ABSTRACT
In 'making lordly bishops before the realme is provided of necessary ministers' the English Queen had 'offended' Goodman and 'wounded godly hearts'. The compilers of the First Book of Discipline anticipated resistance to their proposals and provided a lengthy defence of their scheme outlining the reasons both for introducing the office of superintendent, and for its accompanying large stipend. In defining the jurisdictions of each superintendent the authors of the First Book of Discipline rationalized the old diocesan boundaries. An oblique reference is possibly given in the theory when it states that none should be admitted to the Lord's Supper 'who cannot formally say the Lords prayer, the Articles of the Belief, and declare the summe of the Law.' However, it was the ministers who were to examine the parishioners, not the superintendents. Unlike bishops, the authority to admit people to the full communion of the Kirk lay not with the superintendents but with the parish ministers.
