Well, it’s finally happened. Automation has hit the ministry!
I read in the St. Louis Post Dispatch that a robot in Japan has now begun performing wedding ceremonies. Granted, the ceremony wasn’t completely automated, since someone hunched behind a screen and operated the robot’s controls. But still…a robot?
I should have seen this trend toward pastoral robotics on the horizon. In many parts of the country, the minister’s role at funerals has been delegated to a simple prayer; while a video montage of the person’s life gives a far more eloquent eulogy than the minister could ever give.
I suppose pastoral counseling will be the next level of automation. I’m sure a recording device could provide adequate counseling by simply playing back the last three or four words spoken by a client.
Parishioner: “My marriage is on the rocks.”
Pastoral Robot: “on the rocks?”
Parishioner: “I think my wife is seeing another man.”
Pastoral Robot: “seeing another man?”
Where will this new trend toward ministerial robotics end? I can almost see it now. We have a large sanctuary, packed with worshipers eager to hear the morning’s sermon. (Hey, it’s my fantasy and I want the place packed!) A robot maneuvers squeakily onto the chancel and begins expounding on the scriptures…it’s called “artificial in-sermonation?”
