Ritual ceremonies around an altar are common in paganism, and ritual prayer dances around an altar were practiced by early Christians, especially Gnostics, before the practice was condemned as a heresy by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 A.D. (See Nibley, "The Early Christian Prayer Circle", page 41.)
With the World Wide Web's rapid growth among all sectors of society, many Christians and other faith-based peoples have found a niche on the Internet, where they can share their prayers, thoughts and wishes with each other.
It is not known who was the first to set up an online prayer circle, but today there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Web sites set up for these purposes, from large-scale sites run by The American Bible Society and Beliefnet to smaller message boards run by community churches.
Larger online prayer circles are also formed in honor and remembrance of the victims of notable disasters or tragedies.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement, prayer circles since 1978 are no longer practiced outside of temples, and members of the church do not take part in prayer circles except as part of an endowment ceremony.