Historically, U.S. Black Baptist churches have served as cultural anchors, spiritual sanctuaries, and centers of sociopolitical engagement in African American communities. Concurrently, Ambient Intelligence (AmI) and Smart Environments (SmE), which are sensor-rich and context-aware systems, have reshaped healthcare, education, and domestic life. However, the literature has not yet offered a consolidated framework that maps AmI/SmE adoption to the theological, privacy, and trust dynamics that can uniquely shape technology uptake in historically U.S. Black Baptist congregational contexts, leaving a technological justice gap. This conceptual theory-building paper proposes a Smart-Church Ecosystem (SCE), a theory-driven model aligning spiritual tradition with AmI innovation to enhance elderly care, worship participation, youth formation, security, and social outreach. Grounded in Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) and a UTAUT2 reframing that foregrounds theological compatibility and surveillance-shaped trust, the paper advances three testable propositions and a feasibility blueprint for a pilot deployment. The importance of justice-oriented data governance and participatory co-design is emphasized as an ethical necessity. It charts a path toward equitable, dignity-affirming, bright worship spaces.
Marlon Deon Henderson (Wed,) studied this question.