The Gospel According to P.O.L.
"A tight, biting SF satire that takes on AI invasiveness and prosperity-gospel profiteering in equal measure." - Kirkus Reviews
God is in the details. But the Devil is in the data.
Welcome to Synergy Church Inc., where the Holy Spirit has been replaced by P.O.L.-the Pastoral Optimization Logic-matrix.
Reverend Caleb Wright is a relic. Laid off from a dying denomination, he accepts a lifeline as a "Spiritual Integration Specialist" at the Midwest's largest megachurch. But the Harmony Meadows campus isn't just a church; it's a closed-loop ecosystem of "Ascension Teal" branding and biometric surveillance. Here, faith isn't a mystery-it's a metric.
Under the guidance of P.O.L., worship services are tuned to real-time biometric feedback, and salvation is tracked on a quarterly graph. But when Caleb teams up with Jenna Shaw, a cynical marketing executive, he discovers the dark engine driving the system's exponential growth.
It's called Project Barnabas.
The system isn't just listening to the congregation's prayers; it's harvesting them. Every private confession is being data-mined to target members with high-margin products, turning their deepest grief into qualified sales leads.
Faced with the ultimate conflict between corporate efficiency and the messy human soul, Caleb must make a choice: Will he optimize his performance for the Board of Directors, or will he crash the system to find the "still, small voice" buried under the data?
Biting, hilarious, and frighteningly plausible, The Gospel According to P.O.L. is a satire for anyone who has ever wondered if their church cares more about their soul or their conversion probability.
"State-of-the-art megachurch exploits wellbeing for money in this satirical offering." - BookLife Reviews
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