COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. — Walla Walla University Church is introducing its latest technological investment next Sabbath: a sleep cam. A dedicated camera operator will scan the congregation for sleeping members or visitors. WWUC spokesperson, Alexa Bennings, explained that if and when “sleepers” are located, live video of the offending party will be projected onto the sanctuary’s front screen “until the sleeper wakes from his or her slumber.”
The sleep cam was selected from a range of options explored by the WWUC Church Board to combat pervasive church napping. “We looked at everything: harder pews, louder organ music, poles for deacons on sleep patrol, the list went on and on,” said Bennings.
Church Board members finally chose the sleep cam after reaching a consensus that the social pressure of being filmed snoozing would provide the best “light-hearted reminder to everyone that church is not for sleeping.”
Some members have protested the move, claiming that live video of members napping could break the flow of the service. Bennings acknowledged that “the first few times we bust someone things might get a little out of hand,” but that in the long-term, “people will get to bed on time on Friday night.”
