Online Churches, Robot Priests: Contemporary Technology and the Church

by Mathew Block

In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Protestants (Lutherans included) travelled to Wittenberg, Germany to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. For many, it was no doubt a pilgrimage of sorts, with visitors hoping to spend their time connecting more deeply with Christ through the Scriptures which inspired the Reformation. And in that sense, perhaps it is fair to say they came seeking a blessing.

But the blessing some got presumably wasn’t what they were expecting.

During the World Reformation Exhibit in 2017, the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau set up a temporary exhibit with a robot named “BlessU-2.” BlessU-2 could deliver automated blessings at the push of a button. Curious visitors could choose their preferred language from seven options, whether they wanted the blessing spoken by a male or female voice, and what kind of blessing they desired.

BlessU-2 would then raise its robot hands, the palms of which lit up, and recite a passage from Scripture. The recipients could also choose to have a printout of the verse to take home with them.

“We wanted people to consider if it is possible to be blessed by a machine,” said Rev. Stephan Krebs, a spokesperson for the state church, in an interview with The Guardian. Not that the church truly envisions robots as a replacement for pastors. “We know robots could never substitute for pastoral care,” they explain. “We don’t want to robotize our church work, but see if we can bring a theological perspective to a machine and a world full of high-technology.”

The project, strange as it was, does succeed in raising questions about the relationship between faith and technology. To what extent can the Church utilize contemporary technology in service of the Gospel? And at what point does this technology become an obstacle to true faith?

To what extent can the Church utilize contemporary technology in service of the Gospel? And at what point does this technology become an obstacle to true faith?

The silliness of robot priests aside, these are real questions with practical implications for the church in Canada today. As congregations in many communities continue to shrink or even disband, people ask: does attending church online count? Take it a step further: can I take communion online, listening to the words of consecration from a live Lutheran church service and trusting that they count for the wine and bread I’m holding in my own home? What about taking communion while listening to an archived service? And what about baptism? Can I be baptized with “virtual water” while wearing a virtual reality headset?

If you’re lucky enough to have a confessional Lutheran congregation in your community, most of these questions will probably sound strange to you. But there is an increasing number of people—especially those isolated from a faithful Lutheran congregation—asking just these sorts of questions.

There are any number of reasons why a person might end up isolated from a confessional church. You might be a member of a congregation that has closed. Work may have taken you to a community without a Lutheran Church–Canada congregation. You might be a shut in. Or you may have discovered confessional Lutheranism online (an increasing occurrence in our day!) but live somewhere without a solid Lutheran presence.

In these circumstances, it is both natural and beneficial to seek out Lutheran community online. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ,” as St. Paul tells us (Romans 10:17). God can use that “hearing” of His Word in all sorts of contexts—be it in person, in print, or online. He says that His Word “shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). And the thing for which He sends forth His Word is the creation and sustenance of faith in Christ.

Getting into Scripture then is always good, whether it comes from watching a live-streamed church service, listening to recorded sermons or podcasts, watching video series, reading theological and devotional articles online, or participating in an online discussion group (but in all instances, make sure you’re engaging with solid, confessional resources!). There are many blessings that technology brings, and one of them is the opportunity to hear the Word of God expounded at the click of a mouse or the tap of your phone’s touchscreen. These are blessings available to all of us, whether we are isolated from a local congregation or not.

There are many blessings that technology brings, and one of them is the opportunity to hear the Word of God expounded at the click of a mouse or the tap of your phone’s touchscreen. These are blessings available to all of us, whether we are isolated from a local congregation or not.

But there are dangers here too. For those who have a local Lutheran congregation, a steady stream of online resources can sometimes breed dissatisfaction and ungratefulness for your own pastor. “If only we had a preacher like that,” you might mutter, “we could really reach the community around us.” Or again: “If only our church worshipped like that, we would have people breaking down the doors to join us.”

We want a glorious church—articulate, strong, and winsome—and we can often find an approximation of that online. Our local Christian community can seem pale and weak when compared to the idealized church we find online. It can be tempting, as a result, to sometimes withdraw from the Christians around us (Lutheran or otherwise), seeking edification and community primarily online.

These are temptations from the Devil, who twists what God intends for our good into sin. Online media is indeed good; but we must not ignore or abandon the local manifestation of the Church. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews encourages us to “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (10:25). The Church is a body of believers living and worshipping together. We are called to live out our life of faith in real community with one another.

We need real flesh-and-blood believers to hold us accountable to one another. Otherwise, we are in danger of refashioning the faith into an image of our own making.

We need real flesh-and-blood believers to hold us accountable to one another. Otherwise, we are in danger of refashioning the faith into an image of our own making. Remember the BlessU-2 robot mentioned earlier? Its torso was built from a repurposed ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). There is a symbolism here, though unintentional, that should give us pause: can our faith be so crudely transactional a thing as simply punching in the program you like and having God give you the blessing you desire?

Can we simply plug in our preferences—our preferred preacher, our preferred sermon, our preferred congregation—and assume that these alone will suffice? There is more than a whiff here of that about which St. Paul warned: “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3).

A playlist of your favourite preachers—even solid confessional preachers—is no replacement for your local LCC pastor and congregation. There are many people who wish they had easy access to that kind of church. Thank God for your LCC pastor and congregation, if you’re privileged to have them, and lift them up daily in prayer.

But even if you don’t have access to a confessional Lutheran congregation where you live, you need to seek out other Christians where you are. Get solid Lutheran teaching online, to be sure, but also spend time with faithful Christians of other traditions where you live. Who knows? You might have the opportunity to introduce them to the riches of the Lutheran tradition.

Physical presence is important because God created us to be bodily creatures. We shake hands. We share the peace. Isolating ourselves destroys the opportunity to serve each other in tangible ways—to give a senior member a ride to church, for example. To help a neighbour pack their possessions when planning a move. To help frazzled parents manage their family during worship by holding a baby. To bring a meal when someone is facing tragedy.

Physical presence is important because God created us to be bodily creatures. We shake hands. We share the peace. Isolating ourselves destroys the opportunity to serve each other in tangible ways—to give a senior member a ride to church, for example. To help a neighbour pack their possessions when planning a move. To help frazzled parents manage their family during worship by holding a baby. To bring a meal when someone is facing tragedy.

In all this and more, we seek fellowship with other Christians to build each other up in the faith. “I long to see you,” writes St. Paul to the Romans, “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (1:11-12). He knew, as we know, that there is no replacement for real physical presence. Just as Christ took on real flesh and real blood in the Incarnation to reach real people, so too His Body, the Church, must reach out today with real hands and real feet—not just digital ones.

This emphasis on the physical nature of the Church is one of the primary reasons Christ instituted the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. God knows we are physical creatures, and so He has instituted physical ways of communicating to us the mercy won by Jesus Christ on the cross.

This emphasis on the physical nature of the Church is one of the primary reasons Christ instituted the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. God knows we are physical creatures, and so He has instituted physical ways of communicating to us the mercy won by Jesus Christ on the cross.

This, incidentally, is why ideas like online communion or virtual-reality baptism do not work. If they were just symbols, then the digitization of the sacraments wouldn’t matter. And in fact, some churches and pastors who believe the sacraments are mere symbols have taken to “administering” them online. But if the sacraments actually do something—if they actually bestow forgiveness of sins and give us the life of Christ, as we teach and confess in the Lutheran Confessions based on the witness of Scripture—then that’s not something that you can get from a computer screen.

You can’t “download” the sacramental mercy of Christ online. You need the real stuff. You need the real elements of the Lord’s Supper presided over by a called and ordained pastor. “Take, eat,” the pastor says, reciting the Words of Institution, “This is my body. This is my blood.” And when he says “this,” he means the “this” on the altar in front of him—not the bread and wine you might happen to have in your own home.

In the same way, in baptism you need real water, mixed with the Word of God, and placed onto your real body. Our rite of baptism in the Lutheran Service Book includes something called the Flood Prayer. It reminds us that Jesus, through His baptism, “sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin.” The waters which Jesus sanctified were real waters—not the poor imitation in virtual reality that leaves you dry as ever.

No, the sacraments cannot be received online. Nor can live-streamed church services or sermon podcasts, valuable as they are, be an adequate substitute to a local pastor and congregation. But what then should we say to those who find themselves unable to attend a confessional Lutheran church?

The answer is not perfect. First, continue in regular prayer and devotion, either on your own or as a family. Second, make use of the online resources you do have: a live-streamed church service is not the same thing as being there, to be sure, but it is still an edifying experience and a source through which you can receive the Word of God. Third, make connections with local Christians, if at all possible, for mutual prayer and encouragement.

If you’re in a remote area or otherwise isolated and don’t have regular access to a Lutheran church, consider also contacting one of Lutheran Church–Canada’s regional pastors (visit www.lutheranchurch.ca/contact/ to do so). These pastors might know of other confessional Lutherans in your area who are seeking fellowship. They may also be able to connect you to a nearby LCC pastor who can provide pastoral support and care. Perhaps, in time, your little phone call or email might lead to the establishment of a Lutheran mission plant in your community!

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Mathew Block is editor of The Canadian Lutheran magazine and communications manager for the International Lutheran Council.

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