Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 2, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported on a common "concern in Asian and Asian American churches: In becoming a Christian, does a convert sever ties with his non-Christian loved ones." The article focuses on the story of Dickson Yagi, "born in a Buddhist family in Hawaii... He had been the first member of his Shingon Buddhist family to convert to Christianity... Yagi went on to become a Southern Baptist minister... The third-generation Okinawan American's personal experiences convinced him that the 'good news' of...

Source: The Oregonian

On February 1, 2002 The Oregonian featured an editorial on a meeting in Clatskanie, OR that was "sponsored by a Portland-based Zen Buddhist group, the Zen Community of Oregon, to explain its plans to remodel a former elementary school into a monastery and seminary. But many objected to adding the Zen sanctuary to the community's eight churches... 'Our goal is to protect those that have not yet accepted Christ,' said Loren Dummer, the Assembly of God pastor. He worried that that the Zen Buddhists, who are not evangelical, would try to...

Source: Yahoo

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020131/sfth093_1.html

On January 31, 2002, a press release from Glide Memorial Church announced, "Sikhs Help Homeless Battle Freezing Nights: Distribute 250 Blankets at Glide Memorial." The press release stated, in part: "Tomorrow the Sikh community will join with Glide Memorial to distribute 250 blankets to the homeless. The Sikh Gurdwara Temple of El Sobrante donated all 250 blankets to Glide. The blanket give-away is a direct response...

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On January 26, 2002, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "the Ner Tamid synagogue and the Rancho Bernardo Presbyterian Church hope to get the City Council's approval next week to split and develop a 32-acre parcel on the west side of Pomerado Road... If the permission to proceed is granted, the Conservative Jewish congregation would build a synagogue, offices, Hebrew school, preschool, gymnasium, community center and meeting rooms on about nine acres of the parcel."

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 26, 2002. The Boston Globe featured an article on the increasing interest in Islamic Studies at America's Colleges and Universities. Many Schools are actively looking to hire a Professor to teach courses on Islam and the Arab World. "'We don't have any firm numbers yet, but I've heard from a number of people that they are starting the process of hiring, and it is expected that there will now be an increase in openings for people who concentrate in Islamic Studies,' said Jonathan E. Brockopp, a Bard College religion...

Source: Star Tribune

On January 26, 2002, the Star Tribune reported that "reflecting a national trend, Minnesota's small private college students are increasingly interested in religion as an academic study and in seeking private faith answers. This comes after decades of secularization of the colleges, but also shows the new diversity of faiths on every campus... For several decades many small colleges, facing rising costs and tougher competition for students and an increased diversity in student populations, turned away from their close ties with the...

Source: The Bergen Record

http://www.bergen.com/news/peace200201263.htm

On January 26, 2002, The Bergen Record featured the story "Hackensack: Prayer gathering mirrors service in Assisi, Italy." It reported, "The prayers were voiced in the traditions of more than a half-dozen religious movements, but all had the same theme: a call for religions to foster peace on earth and end human suffering. The Interfaith Prayer Vigil held Thursday night at Hackensack's Church on the Green...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On January 25, 2002, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "as diverse a religious gathering as Pittsburgh ever sees came to what participants called 'our little piece of Assisi' last night to join their prayers for peace with those of Pope John Paul II and religious leaders from around the world... Catholic Bishop Donald Wuerl came first down the aisle of the chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale, where 125 people had gathered. After him came veiled Muslim women, a Baptist minister, Jewish leaders, a Zen...

Source: The Washington Post

On January 23, 2002, The Washington Post reported that "seven years after the Air Force's top-ranked female fighter pilot began a one-woman crusade, the Defense Department yesterday dropped its requirement that female military personnel in Saudi Arabia put on black, head-to-toe gowns when leaving their base... Lt. Col. Martha McSally had sued Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over the dress code. She contended that the policy on abayas, a form of head-to-toe gown similar to the burqa worn by many women in Afghanistan,...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On January 23, 2002, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "leaders of more than 20 faiths and denominations in the St. Louis region will gather tonight to reflect on the call to peace found in their respective scriptures... Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Sikh and Ba'hai leaders will enter the sanctuary of the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica and individually read from their scripture about peace... Archbishop Justin Rigali, past chairman of the Cabinet of the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St....

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 22, 2002, The Boston Globe reported that "in one of the more unusual experiments in Jewish-Christian relations, Hebrew College has moved onto land that was part of the campus of Andover Newton Theological School, and the two institutions are now trying to figure out how to become more than just neighbors... Administrators and faculty members say that over the seven years that they have been preparing for this relationship, new, more complex concerns have emerged as they try to move past the niceties of interfaith dialogue...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On January 19, 2002, The Houston Chronicle featured an article on "the new Our Lady of Lavang, a Catholic church with touches of Vietnamese lore... The tallest of its multitiered, pagoda-like red roofs is topped by a cross - a symbol of the parishioners' faith. But the dragons perched on the edges of the roof and the 27-foot painted window of the Lady of Lavang are reminders of the homeland that many parishioners abandoned to begin new lives in the United States... Finishing touches are still being added to the 1,100-seat...

Source: Deseret News

On January 19, 2002, The Deseret News reported that "some 100 Utahns count themselves members of the Religious Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers... Members from congregations in Salt Lake, Ogden, Logan and Moab gathered at Salt Lake's First Congregational Church recently in their 'Midwinter Gathering,' their largest annual meeting. Author Michael Luick-Thrams from Germany talked about his book, Out of Hitler's Reach, which tells how a Quaker school in Iowa became a hostel for dissenting Germans."

Source: Rocky Mountain News

On January 18, 2002, the Rocky Mountain News reported that "vandals wrecked offices and sprayed gay slurs on the walls of an Arapahoe County house of worship Thursday in what church officials called a hate crime... Michael Hayes, a gay minister of music at the Columbine United Church... said he was the likely target of slurs written with red and green marker pens on the walls... The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Stephen Poos-Benson, may have been the target of one slur, which was written outside his office door. Poos-Benson...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 18, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "a late-night rampage through a Mormon church in Moorpark [CA] is being investigated as a hate crime after someone scrawled graffiti on the pulpit, set fire to a scripture book and desecrated a painting depicting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ... Leaders of the 350-member congregation known as the 1st Ward, across the street from Moorpark College, said they were 'distressed and confused' by the incident, the first vandalism of any kind at the 15-year-old building......