With the Adopting Act of 1729, the Synod of Philadelphia officially adopted the Westminster Confession as the doctrinal standard for American Presbyterians. All ministerial candidates were required to subscribe to it but were allowed to declare scruples to those parts considered nonessential. This compromise left a permanent legacy to following generations of Presbyterians in America resulting in permanent controversies over the manner in which a minister is bound to accept the document; and it has left the American versions of the Westminster Confession more amenable to the will of the church to amend it.