Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On April 24, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published excerpts from the Rev. Randy Mickler's most recent Sunday sermon. Mickler said, "It is a great disloyalty to Jesus Christ according to my faith for me to honor pagan religion by allowing them to preach their faith from this pulpit in His house... At no time would I ever want our Jewish friends to feel slighted, hurt or embarrassed."

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On April 24, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published an editorial arguing that "the pastor at Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in Cobb County [Georgia] was acting fully within his prerogatives in deciding that a rabbi would not be welcome to deliver a sermon during a baccalaureate service for Walton High School...That said, we also believe that the Walton High PTSA committee was absolutely correct to move its baccalaureate service to the Cobb Civic Center rather than allow any hosting facility...

Source: New York Daily News

On April 24, 2001, the New York Daily News reported that "hours after NBA commissioner David Stern and two more Jewish organizations criticized Charlie Ward [of the New York Knicks] for his 'uninformed and ill-founded statements' concerning Jews and Jesus Christ, Ward issued a formal apology last night... Ward said the whole controversy came to light only because he was curious about Judaism."

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On April 23, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported on the response to the Rev. Mickler's decision to bar a rabbi from giving baccalaureate services in his church. "The Rev. Randy Mickler's words earned a standing ovation from his Mount Bethel United Methodist Church congregation Sunday as he defended his refusal to permit a rabbi to speak from his pulpit...The same decision has prompted some Jewish families to cut ties to the Cobb County church's popular youth sports program."

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 22, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "the Radio Studiorum, the detailed guidelines for Jesuit education, have been translated and posted on the [Boston College] website." The document is 400 years old, and had previously been available only in rare books sections of large libraries; now it can be found at "Radio Studiorum".

Source: The Kansas City Star

On April 21, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that a sacred Indian Blessing Ceremony will be a highlight of the centennial celebration of Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City. The seminary is "on a site once occupied by the Delaware Indian Nation."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 21, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "three new Mormon temples...will be built in California, including one in Newport Beach and one in Redlands" and one in Sacramento. These temples will bring "California's total to seven, the most in any state outside of Utah...Temple rites include weddings and 'vicarious baptisms for the dead,' ceremonies designed to unite deceased relatives who were not originally church members with their family through eternity."

Source: The Chicago Tribune

On April 21, 2001, The Chicago Tribune reported that two dozen dissidents have charged the Unitarian Universalist Association of being "extremely intolerant" of people who want to talk about God. They "will meet in Virginia to discuss plans for a new church body for Unitarians who want more God and less politics in church...In time, the Unitarian tradition, which has no creed, [has] shed its exclusively Christian focus and embraced other forms of religious expression, including humanism and Buddhism." The group of dissidents is "...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On April 20, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that Rabbi Steven Lebow claimed to be "flabbergasted" when he was informed that Mount Bethel United Methodist Church would not let him give the address to Walton High School's graduating seniors there because of his Jewish beliefs. ""Our philosophy is that the doors should be open, not closed," he said. "I wouldn't expect him to compromise his faith in Christ. All I want is the same respect from him."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 20, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on the latest fashion trend among Southern Californian worshippers at Sunday services. "Sunday wardrobes now reflect age, ethnicity and even hobbies...Clergy do agree on one thing: Clothes styles don't matter to God. The debate is over whether clothes make, or at least help, the worshiper...Other religions [including Judaism and Islam] have seen a slight dip in fashion formality, though nothing like the eclectic fashion sense of Christian congregations."

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 18, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that in the city of Berlin, OH, "state Representative Anthony Latta Jr. is sponsoring a bill to spend $5 million on road projects to help protect Ohio's 35,000 Amish from passing vehicles." There were 161 buggy-car crashes in Ohio in 1999. Latta's bill would fund projects to widen roads and to "improve visibility, add signs, and otherwise accommodate the Amish."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 15, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that this year, "for the first time in five years, Eastern Orthodox and Western Christian churches celebrate Easter...on the same date, thanks to a mathematical coincidence that has temporarily masked centuries of disagreement over when to observe the Resurrection." This year's "celebrations have rekindled interest--and raised old concerns--about setting a common date for the holiday...If Christians cannot agree on a date for Easter, they fear, their shared 'witness' to the world...

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

On April 14, 2001, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that many of the customs with which people celebrate Easter have their origins in "ancient earth traditions." Second-century Christian missionaries found that pagan springtime celebrations occurred at the same time of year as Christianity celebrated the resurrection of Christ. The missionaries "cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate ancient feasts, but in a Christian manner." The name "...

Source: The Arizona Republic

On April 14, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported on the origin of the Easter Bunny. "No one's quite sure just how the Easter Bunny became associated with the Christian holiday...He was a symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a reputation that eventually spread to Europe as the rabbit became one of the featured stars of springtime pagan rituals."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 14, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on the new bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Fifth Episcopal District, John Richard Bryant. The district encompasses 250 churches in 14 states west of the Mississippi. "As the church wrestles with dramatically changing demographics, which are reshaping historically black neighborhoods into multicultural ones, church members say no better man than Bryant can lead the way. 'He is the renaissance man of racial reconciliation,' said the Rev. Mark Whitlock."