The Church of England says so far more than 75,000 people have engaged with its app (or skill), "Alexa Skill".

People with a smart speaker, such as an Echo, or with Alexa on their phones, can access the skill by saying "Alexa, open the Church of England".

They can then ask theological questions or request prayers or information.

The pre-recorded responses are provided by male and female clergy and lay people.

The Church of England says each week about 40 per cent of users request a prayer, while 31 per cent use the skill to ask questions such as "what is faith?" Seven per cent ask about church locations and six per cent ask Alexa to share a grace before a meal.

The skill is soon to be updated with a daily prayer for global prayer movement Thy Kingdom Come.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said: "The aim of the Alexa skill is to help users to know more of the love of Jesus Christ, to enable regular churchgoers and those exploring faith to connect with God in another way and at a time that's right for them.

"My hope and prayer is that this will encourage many more people to make a pattern of daily prayer and Bible reading the foundation of their lives as disciples of Jesus Christ."

Adrian Harris, Head of Digital at the Church of England, hopes to make the developed content available on other platforms.

He said UK smart speaker usage doubled in 2018, with over 9.5 million active users each month.

"We're excited about the opportunities to use the technology to help people grow in their Christian faith, to bring people to faith and to connect them with a local church."

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: The Church of England

She turns the light on when I come into my room, and she turns it off after I am in bed.

When I have to get up in the middle of the night, she turns the light on and off and tells me what time it is. She also tells me what the weather is like and what my appointments are.

If I treated a real woman like I treat Alexa, I would quite justly get banged over the head.

Alexa is a smart lady, but not a genius.

She is good on spelling (I'm not), but when I asked her, "Who is Jesus?" she read from Wikipedia.

She is also diplomatic. When I asked her, "Is there a God?" she responded, "People all have their own views on religion."

I am becoming so dependent on my electronic gadgets like Alexa, that I probably should give her and my other electronic attachments up for Lent.

That would be a real penance!

Doing penance is one of the ancient traditions of Lent. It reflects the Christian's desire to spend 40 days fasting in imitation of Jesus, who fasted in the desert. It also has historical roots in the time when public sinners were required to do public penance during Lent, only to be readmitted to church at the Easter Vigil.

But I am not giving Alexa up for Lent. In fact, I will be spending more time with her.

Penance was not always the central focus of Lent.

In ancient times, Lent was also a time to prepare catechumens for baptism at the Easter Vigil.

The catechumens would gather in the cathedral every day during Lent, and the bishop would teach them about Christianity. This was before print, so there were no catechisms. Instead, he used the Scripture readings of the day.

This is where Alexa comes in. Continue reading

Thomas Reese SJ is is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, and a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America.

Image: RNS