Doctrine of Discovery Resource List

The Coordinating Team of the Presbytery of Santa Fe has tasked the Mission Networking Committee (MNC) with helping the Presbytery continue the conversation about the Doctrine of Discovery (also known as the Doctrine of Christian Domination) that was begun at the October 2018 Presbytery meeting. To that end, we have produced this annotated list of resources that we recommend to congregations for study by sessions, PW groups, adult Christian education classes, and book groups.

The 223rd General Assembly (2018) of the PC(USA) urged "the session of each congregation, as well as each mid council, COTE-member seminaries, Presbyterian Women's groups, and other organizations to confess their complicity and repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery."

Second Presbyterian Church (Albuquerque) has already taken action:
"The Session of Second repudiates the Doctrine of Discovery. We confess our complicity in the injustice of the Doctrine and promise to: (1) educate our congregation on the history and implications of the Doctrine; (2) work with higher councils to reinforce proliferation of repudiation to other Sessions and higher councils; and (3) cultivate relationships with Native American individuals and tribes, and especially Native American congregations."

We encourage sessions to consider taking similar action, and we recommend downloading this
Doctrine of Discovery Resource List
and/or visiting the Presbytery of Santa Fe website for more information and resources.