Sister Hubbard, who spearheaded the project, said the sisters spent more than six months developing the site, which launched earlier this month. When they began discussing ways to update their public image, the Internet seemed the ideal place to start, said Sister Hubbard, a BlackBerry user who uses words like "hard core" and "rockin' with the music."

"I call myself a cosmologist, which basically is the study of the cosmos. But I studied with Brian Swimme, and he calls it 'functional cosmology,' " she said. "It's not only 'Ain't that grand?' but it's also the 'so what' of it."

She smiles when people get confused and think she's a hairstylist. Sister Gibler patiently explains the difference between a cosmetologist and a cosmologist.

"Long before we had Scriptures, we had Earth. God was present and taught us through Earth. That's not some pagan or New Age notion. So, how do we read this first book of revelation?"