Source: The Tampa Tribune

On January 6, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported that Hillsborough County's proposed 2001-2002 school calendar "includes a day off in September coinciding with the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The calendar also shows a spring break from March 25 to April 1, 2002, which would span both Easter and Passover." Jewish parents call the proposed changes to the calendar "a step in the right direction." Phyllis Rogoff, a Jewish parent who served on the district's calendar committee, said the changes...

Source: The Denver Post

On January 6, 2001, The Denver Post reported on the increasing observance in the United States of the Christian holiday Epiphany, "which commemorates the visit by the Magi, or wise men, to the newborn Jesus." Also called the Festival of Lights, Epiphany "means appearance or manifestation, and in the Christian view it means the bodily appearance of the divine." Said the Rev. Tom Troeger, "for the first 300 years of Christianity, followers celebrated both Christ's birth and the Epiphany on the same...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/

On January 6, 2001, the St. Petersburg Times reported on this year's celebration of Epiphany, "one of the holiest days of the year in the Greek Orthodox Church." Because it falls on a Saturday, as many as 30,000 people, about twice the usual number, are expected in Tarpon Springs, FL. The ceremony at Spring Bayou is "the largest of its kind in the Western hemisphere" and "commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ...

Source: The Washington Post

On January 5, 2001, The Washington Post reported on the "newly installed Roman Catholic Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick...as the new spiritual leader of a half-million Washington area Catholics. An estimated 4,000 parishioners and dignitaries attended" the Mass of Installation to welcome him to the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. "From the altar, McCarrick looked down on one of the nation's most diverse group of Catholics...Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Pope John Paul II's...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 1, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that a unity agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be formally signed on Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral. The Called to Common Mission pact "allows members of the two denominations to receive communion in each other's churches and call either an Episcopal priest or a Lutheran minister their pastor." The agreement stems from the recognition that "both denominations have more in common than not....

Source: India New England News

In January, 2001, India New England News reported on Saraswati Mandiram, the Institute of Holistic Health, Music, Yoga, Science and Philosophy, in New Hampshire. It celebrated the official anniversary of the Baghavad Gita, a text which "is central to the institute's teachings. Holistic health...does not just focus on the physical self but also on the health of the spirit, mind and emotions. One of the institute's stated goals is to provide a place of worship...that will 'explore and promote the good in both Eastern and Western...

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 1, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that every New Year's Eve African-Americans crowd churches in celebration of "Watch Night," a tradition that, according to oral tradition, "dates back to Dec. 31, 1862, the night before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. That evening slaves gathered at churches to stay awake through the dawn for protection and inspiration. They literally watched the night pass until they were free." The celebration of Watch Night varies from church to church: many pastors in the South,...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On December 31, 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Pentecostal movement, which "has, by some estimates, as many as 500 million members worldwide" turns 100 this New Year's Day. "Several thousand Pentecostals are expected to attend a special celebration of the anniversary at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka" on New Year's Eve. Tim Miller, chairman of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Kansas, says "some scholars describe the rise of the Pentecostal movement as important as the...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 31, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that while many were celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, hundreds of Muslims gathered in the San Fernando Valley this year for Eid-al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which "commemorates what Muslims believe was God's revelation of their holy book, the Koran, to the prophet Muhammad nearly 1,400 years ago. It is a month of prayer, reflection, goodwill toward those less fortunate and fasting from dawn to dusk. Eid al-Fitr...is celebrated with family and feasts, and...

Source: The Times-Picayune

On December 31, 2000, The Times-Picayune reported that Debbie Beck, a schoolbus driver in New Orleans, LA, delivered gifts to children in need for the holidays. Rev. Eugene Wellington, director of Community Christian Concern, said that Beck is truly dedicated to the children. She sought to find a family to adopt after she donated more than 40 gifts to CCC for children. At the CCC's Christmas party, children were treated to tours of the city in a limousine. Wellington said that the community's response to the program for children has...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 30, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported the formal announcement by Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer that the Faithful Central Baptist Church in Inglewood "had signed a $22.5-million deal to buy" the 17,500-seat Great Western Forum. The sale "marks the first time a U.S. church has bought such a large sports and entertainment venue." Since the popular Ulmer "arrived at Faithful Central on Florence Avenue in 1982, the congregation has grown to more than 8,000. That has made it one of the largest in Southern California, but...

Source: The New York Times

On December 30, 2000, The New York Times reported that "the arrival of Jan. 1 will...have a specific meaning within the history of Christianity, for 2001 will mark 1,700 years since the faith's establishment in Armenia," when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted the Armenian king to Christianity. According to Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, head of the Diocese of the Armenian Church in America, "for 1,700 years, enlightened by the faith St. Gregory brought to Armenia, we are able not only to survive but also to have...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 30, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that "more than 200 Mormons dressed in pioneer garb and traveling in covered wagons" will cover the 800-mile trail between Salt Lake City and San Bernardino this spring and summer to "replicate the Mormon journey to Southern California 150 years ago." "The wagon train is scheduled to leave Salt Lake City on April 25 and arrive in San Bernardino at the end of June for a three-day festival at Glen Helen Regional Park." Most of the pioneers will be southern Californians. "...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 29, 2000 the Los Angeles Times reported the purchase of the Great Western Forum, a 17,500-seat arena in Inglewood, California, by the Faithful Central Bible Church of Inglewood, for $22.5 million. Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, head of the mostly African-American 10,000-member church, plans to "make this one of the premier family gathering places in Southern California" through a schedule of Sunday services, sporting events, concerts, and ice shows during the week, and religious revival conferences. By bringing business...

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On December 26, 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that "Chicagoans traveled many miles to attend foreign language services, revisit ethnic roots and refresh childhood memories" this Christmas. Susan Remington of Oak Park, the granddaughter of Swedish immigrants, celebrated Christmas in the Swedish tradition at Ebenezer Lutheran Church. During the service "former Swedish opera star Lennart Backstrom sang several traditional psalms and hymns in Swedish." Afterward, "traditional coffee and pepparkakor, or gingerbread snaps...