by Christopher Schouten
In every generation, the Church has wrestled with new technologies: the printing press, the radio, the internet, Zoom… Each time, we’ve asked: How can we use this gift wisely, without losing the heart of who we are?
Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is the newest tool in front of us. And like those that came before it, AI is neither a savior nor a threat in itself – it’s a tool that can be shaped for good when used thoughtfully or do harm if used carelessly.
As a future pastor in the United Church of Christ, a tradition rooted in the idea that “God is still speaking,” I believe AI can enhance the quality and increase the efficiency of our ministries. When used with prayerful discernment, it can actually deepen the soulful, relational heart of what we do.
But that doesn’t happen automatically. It takes intention. It takes care. It takes practice.
How AI Can Strengthen Pastoral Ministry
More Time for What Matters Most
Much of pastoral work—writing newsletters, designing flyers, drafting reports—requires a lot of time and energy. AI can lighten the administrative load without diminishing the quality.
- Need a well-written event description, newsletter article or a social media post? AI can provide a first draft.
- Preparing Sunday slides? AI can clean up your formatting.
- Struggling with a grant application? AI can help you polish your wording.
- Need to write a prayer that complements your worship theme and represents UCC theology? AI can do a first draft.
The more we automate nonrelational work, the more time we free up for pastoral presence—the real soul work of ministry.
A Creative and Faithful Brainstorming Partner
Every preacher knows the pressure of a looming sermon deadline. AI won’t preach the sermon for you, but it can act as a brainstorming partner:
- Offering outlines based on your chosen scripture.
- Suggesting metaphors, quotes, or real-life examples.
- Rewording drafts to make your message clearer and more powerful.
- Helping you think about how your sermon might land with different generations or cultural backgrounds.
- Creating an age-appropriate children’s message based on your sermon text
The Holy Spirit is still our guide. But AI can help widen the creative space through which the Spirit moves.
Engaging with Scripture in New Ways
AI can also be an unexpected gift for engaging Scripture more deeply and more broadly:
- Generate study questions for Bible studies, focusing on different levels of inquiry -from historical context to personal reflection.
- Summarize complex biblical passages into digestible outlines for newcomers or seekers, drawing from different human commentaries.
- Cross-reference Scriptures related to themes you’re exploring – sometimes finding connections across Books we might miss at first glance.
- Assist in multilingual ministry by translating Scripture passages or discussion guides into Spanish, Tagalog, Navajo, or any language your community speaks.
Of course, human wisdom and theological training are needed to verify and adapt what AI suggests. But when used well, AI can help us make Scripture more accessible and more alive to our communities.
Radical Hospitality through Accessibility
AI tools can assist in making worship and communication more inclusive:
- Captioning live services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Creating sermon summaries for neurodiverse members or those with cognitive challenges.
- Offering daily devotionals in written, audio, or visual formats to meet people where they are.
The call to “welcome all” can be amplified when we use technology to lower barriers and open more doors.
Curating Resources for Pastoral Care
When facing tough pastoral situations—grief, addiction, trauma, family conflict—AI can help pastors quickly gather resources: sample prayers, grief liturgies, articles on pastoral responses to crisis.
While nothing replaces the human heart of caregiving, AI can equip us with language and ideas when we need them most.
The Risks We Must Guard Against
Technology, even when helpful, carries risks if we aren’t vigilant:
- Substituting speed for soul. Just because we can generate a sermon outline in five minutes doesn’t mean we should stop wrestling, praying, and listening deeply for what God is calling us to say.
- Forgetting the human connection. AI can draft emails, but it can’t hold a grieving hand or rejoice at a baptism. Ministry happens in relationship, not just communication.
- Uncritical trust. AI often reflects the biases and blind spots of its programmers and training data. It can misinterpret Scripture, flatten nuance, or perpetuate injustice unless we bring our critical, prayerful minds to everything it suggests.
Some things will always be too sacred to automate: personal prayer, communion, listening, blessing. AI must always be a tool, never a substitute for the heart of ministry.
A Practice of Discernment for Tech Use
The ultimate questions we must keep asking are simple but profound:
- Is this tool helping me love and teach people better?
- Is it freeing me to be more present with God and with others?
- Is it serving the mission of the church, or distracting from it?
If the answer is yes, then we can embrace this new tool with gratitude and humility.
If the answer is no, then we must be willing to walk away.
In truth, the soul of ministry has never been tied to our tools – whether scrolls, printing presses, projectors, livestreams, or AI chatbots.
The soul of ministry is tied to Love: the Love that forms, sustains, and redeems us.
As long as we stay anchored in that Love, we won’t lose the soul of our ministry.
In fact, we may just find new and beautiful ways to share it.
Thanks be to God for every tool that helps us love more wisely, more creatively, and more fully!
