How Pastors and Churches Can Use AI to Grow God's Kingdom
Used with wisdom, AI can help churches spread the gospel, serve people faster, and build healthier ministries. That was the clear message from the Oct. 7 "AI for Humanity" conference, presented by the Christian Post with Gloo AI and Colorado Christian University.
Pat Gelsinger of Gloo said AI can serve the church in three lanes: operations, mission, and theology. He even uses AI to study St. Augustine-similar to how early Christians used the Roman Road to get Scripture to more people.
California pastor Justin Lester added a charge: move forward in faith. Just as the fish symbol kept early believers safe on the Roman Road, Christians today can adopt new tools without fear-grounded in truth and guided by God.
Where AI Helps Right Now
- Operations: Draft policies, summarize meetings, organize volunteer schedules, and answer routine emails or FAQs so staff can focus on people.
- Outreach: Translate sermons, devotionals, and landing pages for multilingual audiences. Create first-draft content for social, email, and SMS to meet seekers where they are.
- Care and follow-up: Offer 24/7 chat triage that routes prayer requests and crisis needs to humans quickly, with clear handoffs.
- Theology and study: Research commentaries, compare translations, and surface themes-then verify everything with Scripture and trusted sources.
- Software and tools: Generate simple apps for your congregation, from prayer tracking to event sign-ups, without heavy budgets.
What This Means for Communications and Marketing Teams
- Content at scale: Turn one sermon into a week of posts, reels, emails, and small-group questions. Keep a consistent voice with a style guide prompt.
- Personalized outreach: Segment by life stage or interest (new visitors, parents, young adults), then tailor invitations, next steps, and testimonies.
- Rapid translation: Share messages with people who haven't heard about Jesus in their heart language. AI can cut timelines from years to months-still reviewed by humans before publishing.
- Community insight: Analyze anonymous prayer requests, feedback, and surveys to spot needs, then adjust ministry plans and messaging.
Keep the Message Honest and Clear
Pastor Justin Lester called honesty the main test for church leaders in a high-tech era: preach the gospel without compromise. Use AI for reach and efficiency, not to blur truth or replace a pastor's voice.
Create a simple policy: disclose AI use for content drafts, always review theologically, and keep final decisions human.
30-60-90 Day Starter Plan
- First 30 days: Pick two low-risk pilots (sermon repurposing, volunteer email drafts). Define success (time saved, quality, engagement). Set a voice and theology review checklist.
- Day 31-60: Add translation for key pages and welcome emails. Test a visitor follow-up sequence with personalized next steps. Measure response and opt-outs.
- Day 61-90: Build a lightweight content calendar supported by AI. Launch a simple chat triage for prayer requests with clear escalation to humans. Share results with elders and staff.
Guardrails That Protect Trust
- Truth first: Verify Scripture references and doctrinal claims. Keep a named human editor on every piece of content.
- Privacy: Don't feed personal data into public tools. Use vetted platforms; scrub or anonymize sensitive info.
- Transparency: Tell your church how you use AI and what stays human (teaching, counseling, pastoral care).
- Bias checks: Review outputs for fairness and cultural sensitivity, especially in translation and imagery.
- Copyright: Use licensed or original assets. Cite sources. Keep records of prompts and approvals.
Practical Use Cases You Can Ship This Month
- Sermon to social: 10 quotes, 5 reels, 3 carousels, 1 email-all drafted in one hour, edited by your team.
- Visitor follow-up: A three-email sequence with prayer invite, group finder, and baptism next steps-personalized by interest.
- Team support: Draft SOPs for events, crisis comms templates, and onboarding checklists.
- Bible engagement: Daily reading prompts and reflection questions autogenerated from your current series, reviewed by staff.
A Final Word of Direction
The early church used the Roman Road and a simple fish to move wisely and stay faithful. Today's tools are different, but the mission is the same. Move forward with courage, clarity, and guardrails-and let truth lead every decision.
