Christianity

Arizona Faith Groups Respond to White Supremacist

July 6, 2001

Source: The Arizona Republic

On July 6, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported that "Arizona's diverse faith community will kick off an anti-hate campaign...in response to a White-power leader's plans to recruit here for the White Aryan Resistance...Congregations will begin a 'Not in Our State' campaign, coordinated by...the National Conference for Community and Justice. The American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Arizona Catholic Conference and numerous churches have signed on with the campaign ."

Changes Made to Proposed Charitable Choice Legislation

July 5, 2001

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On July 5, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "the [Bush] administration and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives made some changes last week to the Community Solutions Act (HR 7) that deal directly with a central issue of concern to critics [of Bush's faith-based initiative]: the separation of church and state." Under the changes, "religious groups that receive grants would now be required to keep any religious activity or instruction separate from the government-funded programming......

Read more about Changes Made to Proposed Charitable Choice Legislation

Kansas Church Embraces Diversity

July 4, 2001

Source: The Kansas City Star

On July 4, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that the nearly all white congregation of the Full Faith Church of Love West, installed the Rev. Don Lewis, an African-American, as its new senior pastor. "Guests at the installation included Charangit Hundal of the Sikh gurdwara and Anand and Dipti Bhattacharyya of the Hindu temple."

Ruling Against Anti-Religion Sign Upheld

July 3, 2001

Source: The Rocky Mountain News

On July 3, 2001, The Rocky Mountain News reported that "a federal judge correctly ruled that the Freedom from Religion Foundation can't post an anti-religion sign inside Denver's annual Christmas display on the City Hall steps, an appeals court decided...The Freedom from Religion Foundation...sign noted that the [Christmas] season also was the time of the winter solstice and stated: 'There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world.'"

Latino Churches Take Up Economic Development

July 2, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 2, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "now, with more Latino churches springing up within the Protestant evangelical movement, in which individual churches have substantial autonomy, more Latino church leaders are signing up for Economic Development 101," imitating the faith-based economic development promoted by many African-American churches.

Faith-Based Programs in Texas Give Mixed Results

July 2, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On July 2, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "Bush's Texas record on faith-based programs has been mixed and in many cases not fully evaluated...In the most decisive setback yet, the Legislature this spring chose not to continue a Bush-backed plan passed in 1997 that allowed religious youth facilities to escape state inspections." One critic of faith-based programs said the evidence suggests that they are "'unmanageable, unregulated, prone to favoritism and co-mingling of funds.'...On the welfare reform front, however,...

Read more about Faith-Based Programs in Texas Give Mixed Results

Churches and Synagogues Building More Schools

July 2, 2001

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On July 2, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that, "fueled by shifting populations, expanding or consolidating churches, a growing unease with public education, school choice vouchers and the wealth created by the recent economic expansion, churches and synagogues [across southeastern Wisconsin and the nation] are pouring millions" into construction of their own schools... According to the U.S. Census Bureau, faith-based primary and secondary school construction rose 234%, from $728 million in 1993 to $2.4...

Read more about Churches and Synagogues Building More Schools

County Should Uphold Zoning Regulations

July 1, 2001

Source: The Seattle Times

On July 1, 2001, The Seattle Times published an opinion piece on the ongoing battle between King County, Washington, Executive Ron Sims and churches in King County, led by the Catholic and Mormon hierarchies: "religious organizations, like everyone else seeking to build in rural communities, must conform to a size and scale that is compatible with the surrounding area and that respects the environment... Overriding principles of the growth-management idea should prevail."

"Nomadic Pilgrim" Dives into Monastic Life

July 1, 2001

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On July 1, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on "William Claassen, a self-described 'nomadic pilgrim.'...Claassen spent 2 1/2 years traveling around the world, visiting 40 monasteries in 12 countries. He broke bread with Greek Orthodox monks on Mount Athos, walked with Catholic brothers in Spain, watched whirling dervishes in Turkey, meditated with Zen monks in Japan and sat at the feet of Hindu gurus and Jain pujaris in India."

Mennonite Churches Merge

July 1, 2001

Source: Lancaster Sunday News

On July 1, 2001, the Lancaster Sunday News reported that "the plan is to transform the Mennonite Church, based in Elkhart, Ind...and the General Conference Mennonite Church (GC), based in Newton, Kan., into one denomination called Mennonite Church USA...The transformation could heal a rift that began in the 1860s when the GCs wanted Sunday School, more mission work, and more English used in services and the MCs wanted to continue with German and more traditional and conservative ways."

Jimmy Carter Seeks Cooperation Among Moderate Baptists

June 30, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On June 30, 2001, The New York Times reported that "former President Jimmy Carter, who last year broke with his denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, over its increasingly conservative direction, has been host to two meetings of leaders of moderate Baptist groups to seek 'common ground' among them." Carter "said a common effort among moderate Baptists could cooperate with other groups, including African-American and European Baptists, and even, he said, the Southern Baptist Convention."

Prison Education Program Ruled Unconstitutional

June 30, 2001

Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On June 30, 2001, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that "some Tarrant County Jail prisoners" mourned the closing of the prison's Christian education program. They "shed tears...one day after the Texas Supreme Court struck down the...program...County officials reassured prisoners that...voluntary religious programs for prisoners will remain...The Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the religious program violates the constitutional wall between church and state because it is supported with taxpayer money."...

Read more about Prison Education Program Ruled Unconstitutional

Methodists Plan New Building to Replace Burned Down Church

June 30, 2001

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

On June 30, 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that "the Tongan United Methodist Church, which lost its historic west Salt Lake City sanctuary to fire a year ago, has bought property for a new building -- but it could be years before the cash-strapped congregation can begin construction...The June 2000 blaze [was] set by two teen-age boys who were church members...[The congregation] welcomed back the two repentant arsonists after their recent completion of juvenile detention sentences."

New Monastery to Replace Trailer Park as Monks' Home

June 30, 2001

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On June 30, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "For a year and a half, 25 monks of the Abbey of St. Mary and St. Louis...have lived five men to a five-room trailer in a trailer 'park' on the abbey grounds...Midsummer, the monks will move into a new monastery south of their three-tiered, thin-shell concrete Abbey Church" in St. Louis.

Protestants and Catholics Go on Mission Together

June 30, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 30, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church and St. John Vianney Catholic Church, who are neighbors, "for the first time...will embark on an adult foreign mission trip together [to Dublin, Ireland]...The two-week trip has three goals: to help at two cash-strapped camps that bring together Catholic and Protestant children; to offer a model of how Catholics and Protestants from Houston can work together; and to learn more about the believers who have been their neighbors for years."

Pages