quarterly or half-yearly was sufficient, but some English
Puritan churches observed monthly, while most
Anglicans only practiced communion once a year. Those wishing to receive communion were to sit "about" or "at" the
communion table. The disjunctive words "about" and "at" were a compromise between the Scottish view of the necessity of sitting around a table and a common view in England that partaking in the pews was in order. The
words of institution from the
Gospels of
Mark,
Matthew, and
Luke, or from
Paul's
First Epistle to the Corinthians, were an essential part of the celebration. These were followed by a prayer of thanksgiving to God "to vouchsafe his gracious presence, and the effectual working of his Spirit in us; and so to sanctify these elements, both of bread and wine, and to bless his own ordinance, that we may receive by faith the body and blood of
Jesus Christ crucified for us, and so feed upon him that he may be one with us, and we with him, and that he may live in us and we in him and to him, who hath loved us and given himself for us." The bread was then to be
broken and shared and the wine also. The collection of
alms for the poor was to be organised so that it in no way hindered the service.
Marriage involved the consent of the parties, publication of intention, and a religious service in a place of public worship on any day of the year, but preferably not the
Lord's Day. It consisted of prayer, an explanation of the origin and purpose of marriage, an enquiry as to if there is any impediment, the exchange of vows, the pronouncement that the couple be husband and wife, and a closing prayer. A register of marriages was to be kept. The
Directory made no provision for
burial services, on the grounds that burial services had inspired superstitious practices. It did, however, permit "civil respects or deferences" at the burial, "appropriate to the rank and condition of the party deceased," to put the friends of the deceased in mind of their duty to improve the occasion.
Henry Hammond, later Chaplain to Charles I, advanced six objections to the
Directory in his 1645 work,
A View of the New Directory and a Vindication of the Ancient Liturgy of the Church of England. Hammond wrote that the
Directory avoids (1) a prescribed form or liturgy, (2) outward or bodily worship, (3) uniformity in worship, (4) congregants participating through responses in prayers,
hymns, and readings, (5) the division of prayers into several collects or portions, and (6) ceremonies such as kneeling in
communion, the cross in baptism, and the ring in marriage. In respect of (1) this has been covered already. In respect of (2), doting on ceremonies and outward gestures (e.g. bowing to the east) was indeed avoided. As for (3), it was intended that there be uniformity in the parts of worship though not the words, while in regard to (4) and (5) the
Directory is not so opposite as Hammond suggests although it does not seem very positive on singing. In regard to (6), kneeling in communion and the cross in baptism had been matters of long and significant controversy between the parties in the
Church of England. Hammond then noted sixteen items avoided in the
Directory which are more particularly related to the parts of the service: (1) pronouncing of
absolution, (2) the necessity of singing psalms and other hymns of the church, (3) the use of the
doxology, (4) the use of the ancient
creeds, (5) the frequent use of the
Lord’s Prayer and prayers for the King, (6) saints days and the
liturgical year, (7) the reading of the
commandments and associated prayers, (8) the order of the
offertory, (9) private baptism, (10) a prescribed
catechism (although this was covered by the later Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms), (11)
confirmation, (12) solemnities of burial for the sake of the living, (13) thanksgiving after childbirth, (14)
communion for the sick, (15) The Commination service at the beginning of
Lent, (16) the observation of Lent,
Rogation days and the
Ember weeks. Several of these items (1-5,7,10) had use in other
Reformed churches, but the major items did not. ==Use by the Church of England==