Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 16, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "as the water from Tropical Storm Allison began to recede...a flood of donations and volunteers rushed into the fellowship hall of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church [in Houston] to help a trained troupe of parishioners activate a shelter for the American Red Cross...This 'miracle' was repeated throughout the Houston area last week as houses of worship became sanctuaries for residents fleeing the floods...Organizations such as churches, mosques and synagogues are...

Source: Newsday

On June 16, 2001, Newsday reported on an interfaith marriage panel, "which brought together four interfaith couples and four clergy members earlier this month at Huntington Congregational Church in Centerport [New York]." Among other things, the panelists discussed wedding ceremonies, raising children, cultural differences, and all that interfaith marriages can teach a couple.

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 16, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on Jesse Miranda, a Southern California Pentecostal minister. "President Bush's faith-based initiatives proposal and the rise of Latino Protestantism have pushed Miranda into the national spotlight...Miranda, 63...is winning respect for his ability to turn isolated Latino churches into a social force ...Latino Protestantism is attracting a growing number of members from Catholicism."

Source: India Abroad

On June 15, 2001, India Abroad reported that "a 15,000-square-foot high-domed Dradha Krishna temple...has been built...in Spanish Fork, Utah, by the Utah chapter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness...Among the guests invited for the celebration [of its opening] are...local members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS)...In 1999 the LDS Foundation donated $25,000 toward construction and more than 800 local Mormons voluntered their time in the construction at various times."

Source: The Record

On June 15, 2001, The Record published an opinion piece about statements made by opponents of the construction of an eruv in Tenafly, New Jersey. Eruvin are symbolic walls that allow the Orthodox to carry things out of their homes on the Sabbath. "The comments are...us-versus-them comments...The comments are cloaked in code words: about how these 'other people' are so different, and about what their moving in might do to schools, property values, and the town's identity...Getting to know people makes all the difference. It does away...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On June 15, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the wedding ceremony of an Indian-American Hindu bride and groom. "The bride says her wedding day was perfect because it combined her Indian background and her American upbringing into one beautifully unique ceremony."

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On June 15, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Yoruba is the name of a major ethnic group in Nigeria and its religion." Queen Mother Yeyefini Efunbolade, the founder and director of the International Institute of Afrikan Studies...

Source: The State Journal-Register

On June 14, 2001, The State Journal-Register reported that "a decades-old law that prohibits anyone from being paid to tell fortunes was reaffirmed by unanimous vote of Hillsboro [Illinois] City Council. The issue came up...when [the Coven of the] Mystic Moon [asked to] hold a fund-raising festival on city property at Lake Hillsboro. Among the games and activities to be offered would be readings of Tarot cards and fortune-telling...The practice of divination, or fortune-telling, is part of their religion, [a member of the...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "long before this week's controversial Supreme Court decision, hundreds of public schools across Southern California had been renting out space to churches without fanfare or controversy...Five years ago, the state modified its education code to give religious groups equal access to public-school campuses during off hours...So far, the arrangements have gone...smoothly."

Source: The Associated Press State & Local Wire

On June 13, 2001, the Associated Press State & Local Wire reported on a three-day Hinduism conference at the Vivekananda Monastery and Retreat in Ganges, Michigan. "Vedanta in the Third Millennium," is expected to attract about 500 people. The leader of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago said that "the idea of doing this conference is to make the people aware of their spiritual identity."

Source: The Washington Post

On June 12, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "public schools throughout the Washington area have increasingly allowed religious activities on their campuses, a practice that was reaffirmed yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Christian youth group could hold after-school meetings at a public school in Upstate New York." An ACLU legal director in the area said the decision "reaffirms what people understood. They have to treat all clubs equally, including nonreligious clubs and religious clubs."

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On June 12, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that the Supreme Court ruled that "an evangelical Christian group has a right to meet after hours in public-school classrooms despite the religious content of the group's meetings." The ruling "may help pave the way for Bush administration plans to expand government partnerships with faith-based social-service groups.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On June 12, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the U.S. Supreme Court...ruled that schools cannot prohibit religious groups from using their classrooms after students have been dismissed for the day...The justices ruled against the Milford school district in upstate New York [which] had rejected a request from a local religious organization, the Good News Club," to use one of its classrooms after school hours.

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 12, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "the Supreme Court strengthened the free-speech rights of religious groups...ruling that a Christian youth group must be permitted to hold an after-school Bible study class in a public elementary school...The court's opinion stressing the rights of religious advocates should give a boost to President Bush's 'faith-based' initiative...In dissent, Justice David H. Souter said the ruling appears to stand 'for the remarkable proposition that any public school opened for civil...

Source: The Washington Post

On June 10, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "A baccalaureate will be held...for graduating seniors of Gar-Field, Hylton and Potomac high schools, as well as for private school and home-schooled students, at Christ Chapel" in Woodbridge. "The baccalaureate, a religious service for graduates, will include participation by Christian, Jewish and Muslim speakers."