The Historical Development of the Book of Church Order

Chapter 53 : The Preaching of the Word

"Of the Preaching of the Word", from the
Directory for the Publick Worship of God
(1645)

Paragraph 4 :

53-4. As a primary design of public ordinances is to unite the people in acts of common worship of the most high God, ministers should be careful not to make their sermons so long as to interfere with or exclude the important duties of prayer and praise, but should preserve a just proportion in the several parts of public worship.

DIGEST: The current PCA text has remained unchanged from PCA 1973, and dates to the 1929 PCUS revision of the Directory for Worship.

BACKGROUND AND COMPARISONS :
PCA 1973, Adopted text, DfW 6-5 [M1GA, Appendix, p. 157]
Continuing Presbyterian Church 1973, DfW Proposed text,
and
PCUS 1933, DfW VI, §325.
As a primary design of public ordinances is to unite the people in acts of common worship of the most high God, ministers should be careful not to make their sermons so long as to interfere with or exclude the important duties of prayer and praise, but should preserve a just proportion in the several parts of public worship.

PCUS 1925, DfW VI-4 [§325]
and
PCUS 1894, DfW VI-4
As one primary design of public ordinances is to pay social acts of homage to the most high God, ministers ought to be careful not to make their sermons so long as to interfere with or exclude the important duties of prayer and praise; but preserve a just proportion between the several parts of public worship.

PCUSA 1789, DfW VI-4
As one primary design of public ordinances is to pay social acts of homage to the most high God, ministers ought to be careful, not to make their sermons so long as to interfere with or exclude the important duties of prayer and praise; but preserve a just proportion between the several parts of public worship.

PCUSA 1786, DfW 2d draft
As one primary design, of public ordinances of the Sabbath, is, to pay acts of social homage to the most high God, the Minister is to be careful not to make his sermons too long, so as to interfere therewith. He is particularly to guard against shortening the devotional, and more important parts of the service, to make way for long discourse. But, when there is only one public service in the day, as is the case, in the winter, in many of our country Churches, the Sermon, with all the other parts, may be somewhat longer, than where there are two or more services. And, when there are two or more public services statedly every Lord's day, we think the Sermons in general, ought not to be shorter than thirty, nor longer than forty or forty-give minutes.