Justin Young couldn't resist when he heard about the experimental religious Web site Church of Fools.
With the click of a mouse, the youth director of the Chinese Community Church of Indianapolis "walked" into the cyberspace church, sat down in a pew and heard a sermon.
"It looks like a mainline church -- pews, the altar -- similar to many mainline Christian churches," says Young, 27. "It's innovative. Still, as great as technology is, it's no replacement for human interaction."
At 19, Ashley Nichole Greene offers a different view. The Anderson University freshman believes online places of worship could make a difference in the lives of young people and others who normally don't attend church.
"Online churches would have an interest for young people who are online a lot anyway," Greene says. "In the midst of checking e-mails, chatting online and playing games, young people may be feeling down and out and need an uplifting that the online worship could meet."
Young's and Greene's views form the heart of a modern religious debate: While some people believe that virtual churches, synagogues and mosques will revolutionize religion in the future, others contend that such efforts will never capture the sights, sounds, smells, spirit and sense of community that mark a physical visit to a place of worship.
Yet nearly everyone agrees about the dramatic impact that computers and the Internet are having on religious faith.
"Using a computer for online religious activity could become the dominant form of religion and religious activity in (this) century," says Brenda Brasher, author of "Give Me That Online Religion" (Rutgers University Press, $21.95). "Regardless of what contemporary religious leaders may think about the Internet, they have determined they cannot ignore it. Denominational sites, religious tradition sites and congregational sites abound."
While researching her book, Brasher discovered more than 1 million religious Web sites, encompassing every major religious tradition in the world.
Statistics show that of the 128 million American adults who use the Internet, 64 percent have searched for spiritual or religious information online. That comes from the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Internet & American Life Project, which did a 2004 survey of 2,000 adults.
A Pew national study of 1,300 congregations also revealed that 81 percent of clergy say they've used the Internet to research their sermons, while 91 percent said e-mail has helped places of worship better connect with members.
"The Internet is not moving people away from their congregations and their faiths. It's helping them move closer," says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet project.
A growing number of local churches have created Web sites to share information about services, prayer chains, clergy profiles, calendar listings and congregational news.
"I can't tell you what percentage of churches have Web pages, but it's been a quantum leap from what it was five years ago," says Brent Bill, vice president of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations. "It's another tool in the congregational toolbox. If you want people to find you, you have to be accessible."
"Christians want Bible tools and articles to help them grow in their faith, and our site combines a Christian's spiritual needs with their daily life," says Lee Raney, president of Christian.com. "The initial site is in English, but the e-mail service is already offered in 12 languages, including Spanish, Arabic and Chinese."
Church of Fools, at www. churchoffools.com, offers the most sophisticated glimpse of a different online religious future. It travels the path of other cyberspace churches, including Virtual Church (www.virtualchurch.org), Church of the Simple Faith (www.churchofthesimplefaith .org) and the First Church of Cyberspace (www.godweb.org).
Sponsored by the Methodist Church of England, Church of Fools declares itself as "an attempt to create holy ground on the Net, where people can worship, pray and talk about faith."
Church of Fools also states, "The church is partly intended for people on the edges (and beyond) of faith."
After visiting Church of Fools, Bill became intrigued by the possibility of online places of worship.
"Maybe there would be people who would go there who wouldn't normally go into a church," Bill says. "Some people would see it as a safe, nonthreatening way to explore faith."
Bill also says it's natural to experiment with online places of worship because people already are involved in business and education online.
Yet Bill, a Quaker, worries that Internet places of worship will isolate and fragment people because he doesn't believe they provide the spirit and sense of community that comes from physically visiting a church, temple, synagogue or mosque.
"Catholics and Quakers both believe that God is truly there (during their worship services)," Bill says. "The question for Christians would be, 'How do you experience the real presence of Christ online?' "
Young, of the Chinese Community Church of Indianapolis (www.indychinesechurch.org), says, "We're not just minds. We're flesh and blood."
Local leaders of other religious faiths share that same concern.
"Part of faith and being part of a faith community is being around human beings you can see and touch," says Ismail Abdul-Aleem, a member of Masjid Al-Fajr, an Indianapolis mosque (www. indymuslim.org). "The actual community -- and the issues of that community -- bring you together."
"How would (virtual worship sites) deal with the life cycles of individuals and their families: births, funerals, weddings?" asks Rabbi Sandy Sasso of Congregation Beth El-Zedeck (www.bez613.org) in Indianapolis. "A person of faith is not an individual in front of a computer screen but a person connected to community in relationships to others."
Cyberspace worship would also be counter to the Hindu religious culture, says Dr. G. L. Ahuja, a member of the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana (www.htci.org).
"Every Hindu family has pictures or statues of deities in their home," Ahuja says. "I could sit in front of them and worship, so why would I want to worship in front of a computer? Our community services are also important in our culture. We are participating as a group. If I was on the computer, I wouldn't be seeing other people."
Others insist a spiritual community can be created in cyberspace. Rabbi Joshua Hammerman makes that point in his book, "thelordismyshepherd.com: Seeking God in Cyberspace" (Simcha Press, $10.95).
Hammerman says that God can be experienced when people are comfortable "unmasking themselves and letting their souls merge with one another."
"When we are alone in front of a blipping screen, there is sanctity and there can be community," he notes. "You are truly alone, yet simultaneously in the presence of millions. In any chat room, if there are 10 people who choose to be there because of that basic concern, these are 10 like-minded people. The masks come off, the hearts merge and the aloneness is transcended."
One of the Church of Fools' creators, Steve Goddard, makes a similar point, referring to St. Paul's letters to the Romans. Goddard notes that Paul never met the Romans.
"Never having met someone, not seeing them, not being physically with them, doesn't imply lack of reality, depth and care as far as Paul is concerned," Goddard says. "An online church cannot dispense the sacraments. We can't baptize, marry or bury our visitors. But it offers people a new, meditative window."
Anirudh Pandya uses that window to stay in touch with Grace Community Church in Noblesville, one of dozens of Central Indiana churches with Web sites. The former Indianapolis resident returned to his homeland of India in 2000, but he still accesses Grace's site (www.gracecc.org).
"My primary faith experience was through Grace," Pandya says. "I listen to the sermons at Grace quite regularly. This allows me to stay connected into Grace from India."
Many involved in the debate about Web-based worship agree that the impact of online religious activities will grow.
"The question is not whether but how and when religious traditions and religious organizations will change and be changed by involvement in the online world," says author Brasher.