Derrick Clifton's Oct. 10 column, "Columbus Day is an ironic disgrace," resonates well with me as a lay professional in the Episcopal Church who is a member of a small task force working to implement the resolution, "Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery," adopted at the 2009 General Convention. This task force under the leadership of a Native American Episcopalian has recently produced resources for education, formation, reconciliation, healing and action to the wider Church around the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery.
This doctrine held that Christian sovereigns and their representative explorers could assert dominion and title over non-Christian lands with the full blessing and sanction of the Church. In the United States the Doctrine of Discovery combined with the concept of manifest destiny resulted in near genocide for Native Americans. Congregations in the Episcopal Church are being invited to rediscover the history of the Church and this nation by ‘Looking at Columbus Day
through the Lens of our Baptismal Covenant."
Resources include a Sunday morning bulletin insert, "A Congregational Resource : Faithful Reflection for Small Groups," and a video.
Newland Smith
Librarian Emeritus
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary
n-smith1@seabury.edu
is a member of the 
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