The theme for this assembly is “Renewing the Vision: Kindom Building for the 21st Century” (that is not a typo—it’s “kin-dom,” as in the family of God). It’s a power message that has been preached about, talking about, debated about.
The 223rd General Assembly overwhelming approved in 449-67 and 460-52 votes two overtures calling on the Presbyterian Church (USA) to study, denounce, confess complicity in, and repent from the the justification of the Doctrine of Discovery which has been used to suppress, oppress, and justify the eradication of Native American peoples in the U.S. Sessions have been urged by the assembly to study this devastating doctrine that declared lands as unknown and unclaimed until a white, European “discovered” them and claimed them.
Sessions have been urged by the General Assembly to “confess their complicity and repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery.” The overture, Items 10-12 and 10-13 were in response to action taken by the 222nd General Assembly (2016) which called for a review of the Doctrine of Discovery.
Since the 222nd GA, Stated Clerk of GA, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, went to Standing Rock and publicly apologized on behalf of the PC(USA) for its complicity in oppressive and racist acts against First Nation Peoples.
Thanks for posting this, Eric. I was a commissioner to the 222nd GA serving on the Social Justice Issues Committee who reviewed this overture and recommended review of the Doctrine of Discovery. In our committee, we heard many stories and moving testimony from our native brothers and sisters and it is heartening to see further action being taken.