Source: The Boston Globe

On April 22, 2000, The Boston Globe published an article on Roger Housden's recently released book entitled, "Sacred America: The Emerging Spirit of the People." Housden, who is British, writes: "America is still one of the most religious countries in the world, with over 90 percent believing in a god of some kind, and this religiosity has always colored the nation's own view of itself...This is why Americans, even if they do not articulate it in so many words, and in spite of everything that points to the whole experiment going...

Source: The Arizona Republic

On April 22, 2000, The Arizona Republic reported that worshipers from Presbyterian, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha'i, and Catholic communities joined in a prayer service on Friday, April 21st for the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Arizona, which suffered $1.5 million of damage in a fire on Monday, April 17th. Rev. Paul Eppinger of the Arizona Ecumenical Council stated: "We have different religious points of view, but we are one family in God...And like a family, we must support one another in times of trouble." The cause of the...

Source: The Kansas City Star

On April 19, 2000, The Kansas City Star published an article on Pilgrim Chapel, an interfaith chapel in Kansas City, MO that has no weekly congregation and serves as a place of worship and meditation for people of all religions. An English Gothic structure that was formerly a Lutheran church for the deaf, the chapel was bought by ordained ministers Roger and Liz Coleman in 1997 and opened as Pilgrim Chapel in 1998. Roger Coleman stated: "We have some people who just pop in during the week for a few minutes of quiet time before...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 17, 2000, the Los Angeles Times published an article on the difficulty of obtaining reliable statistics on America's religious demography. In 1976, the Census Bureau was barred by Congress from compelling people to reveal their religion. Private organizations have since carried the load, but the statistics have turned out to be disparate. Derek Lander, a staff member at the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, stated: "We made an attempt to see if anyone has good numbers, and basically what we are finding out is...

Source: The Times-Picayune

On April 16, 2000, The Times-Picayune published an article about the accommodation of religious practice in the workplace. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, "large companies - those with more than 250 employees - are more likely to allow flexible scheduling, give time for observances, and ease up on dress and appearance codes." Laila Jackson, an employee of PTT Telekom in Winter Park, Florida, is allowed to take the prayer breaks necessary to observe her Muslim faith. She goes to a darkened part of the...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On April 16, 2000, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that in the metro Atlanta area, 335 projects worth more than $200 million in the last 14 months have been dedicated for various religious centers. Churches, mosques, synagogues, and a Jain temple are all part of the building boom. For many of the new or renovated facilities, the result will be state-of-the-art amenities, such as elaborate recreational, health, and entertainment facilities, modern classrooms, and the latest in worship furnishings...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On April 16, 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle published an article entitled, "A Joint Celebration for Christians and Jews."

Source: The Boston Herald

On April 16, 2000, The Boston Herald published an article entitled, "Interfaith Households Face Challenge at Holidays: Finding Common Ground Can Ease Celebration of Passover, Easter."

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On April 13, 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a two-day meeting of 400 St. Louis religious and health care leaders took place on April 12-13 at the Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. The meeting focused on the growing role that religion and religious groups are playing in health care. The conference is the first public event of the 2-year-old St. Louis Faith and Health Consortium. Rev. Dr. Gary R. Gunderson, director of the Interfaith Health Program of the Rollins School of Public Health at...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 3, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the first Interfaith Youth Conference was held at Chapman University in California on Sunday, April 2nd. Hundreds of teenagers from Orange County representing 15 different faiths attended the many lectures, workshops, and activities sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice. Participants were able to choose two workshops from a list of 10, with topics such as, "You're a What? Is It Contagious?", which dealt with non-Western religious traditions, "Eat It,...

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On April 1, 2000, the Omaha World-Herald reported that "compiling church statistics is a maddening task. Denominations count members in different ways. Some go years without updating their figures. The National Council of Churches, however, has considered the compilation of available statistics so important to the understanding of religion in America that it took on the task 68 years ago in spite of the difficulties. Its Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, published annually by Abingdon Press in Nashville, Tenn...

Source: The Denver Post

On March 25, 2000, The Denver Post published an article about a panel discussion on women in ministry at the Denver Area Interfaith Clergy Conference in Colorado. Rev. Cindy Cearley, co-pastor of Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, stated: "I've learned the art of restraint...Women ministers hear comments such as 'you don't look like a minister'." Cearley continued to say that male clergy are given "automatic" authority while her "authority has to come from who I am and how I do my job." In Reform Judaism, even though 10 to 15...

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 19, 2000, the Boston Globe reported on the growing clout of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). This group, who is being "recognized as the strongest grass-roots political force this area has seen since the 1970s," has a diverse membership and a twofold mission that transcends geographic divisions: funding for housing and funding for education. A petition drive that aims for 100,000 signatures suggests a strong voting presence to which politicians will pay attention. Recent community meetings with...

Source: The Plain Dealer

A March 18, 2000, article in the Plain Dealer reports that results from a new study predict that "Islam will become a major new force on the American Religious scene, presenting new challenges to Christian and Jewish institutions." Kenneth Briggs, the study's author, says the " public square of the future has mosques and various kinds of temples along with its array of churches and synagogues." Overall, the influence of religious institutions may be declining as religion in the American context becomes more of an individual...

Source: Star Tribune

On March 18, 2000, the Minneapolis Star Tribune printed an article outlining the Jewish resolution to the difficulties that arise from the religious prohibition (shared by Jews and Muslims) of payment of interest. The concept of "Heter Iskah" requires that both parties to the financial transaction agree to be "partners in a joint venture" and to share the profits rather than structure the relationship as "lender-borrower" with interest payment. Muslims have arranged formal joint ventures, but this has often proven cumbersome without...