Part of the Uniting America series, the Matters of Faith Assembly convened on March 23-26, 2000. Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, the group gathered reaffirmed its committment to the fundamental principle of the inalienable right of religious freedom in American civil society. The group urged those with religious convictions to engage civic life under the shared civic rules for that engagement. Now more than ever, this type of dialogue is crucial for our pluralistic society.

First Things, a publication of Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute said:

The final report is...a remarkably intelligent, balanced, and useful reflection on religion and public life...[I]f one is looking for a consensus statement reflecting what Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others of various ethnic, racial and ideological backgrounds can say together on these questions at the beginning of a new century, there is nothing comparable to Matters of Faith: Religion in American Public Life