Source: Newsday

On February 1, 2003 Newsday reported that the "First Presbyterian Church of Newtown is alive with the sights and sounds of an infant baptism this Sunday morning... At the baptismal font, a few feet from the church altar, stands Nnenna Ogbonnaya, 38, wearing the colorful dress of her Nigerian homeland and holding Kelechi, her swaddled 2-month-old daughter, in her arms... The church has survived war, fire and even a slide out of the path of progress. With a history of welcoming immigrants that has been renewed in recent times, First...

Source: The Associated Press

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Feb/01/il/il11afaith.html

On February 1, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "Americans are proud of their freedom of religion, and the work of J. Gordon Melton shows they have a whole lot of religions to choose from...The Roman Catholic Church may be huge but it's only one among 116 Catholic denominations. Orthodox Christians have an even higher total, and Protestantism...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On February 1, 2003 The Houston Chronicle reported that "[in Houston], as in other American cities, Jews are taking steps to thwart Christian missionaries targeting them. In Houston, they also are girding for an upcoming Jews for Jesus campaign aimed at the city's Jewish community... The Jews for Jesus campaign in 2004 or 2005 will be 'an all-out intensive effort to make the Messianicship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to the Jews of Houston,' said Susan Perlman, a San Francisco-based founder of Jews for Jesus... The group...

Source: The Union Democrat

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=9834

On January 31, 2003 The Union Democrat reported that "thanks to three local Christian churches, The Motherlode Jewish Community [in New Jersey] can rededicate a century-old, fire-damaged Torah... The Community will hold an interfaith recognition service for the churches, which helped raise the $3,000 needed for the Torah's restoration, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 at Murphys...

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3956-2003Jan30.html

On January 31, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which featured Vice President Cheney as its opening luncheon speaker yesterday, one of the various exhibition booths hawking paraphernalia had some virulently anti-Muslim vinyl bumper stickers... including one that said: 'No Muslims -- No Terrorism...'...

Source: Charisma News Service

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/120/story_12071_1.html

On January 31, 2003 the Charisma News Service reported that "calling it a move toward unprecedented unity in American Christendom, evangelical leaders are praising a plan to create the broadest-ever alliance of Christians. They say if it is successful, the association could help remove divisions in the body of Christ... Church leaders from 30 denominations agreed Wednesday on a...

Source: USA TODAY

On January 30, 2003 USA TODAY reported that "President Bush's State of the Union address underscored a striking element of his presidency: the extent to which he is influenced by his Christian faith. In policy proposals and word choices, he showed the public face of his private beliefs... Many Americans welcome Bush's spiritual approach and find it reassuring. But some civil libertarians are gearing up to halt what they see as the most threatening part of Bush's agenda: his drive to funnel federal money to religious groups. They see...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.dominionpost.com/a/news/2003/01/30/bg/

On January 30, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "an Islamic group targeted by vandals and threats is offering $500 for information about the perpetrators, whose actions have been condemned by some local Christian and Jewish leaders... The latest incident occurred Friday, when someone used a chain saw to cut down and steal a sign for the Islamic Society of Western Maryland's mosque on the...

Source: The Washington Post

On January 30, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "while some lawmakers have complained about ministers praying 'in Jesus's name,' some religious leaders are saying they don't see why they should eliminate Jesus from a prayer to accommodate other faiths... The matter arose when, in recent Senate sessions, some ministers didn't stick to the Senate policy of making the blessings ecumenical... The latest episode came last week when the Rev. Reginald Thomas of Greater Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church in Baltimore ended...

Source: swissinfo

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/census-reveals-shift-away-from-religion/3139170

On January 30, 2003 swissinfo reported, "The religious landscape in Switzerland has undergone a sea change, with a growing number of people moving away...

Source: The Wichita Eagle

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/5066994.htm

On January 30, 2003 The Wichita Eagle reported that "an award-winning art exhibit that helped spread religious understanding in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks languishes in a 4-by-8-foot storage locker, waiting for a home. The exhibit will move wherever it's welcome, said Diane Thomas Lincoln, the Wichita State University art professor who directed its...

Source: The American Jewish Committee

http://www.ajc.org/InTheMedia/PressReleases.asp?did=740

On January 29, 2003 The American Jewish Committee issued a press release that stated, "the American Jewish Committee and the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union, the largest Catholic school of theology in the United States, have announced a joint association dedicated to further improving Catholic - Jewish relations......

Source: The Times-Picayune

On January 29, 2003 The Times-Picayune reported that "New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on Tuesday formally named its undergraduate college Leavell College in honor of an influential Southern Baptist family that produced three generations of preachers, missionaries, church leaders and two former seminary presidents... Former seminary President Landrum Leavell II, 76, returned from semi-retirement in Wichita Falls, Texas, to the institution he led for 20 years to serve as the focus of the ceremonies. In a chapel sermon...

Source: The Interfaith Alliance

http://www.interfaithalliance.org/press/index.htm

On January 28, 2003 The Interfaith Alliance reported that "tonight, during his third State of the Union address to the nation, President George W. Bush is expected to urge Congress to swiftly pass his beleaguered faith-based initiative and issue an appeal to the American people for support on a possible war with Iraq. Both items have caused much controversy within the religious liberty...

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 28, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "at the Capitol in Washington, amid all the pomp and circumstance that Congress can muster, President Bush is expected to lay out his case tonight for a possible war... At the same time, at Boston's storied Trinity Church, leaders of many of the state's religious traditions will be gathering in their full liturgical finery to make their own case, for peace... Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, [organized] tonight's religious event, at which...