Amazon’s Alexa Can Now Help You Pray
- By Gary Nguyen --
- 25 May 2018 --
New Skill Shows How Christianity Is Getting Tech Savy
The Church of England (CoE) has begun an Alexa “skill” as a component of a digital drive during the last couple of years. The skill provides a prayer for that day, in addition to morning prayers, evening prayers, and also prayer before retiring for the night. Alexa also provides grace prior to meals. It could answer fundamental questions like the definition of being a Christian and the nature of God, and the Bible. This particular skill is completely integrated with “A Church Near You,” an online tool designed to help members find prayer information and church locations/events.
Amazon’s Alexa Can Now Help You Pray[/tweetthis]
A Church Near You is the CoE’s highly popular service for finding churches. It gets nearly 13 million views per year. It is not only a website but also an Alexa skill.
John Sentamu, archbishop of York, believes that this technology will help those who want to explore their faith and regular churchgoers to connect themselves with God in a way and time which is perfect for them. A substantial portion of British households (almost a quarter) has a smart device. Therefore the Church of England has prioritized technological innovation in voice technology. The same view was echoed by Adrian Harris, digital head of CoE. Harris said that platforms like Alexa provide church the much-needed ability to link people and God.
This skill technology is fully compatible with Alexa and Amazon Echo devices. Harris said Amazon has prioritized Alexa to extend its reach to as many individuals as possible. It will also be integrated into Apple devices and also Google ones in the course of time. Alexa at present has about 40,000 skills. Approximately 50 skills are associated with faith. The skill’s launch is included in phase one of the digital project led by the Church of England’s digital department. The other party in its venture is Church House Publishing, the official publisher. The skill, written by Aimer Media, the app designer, will be continuously updated. The device will be further enabled by new options and also new answers.
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