Beliefnet gives spiritual melting pot new shape

0 Comments | USA TODAY, October, 2006 | by Cathy Lynn Grossman

NEW YORK -- Beliefnet.com, the multi-faith spirituality website that started in December 1999 and crashed into near-fatal bankruptcy by spring 2002, is soaring once more. Behind the scenes, there's a rebuilt staff of 52 editors and technicians working in a remodeled Manhattan office. The site has been redesigned to keep up with the stampeding Web trends of videos and social networking.

New this fall: a raft of new interactive spirituality teaching, preaching and praying features, even puppets, the "Jovialites" telling corny religious jokes. Already, the site is the Internet leader in the religion and spirituality category, with more than 3 million visitors in September, according to Web traffic measuring service comScore Media Metrix. By comparison, the two leading Christian...