The voice assistant “Alexa” from Amazon can in future also say prayers or recite Bible verses. The project was financed by the digital fund of the Evangelical Church in Germany with 60,000 euros.
Munich – Amazon’s voice assistant, “Alexa”, can now say prayers, recite Bible verses or start a meditation offer. The applications (“skills”) of the language assistant now also include Protestant content, announced the Protestant Media Association in Germany (EMVD) on Tuesday in Frankfurt am Main. Users could let “Alexa” say prayers and blessings with the command “Evangelical Church”. The language assistant can also recite Bible verses for baptism, marriage, confirmation or mourning.
“We are very happy to have implemented a future-oriented, innovative project together that offers people real added value,” said the EMVD chairman and director of the Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria (EPV), Roland Gertz, in Munich. All skills were produced as part of a cooperation project between Protestant media houses and regional churches under the umbrella of EMVD.
“Alexa” should become even smarter
The “Evangelical Church” skill offers prayers and blessings on various occasions and Bible verses for baptism, confirmation, marriage or times of mourning. “With the skill, families can discover prayers, couples can look for a Bible verse for their wedding, and seniors can find spiritual guidance,” said Rieke C. Harmsen from EPV, who shares the skill with the Bavarian regional church and the media house of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN) realized.
The “heavenraDIO” skill offers a live program and music for the Ecumenical Church Congress in Frankfurt am Main, 24 hours a day from Tuesday to Sunday. According to the EMVD, the application “Holy Moments” encourages people to relax through meditations and to be mindful of God’s presence in everyday life.
By June, “Alexa” should become even smarter and be able to answer questions about terms such as “Protestant”, “Evangelical” or “Reformed” as well as about people from the Bible and church history.
“We see these skills as a great opportunity to reach digitally affine people and to give them answers to questions of faith in a playful way and to offer spiritual support for everyday life,” explained the project manager Birgit Arndt, managing director of the EKHN media house in Frankfurt.
According to Arndt, the project was financed by the digital fund of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) with 60,000 euros.
