The Parliament nominated one hundred fifty-one persons to the assembly. Thirty were members of Parliament; the others were "learned, godly, and judicious divines." The assembly held 1,163 sessions, finally concluding in 1649. The Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism and the Larger Catechism were completed in 1647.

The standards came to New England with the Puritans and to the Middle Atlantic states with the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. In 1729, the standards were adopted as the confessional position of the newly organized Presbyterian synod in the colonies and have played a formative role in American Presbyterianism ever since. The standards lift up the truth and authority of the Scriptures, as immediately inspired in Hebrew and Greek, kept pure in all ages, and known through the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. These documents have serves as the doctrinal standards, subordinate to the Word of God, for Presbyterian and other churches around the world.

The Larger Catechism, written primarily by Dr. Anthony Tuckney, professor of divinity and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, was designed for public exposition from the pulpit.

The Shorter Catechism, primarily the work of the Reverend John Wallis, an eminent mathematician who later became professor of geometry at Oxford University, was written for the education of children.

Both the Larger and the Shorter Catechisms deal with questions of God, Christ, the Christian life, the Ten Commandments, the sacraments, and the Lord's Prayer. Especially famous is the first question and answer of the Shorter Catechism. "What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."