Instead of just going to church and talking once or twice a week, they can go online and talk every day. More than 410,000 World Wide Web sites are devoted to God and the examination of theology of various faiths. Like schools, like businesses, like governments, like nearly everyone, it seems, religious groups are rushing online, setting up church home pages, broadcasting dogma and establishing theological newsgroups, bulletin boards and chat rooms. The signs of online religious activity are everywhere. If you instruct AltaVista, a powerful Internet search engine, to scour the Web for Web pages that mention God, you'll get 410,000 hits.
People can go online and chat for hours about their religious beliefs and have devotions.
When they are online, they can talk freely about their beliefs without worrying about what other people will think. Through this type of connection, people were not merely exchanging letters with each other but actually engaged in collective devotion, much as they would at church or in a Bible study group. In the late 20th century, Americans increasingly worship in electronic churches, participate in megacongregations, and seek solace in charismatic Evangelicalism. These changes that are taking place have certain implications for the church. In his article, The Church and Electronic Culture, Dr. Peter Horsfield gives seven implications for the church.