41,000 go to church.
It's been an extraordinary week for Church of Fools. Since last week's launch, the church has been welcoming, on average, 8,000 visitors per day. But on Wednesday, over 41,000 visitors crammed into the church in one 24-hour period, exceeding all expectations for congregational size.
The reason was a phenomenal second wave of publicity about the church which went all round the world. With headlines such as "Internet devils smite virtual church" (The Times, London) and "Cyber church reacts to 'Satan' visit" (CNN), the world's media reported on the hacking and mischief-making that went on in the church earlier in the week.
"Church of Fools said Wednesday it had shut to outsiders its pulpit, lectern and space round the altar to stop less than religious types giving messages definitely not from the Almighty," reported CNN. The church also recruited a team of 12 wardens, armed with smite buttons which can be used to eject people who log in to the church simply to cause trouble.
The church is now offering services of morning and night prayer (in UK time) each day, and response from visitors to the cyber sanctuary has been mostly positive.
"I have a friend who has claimed not to believe in God for many years," wrote Sandy from North Carolina. "He had a crisis this week and wanted a place to try a prayer. No way would he ever go to a real church. But he went to yours, said his first prayer in many years and told me he felt much better afterwards."
Jenny from Reading, UK, wrote: "I have only managed to get in once as a 'solid' but ended up having an interesting conversation with a Jew. I don't really meet Jewish people in real life, so it was a good experience, especially as our religions have so much history in common."
The strangest, and maybe the most heartwarming, offer of support during the church's problems with disruptive visitors came from a self-confessed Satanist. Referring to people who were entering the church to shout "Praise be to Satan!", he wrote...
"I have been Satanist all my life and would never have pulled any such thing. So, for all the immature twits within the Satanic community, you have my sympathies as I truly hope to see you fix the problem soon. Best of luck, sincerely, Satanist with a heart."
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