@book {1177,
	title = {Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Live},
	year = {2006},
	publisher = {Oxford University Press},
	organization = {Oxford University Press},
	abstract = {Social scientists sometimes seem not to know what to do with religion. In the first century of sociology{\textquoteright}s history as a discipline, the reigning concern was explaining the emergence of the modern world, and that brought with it an expectation that religion would simply fade from the scene as societies became diverse, complex, and enlightened. As the century approached its end, however, a variety of global phenomena remained dramatically unexplained by these theories. Among the leading contenders for explanatory power to emerge at this time were rational choice theories of religious behavior. Researchers who have spent time in the field observing religious groups and interviewing practitioners, however, have questioned the sufficiency of these market models. Studies abound that describe thriving religious phenomena that fit neither the old secularization paradigm nor the equations predicting vitality only among organizational entrepreneurs with strict orthodoxies. In this collection of previously unpublished essays, scholars who have been immersed in field research in a wide variety of settings draw on those observations from the field to begin to develop more helpful ways to study religion in modern lives. The authors examine how religion functions on the ground in a pluralistic society, how it is experienced by individuals, and how it is expressed in social institutions. Taken as a whole, these essays point to a new approach to the study of religion, one that emphasizes individual experience and social context over strict categorization and data collection.},
	keywords = {Sociology of religion},
	issn = {0195305418},
	url = {http://global.oup.com/academic/product/everyday-religion-9780195305418?cc=us\&lang=en\&tab=overview},
	author = {Nancy T. Ammerman}
}
@book {341,
	title = {Religions of Modernity: Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital},
	series = {International Studies in Religion and Society},
	volume = {12},
	year = {2010},
	publisher = {Brill},
	organization = {Brill},
	address = {Leiden},
	keywords = {religion and internet, Sociology of religion},
	author = {Aupers, Stef and Houtman, Dick}
}
@article {1182,
	title = {Virtual togetherness: an everyday-life perspective},
	journal = {Media, Culture \& Society},
	volume = {25},
	year = {2003},
	chapter = {291},
	abstract = {The objective of this article is to explore some dimensions of the concept
of virtual community, which relates to empowering possibilities in the
appropriation of the Internet by domestic users. I contend that users{\textquoteright}
participation in what have been called {\textquoteleft}virtual communities{\textquoteright} (Rheingold,
1993) over the Internet constitutes a cultural trend of {\textquoteleft}immobile socialization{\textquoteright}, or in other words, socialization of private experience through the
invention of new forms of intersubjectivity and social organization online.},
	keywords = {Contemporary Religious Community, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation},
	url = {http://learningspaces.org/irm/Bakardjieva_Togetherness.pdf},
	author = {Maria Bakardjieva}
}
@article {1310,
	title = {De-Centering and Re-Centering: Rethinking Concepts and Methods in the Sociological Study of Religion},
	journal = {Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion},
	volume = {50},
	year = {2011},
	chapter = {437},
	keywords = {methods, religion, Research, scholar, Sociology of religion},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01585.x/full},
	author = {Wendy Cadge and Peggy Levitt and David Smilde}
}
@book {792,
	title = {Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds},
	year = {2012},
	pages = {276},
	publisher = {Routledge},
	organization = {Routledge},
	address = {London},
	abstract = {Digital Religion offers a critical and systematic survey of the study of religion and new media. It covers religious engagement with a wide range of new media forms and highlights examples of new media engagement in all five of the major world religions. From cell phones and video games to blogs and Second Life, the book:provides a detailed review of major topics, includes a series of case studies to illustrate and elucidate the thematic explorations
 and considers the theoretical, ethical and theological issues raised.  Drawing together the work of experts from key disciplinary perspectives, Digital Religion is invaluable for students wanting to develop a deeper understanding of the field.
},
	keywords = {Digital Religion, Religion \& New Media, Sociology of religion, Technoculture},
	issn = {978-0-415-67611-3},
	url = {http://books.google.com/books?id=ox4q7T59KikC\&printsec=frontcover$\#$v=onepage\&q\&f=false},
	author = {Heidi A Campbell}
}
@article {1191,
	title = {Religion and the Internet: A microcosm for studying Internet trends and implications},
	journal = {new media \& society},
	volume = {15},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {680},
	abstract = {This article argues that paying close attention to key findings within the study of religion 
and the Internet, a subfield of Internet Studies, can enhance our understanding and 
discussion of the larger social and cultural shifts at work within networked society. 
Through a critical overview of research on religion online, five central research areas 
emerge related to social practices, online{\textendash}offline connections, community, identity, and 
authority online. It is also argued that observations about these themes not only point 
to specific trends within religious practice online, but also mirror concerns and findings 
within other areas of Internet Studies. Thus, studying religion on the Internet provides 
an important microcosm for investigating Internet Studies{\textquoteright} contribution in a wide range 
of contexts in our contemporary social world.},
	keywords = {Authority, community, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, identity, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, offline, Online, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, Ritual, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}Internet Studies{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}networked society{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious practice online{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://nms.sagepub.com/content/15/5/680.abstract},
	author = {Heidi A Campbell}
}
@article {1188,
	title = {The Use of Internet Communication by Catholic Congregations: A Quantitative Study},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {6},
	year = {2007},
	pages = {291-309},
	abstract = {This article presents a first attempt to measure the use of the internet by all 5,812 Catholic religious congregations and autonomous institutes worldwide (with 858,988 members). The research was conducted through a questionnaire sent by e-mail, hence first selecting those institutions which at least have an access to internet communication through an e-mail account (2,285: 39.3\% of the total), receiving 437 responses (19.1\% of the e-mail owners). The study shows great differences between centralized institutes and autonomous ones: the former ones make a higher use of the Internet than the latter ones; moreover, differences are also found among centralized institutes, namely between male and female ones. Two explanatory elements have been found, both depending on the own mission (charisma) of institutes: (1) first, the different approach to the external world: the institutes more devoted to contemplation and less active in the outside world make limited and basic use of the Internet, if any; (2) second, institutes whose aim is to assist poor and sick persons tend to use the internet less than the others, due to their different prioritization of resources.},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic religious congregations, Computer, congregations, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, email, internet, internet communication through an e-mail account, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348420701626797$\#$.Uinxtsasim5},
	author = {Cantoni, L and Zyga, S}
}
@book {2077,
	title = {Digital methodologies in the sociology of religion},
	year = {2015},
	publisher = {Bloomsbury Academic},
	organization = {Bloomsbury Academic},
	address = {London, England},
	abstract = {This volume considers the implementation difficulties of researching religion online and reflects on the ethical dilemmas faced by sociologists of religion when using digital research methods. Bringing together established and emerging scholars, global case studies draw on the use of social media as a method for researching religious oppression, religion and identity in virtual worlds, digital communication within religious organizations, and young people{\textquoteright}s diverse expressions of faith online. Additionally, boxed tips are provided throughout the text to serve as reminders of tools that readers may use in their own research projects.},
	keywords = {Digital, Sociology of religion},
	issn = {9781472571182},
	url = {https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/digital-methodologies-in-the-sociology-of-religion-9781472571182/},
	author = {Cheruvallil-Contractor, S and Shakkour, S}
}
@article {1186,
	title = {Digital Gravescapes: Digital Memorializing on Facebook},
	journal = {The Information Society: An International Journal},
	volume = {29},
	year = {2013},
	chapter = {184},
	abstract = {I conduct a textual analysis of a digital memorial to understand the ways in which the digital sphere has disrupted or altered material and aesthetic displays of death and the associated genre of discourses surrounding death. I first use Morris{\textquoteright}s history of traditional gravescapes to situate digital memorials within their broader historical context. I then draw on the functional genre of eulogies, in particular Jamieson and Campbell{\textquoteright}s systematic description of eulogies, as a textual analytic to understand Facebook{\textquoteright}s unique memorializing discourse. My analysis suggests that the affordances of the Internet allow for a peculiar dynamic wherein the bereaved engage in communication with the deceased instead of with each other and yet strengthen the communal experience, as their personal communications are visible to the entire community. While the digital memorials lack the permanence of traditional gravescapes, the ongoing conversation they foster sublimates death into the process of communication.},
	keywords = {Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, Death, digital media, digital memorials, discourse, eulogy, Facebook, gravescapes, memorializing, memorializing discourse, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, rhetoric, social media, Sociology of religion, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972243.2013.777309$\#$.UikZdDasim7},
	author = {Scott Church}
}
@article {1189,
	title = {The Divine Online: Civic Organizing, Identity Building, and Internet Fluency Among Different Religious Groups},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2011},
	chapter = {73},
	abstract = {The number of religious congregations with Web sites nearly tripled from 1998{\textendash}2006, and each year another 10,000 congregations launch a Web site (Chaves \& Anderson, 2008). Couple this with the fact that 79\% of attendees are now in a congregation with a Web site. Scholars of media and religion know very little, however, about the content of these Web sites or what they tell us about the culture of different religious groups. The aim of this article, therefore, is to examine how congregations are constructing Web sites to advertise their identity, organize their followers to get involved in civic and political issues, and provide an interactive space for online participation in actual ministries. Extensive qualitative data were gathered from 600 individual congregation Web sites from nine denominations in 53 different cities across the United States. The results of the descriptive analysis of these data suggest that there is a strong correlation between the {\textquotedblleft}off-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of a particular congregation and the {\textquotedblleft}on-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of the same congregation. Evangelical congregations tend to have more complex, attractive, and interactive Web sites and fall into the {\textquotedblleft}online religion{\textquotedblright} camp. Liberal-Protestant and Catholic congregations tend to create static {\textquotedblleft}brochure{\textquotedblright} style Web sites that emphasize their denominational identity and thus fall into Hadden and Cowan{\textquoteright}s (2000) {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright} camp. This study expands our theoretical knowledge about the proliferation of media into, and out of, religious congregations, and offers a broader understanding about how institutions negotiate their online identity in the digital age.
[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher{\textquoteright}s online edition of the Journal of Media and Religion for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix II: Web Site Screen Shots.]},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic congregations, Catholics, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, media and religion, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious media research, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348423.2011.572438$\#$.Uin0bMasim4},
	author = {Justin Farrell}
}
@inbook {2123,
	title = {Secularisation and de-institutionalised religion},
	booktitle = {Foundations and Futures in the Sociology of Religion},
	year = {2017},
	publisher = {Routledge },
	organization = {Routledge },
	chapter = {5},
	abstract = {Since the sociology of religion became recognised as a distinct sub-discipline over the last century, the dominance of approaches taking their inspiration from the sociological classics has increasingly been challenged. Empirical findings have brought the notion of secularisation into question; and theorists have sought to deconstruct how we think of {\textquoteleft}religion.{\textquoteright} This collection appraises the continuing influence of the foundational approaches and places these in relation to newly emerging directions in the field.},
	keywords = {de-institutionalized religion, Secular, Sociology of religion},
	issn = {9781351607384},
	url = {https://books.google.com/books?hl=en\&lr=\&id=HzJDDwAAQBAJ\&oi=fnd\&pg=PT109\&ots=PPdcKpjvv_\&sig=yLkGpjms4Z4B94OIZ3YeruKguVg$\#$v=onepage\&q\&f=false},
	author = {Ganiel, G}
}
@inbook {1180,
	title = {Charting Frontiers of Online Religious Communities:  The Case of Chabad Jews},
	booktitle = {Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds},
	year = {2013},
	publisher = {Routledge},
	organization = {Routledge},
	chapter = {12},
	keywords = {Chabad Jews, Jewish Community, Jewish religion, Jews, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, Online community, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, Sociology of religion},
	url = {http://books.google.com/books?id=ox4q7T59KikC\&pg=PA14\&lpg=PA14\&dq=Charting+Frontiers+of+Online+Religious+Communities:+The+Case+of+Chabad+Jews\&source=bl\&ots=twJAMfbftj\&sig=9jGgchqJxWDDUaCEhZ2ags9AehY\&hl=en\&sa=X\&ei=MFImUvm1N4TXqgHKn4Aw\&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg$\#$v=one},
	author = {Oren Golan}
}
@article {1187,
	title = {The Relationship Between Religiosity and Internet Use},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {2},
	year = {2003},
	chapter = {129},
	abstract = {With the solidifying of the Internet as an influential form of mediated communication has come a surge of activity among media scholars looking into what leads individuals to use this emerging technology. This study focuses on religiosity as a potential predictor of Internet activity, and uses a combination of secularization theory and uses and gratifications theory as a foundation from which to posit a negative relation between these 2 variables. Religiosity is found to retain a significant negative relation with Internet use at the zero order, and remains a robust negative predictor of the criterion variable even after accounting for a host of demographic, contextual, and situational variables. Ramifications for these findings are discussed and an outline for future research building on our analyses is provided.},
	keywords = {Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, secularization theory, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, uses and gratifications, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S15328415JMR0203_01$\#$.UikaxDasim5},
	author = {Greg G. Armfield \& R. Lance Holbert}
}
@inbook {1181,
	title = {Considering Religious Community Through Online  Churches},
	booktitle = {Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds},
	year = {2013},
	publisher = {Routledge},
	organization = {Routledge},
	chapter = {13},
	keywords = {Christian Churches, Contemporary Religious Community, New Media and Society, new media engagement, online Christianity, online church, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, Sociology of religion, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415676113/},
	author = {Tim Hutchings}
}
@article {1224,
	title = {Authority in the Virtual Sangat : Sikhism, Ritual and Identity in the Twenty-First Century},
	journal = {Online {\textendash} Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet},
	volume = {02.1},
	year = {2006},
	chapter = {24},
	abstract = {In her paper Authority in the Virtual Sangat. Sikhism, Ritual and Identity in the Twenty-First Century, Doris Jakobsh analyses the change of authority based on her research on Sikhs on the Internet. She stresses the Web as a {\textquoteleft}third place{\textquoteright} of communication among the Sikhs as well as the phenomenon of new authorities online. However, this does not imply the replacement of the traditional seats of authority, the Akal Takht, SGPC, or gurdwara managements, but one can recognize a significant shift away from these traditional sites of authority toward the {\textquoteleft}new authorities{\textquoteright}, the intermediaries of cyberspace. Her analysis shows that this aspect of the Sikh experience brings with it the most profound challenges and, most importantly, a need to bridge the post-modern individual, i.e. {\textquoteleft}Sikh tradition{\textquoteright} intertwined and legitimated by the metanarrative, and the proliferation of new authorities who have become intermediaries of Sikhism online by virtue of their expertise within the digital domain.},
	keywords = {Akal Takht, Authority, Digital Religion, identity, online communication, Ritual, Sangat, Sikhism, Sociology of religion, third place},
	url = {http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/religions/article/view/374},
	author = {Jakobsh, Doris R}
}
@book {1221,
	title = {Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life},
	year = {2008},
	publisher = {Oxford University Press},
	organization = {Oxford University Press},
	abstract = {How can we grasp the complex religious lives of individuals such as Peter, an ordained Protestant minister who has little attachment to any church but centers his highly committed religious practice on peace-and-justice activism? Or Hannah, a devout Jew whose rich spiritual life revolves around her women{\textquoteright}s spirituality group and the daily practice of meditative dance? Or Laura, who identifies as Catholic but rarely attends Mass, and engages daily in Buddhist-style meditation at her home altar arranged with symbols of Mexican American popular religion? Diverse religious practices such as these have long baffled scholars, whose research often starts with the assumption that individuals commit, or refuse to commit, to an entire institutionally framed package of beliefs and practices. 

Meredith McGuire points the way forward toward a new way of understanding religion. She argues that scholars must study religion not as it is defined by religious organizations, but as it is actually lived in people{\textquoteright}s everyday lives. Drawing on her own extensive fieldwork, as well as recent work by others, McGuire explores the many, seemingly mundane, ways that individuals practice their religions and develop their spiritual lives. By examining the many eclectic and creative practices -- of body, mind, emotion, and spirit -- that have been invisible to researchers, she offers a fuller and more nuanced understanding of contemporary religion.},
	keywords = {Embodied Practices for Healing and Wholeness, Gendered Spiritualities, Popular Religions in Practice, Popular Religious Expressions, Religious Commitment, Religious Hybridity, religious identity, religious lives, Sociology of religion, Spirituality and Materiality},
	issn = {9780195368338},
	url = {http://global.oup.com/academic/product/lived-religion-9780195368338?cc=us\&lang=en\&},
	author = {McGuire, Meredith B}
}
@article {1311,
	title = {The Essentiality of {\textquotedblleft}Culture{\textquotedblright} in the Study of Religion and Politics},
	journal = {Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion},
	volume = {50},
	year = {2011},
	chapter = {639},
	abstract = {This article reviews various theoretical approaches political scientists employ in the analysis of religion and politics and posits culture as a conceptual bridge between competing approaches. After coming to the study of religion slowly in comparison with other social science disciplines, political science finally has a theoretically diverse and thriving religion and politics subfield. However, political scientists{\textquoteright} contributions to the social scientific study of religion are hampered by a lack of agreement about whether endogenous or exogenous theoretical approaches ought to dominate our scholarship. I assert that the concept of culture{\textemdash}and more specifically, subculture{\textemdash}might help create more connections across theoretical research traditions. I emphasize how the concept of religion-based subculture is inherent in psychological, social psychological, social movement, and contextual approaches to religion and politics scholarship, and I explore these theoretical connections using the example of religion-based {\textquotedblleft}us versus them{\textquotedblright} discourses in contemporary American politics.},
	keywords = {analysis, culture, Politics, religion, Research, Sociology of religion, study of religion, theoretical approaches},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01608.x/abstract},
	author = {Laura R. Olson}
}
@mastersthesis {61,
	title = {Believing in the Net: Implicit Religion and the Internet Hype, 1994-2001},
	volume = {PhD},
	year = {2010},
	month = {2010},
	school = {Leiden University Press},
	address = {Leiden, the Netherlands},
	abstract = {Starting with Weber{\textquoteright}s disenchantment thesis, a sociological tradition has developed that associates modernity with a crisis of meaning. The de-mystification of our worldview and the decreasing influence of religious traditions in specific are seen as obstacles for making sense of human existence. But in fact, modern societies are full of meaning and they continue to be religious. This study shows that, in an implicit form, religion can be found everywhere in our culture. The Internet hype of the 1990s was a particularly effervescent example of implicit religiosity. The hopeful discourse about the Internet that typified this hype drew on religious ideas and language, and it inspired strong belief. This dissertation explores the appeal of the Internet as an object of faith and it looks at how it could serve as a source of meaning.},
	keywords = {Anomie, Disenchantment, Giving meaning, Hypes, ICT, Implicit religion, internet, Modernity, Sociology of religion, Technophilia},
	url = {http://netage.org/2011/03/26/believing-in-the-net/},
	author = {Karen P{\"a}rna}
}
@article {1192,
	title = {Media, religion and the marketplace in the information  economy: evidence from Singapore},
	journal = {Environment and Planning},
	volume = {44},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {1969},
	abstract = {In this paper we suggest that the exchange of communication in a mediatized 
environment is transforming the nature of transactions in the religious marketplace. 
In~this economy of religious informational exchanges, digitalization facilitates a process of 
mediatization that converts religious performance into forms suitable for commodifi cation 
and commoditization. The intersection of digital media, religion, and the marketplace is 
demonstrated in the context of mega Protestant and Buddhist organizations in Singapore. 
We show how these large organizations embed media relations in their sacred spaces 
through a process of hybridization. In turn, hybrid spaces are converted into material 
outputs that may be readily transacted in real and virtual spaces. Hybridization attends to 
a postmodern audience and consumers who value experience and sensorial stimulations. 
It integrates retail, entertainment, and the aesthetics into a space of ascetic performance 
that is digitally transportable. Digital transactional spaces thrive on the abundance of 
information, and information multiplies when communication is unfettered by the absence 
of proprietary safeguards. The religious marketplace may therefore be understood as a 
medially driven performance space where points of interaction are digitally},
	keywords = {Buddhism, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, digital media, hybridization, information economy, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, Protestantism, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, Singapore, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}Internet Studies{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}networked society{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious practice online{\textquotedblright}},
	doi = {10.1068/a44272},
	url = {http://paulinehopecheong.com/media/8eb82a57db78bb75ffff839dffffe41e.pdf},
	author = {Jessie Poon and Shirlena Huang and Pauline Hope Cheong}
}
@inbook {1179,
	title = {Hindu Worship Online and Offline},
	booktitle = {Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds},
	year = {2013},
	publisher = {Routledge},
	organization = {Routledge},
	chapter = {8},
	keywords = {cyberspace, Hindu, New Media and Society, New Technology and Society, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, Sociology of religion},
	author = {Heinz Scheifinger}
}
@article {1190,
	title = {A Study of Church/Ministry Internet Usage},
	journal = {Journal of Ministry Marketing \& Management},
	volume = {7},
	year = {2002},
	chapter = {23},
	abstract = {This manuscript reports the results of a national survey of Internet use by churches and ministries. The mail survey to a random sample of 500 churches and ministries sought to determine the proportion of churches/ministries with Internet access, how the Internet was being used by their organization, and organizational characteristics. A total of 448 questionnaires were delivered and 113 were returned resulting in a response rate of 25.2\%.

About 93 percent of the respondents surveyed reported using a computer. Of that 93 percent, about 70 percent reported they had Internet access. When asked about how the Internet has helped their church, respondents reported communications with others as the most important benefit, followed by staying better informed on products and services, and as a research tool for sermons and Bible studies.

Among respondent churches who had Internet access, about 37 percent had a webpage. Of those who did not have a webpage, 58 percent plan on having one within a year. The most common ways churches use their website were found to be (1) describing features of the church such as service times or scheduled events, (2) creating a way to communicate with others about the church, (3) providing a way for people to contact the church by e-mail, and (4) image creation.

Respondents cited several benefits of having a website: (1) improved communication, (2) increased member knowledge about church programs and (3) increased attendance at church services or activities.},
	keywords = {Church, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Internet access, Internet use by churches and ministries, Mass media, national survey, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online activities, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious organizations, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J093v07n01_03$\#$.Uin3-Masim5},
	author = {Robert E. Stevens and Paul Dunn and David L. Loudon and Henry S. Cole}
}
