SWR, there is a very distinct difference between a "check list" and a "procedure".
A "Procedure" is a series of actions which must be performed to get the aircraft to do want you want it to do............for example, start the engines, accomplish anti-icing precautions, prepare for an Instrument Landing System guidance..............the list goes on and on. Practically EVERYTHING that is done on a modern aircraft flight-deck is governed by a procedure that is written down somewhere (Usually in the Flight Operations Manual)! SOME of the ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL actions MAY be extracted and entered onto a "Checklist" , for example a check on the landing-gear being "down and locked " is on the landing checklist but lots of other things may not be - like ensuring you've got the correct runway in sight or that you have correctly briefed for an overshoot (go-around).
There have been big changes over the last two or three decades in check-list philosophy, one being to go into print more and more regarding PROCEDURES leaving very little to the Captain's (Crew's) discretion and the other is to shorten and abbreviate CHECKLISTS on the assumption that the correct procedures have been properly accomplished.
The debate goes on !