Technology is constantly shifting and growing and, as this article states, these advances have always “instigated rapid and profound changes in religious practice.”

While several religious groups have embraced such past and present changes in technology, Stuart Fox, author of the MSNBC article, says that “some religious leaders worry that the inherently isolating and attention-diverting nature of smart phones has created a generation of worshippers unable to fully engage.”

Dudley Rose, the associate dean for ministry studies at Harvard University’s Divinity School, was interviewed in the article and his thoughts seemed to be torn on the subject. “The future is very bright, but we have yet to get our mind around a world were some [people get] their whole religious experience through a device,” he said. “The challenge then, is how to make wise use of the technology, while at the same time be wary of its potential to be destructive to community and a sense of submission to one’s faith.”

James Clement van Pelt, program coordinator of Yale University’s initiative in religion, science and technology, end the article with a unique prospective. “The bottom line is if you look at technology and say ‘how does this change people going to church?’, you miss the point, because religion is a much deeper thing,” he said. “Technology changes how people relate to each other, and that’s what religion is concerned with.”