AI has been around for a while, even though you may have noticed it recently. The term was coined all the way back in 1956 at the Dartmouth University Research Project on Artificial Intelligence. It’s used by college students employing spellcheck and grammar check in Microsoft Word, anyone talking to Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, and has helped in medical diagnoses for years. Recently, a paradigm shift in what is called “generative AI” came with the launch and widespread adoption of tools like ChaptGPT, Claude, and Midjourney. These applications, and others, source from enormous content of internet data and can handle an variety of tasks and work across applications and in novel areas. We’re only at the beginning of fully embracing the potential of what AI models like these can do.
The landscape of ministry is evolving, and artificial intelligence is opening new doors for churches to expand their reach. Let’s explore some innovative tools that are helping pastors multiply their impact while staying true to their unique voices and messages.
In the first article, the focus was on leveraging AI’s capacity to multiplying the impact of sermons. In Part 2, we want to raise up examples of ways pastors just like you are using the technology well.
Making Your Sermon More Impactful
Every sermon is a gift—a gift received from God’s Word through the Spirit to point people to Jesus and bring glory to the Father. AI doesn’t replace any of this, nor can it teach theological truth or pastoral application the way you can. But it can enhance your impact and help you balance sermon preparation with all the other important features of ministry.
Sermon Shots
One of the pioneers in church AI technology, Sermon Shots began developing its technology before ChatGPT became publicly known. About Sermon Shots, I (Ed) recently noted the following on X:
- This AI tool saves my team a lot of time.
- SermonShots has the largest team of all AI sermon companies currently available.
- They are always adding new features and innovating using AI.
- It’s not sermon creation, it’s basically sermon multiplication– it creates stuff from your message, it does not create your message.
What makes this tool stand out is its ability to repurpose sermon content so quickly, while preserving each pastor and church’s unique voice.
Think of Sermon Shots as your digital ministry assistant. It takes your sermon and creates:
- Sermon clips for social media
- Shareable quotes and can even turn those into quote images for social media
- Discussion guides for small groups
- Daily devotionals
- Podcast versions
- Blogs for your website
- Thumbnails for your YouTube videos
Two key features that pastors love are:
- The ability to edit/customize everything – While AI does the heavy lifting, you maintain complete control over your message and how it’s presented.
- How simple it is to use – In a recent interview with Pastor Jon Langley, he said: I don’t have to do a lot of training… We all know how to use it and I haven’t personally taught them how to do anything, so that’s always a plus.
Connecting with Your Congregation
Sermon Send
With all the amazing content churches can now create, there needed to be a simple way to get it to the congregation. That’s where Sermon Send comes in.
Imagine giving your congregation a single page where they can find:
- This week’s sermon video
- Daily devotionals
- Small group materials
- Shareable social media content
- Key quotes and highlights
What makes Sermon Send special is how it works seamlessly with Sermon Shots. Once your content is created, it automatically organizes everything into an easy-to-use page that your congregation can access all week long.
A quote from pastor Dalton Jenkins:
SermonSend has exceeded my expectations! I was looking for a way to streamline my content delivery—videos, blogs, and devotions—all in one central location that is simple and user-friendly. And let me just say: you have delivered!
SermonSends’s ease of access and simplicity make it a game-changer for anyone in ministry or content creation.
Breaking Language Barriers
Sermon Live
One of the most exciting developments in church technology, Sermon Live won first place in its category at a 2024 AI Church hackathon. This innovative tool addresses a growing need in many churches: reaching those whose first language is not English.
Sermon Live offers three groundbreaking features:
- Real-time translation into 50+ languages, allowing non-English speakers to read or listen along with just a slight delay
- A unique church link for anyone to access the live translations
- AI-dubbed videos in your pastor’s voice, with synchronized lip movements that make it appear as if the pastor is naturally speaking the translated language
As I (Ed) travel the globe to places like to Asia, where I was in Fall 2024 for the Fourth Lausanne Conference, I can see how this technology can help to communicate across languages. For anyone whose ministry reaches across languages either in your community or globally this feature could be a game changer.
Looking to the Future
These tools represent just the beginning of how AI can serve the church. The key is finding technology that enhances rather than replaces the human elements of ministry. Each of these tools maintains the pastor’s voice, vision, and oversight while multiplying their reach.
Remember, the goal isn’t to use technology for technology’s sake, but to save you time and extend your ministry’s impact.
Most pastors respond to AI and other technologies in one of three ways.
- Some resist all new technology, viewing it with suspicion.
- There is a smaller group which would be those who zealously pursue any technological advancement but often do so without discernment, seeking shortcuts over substance. The same pastors who preached the sermons of other pastors, passing them off as their own, are likely the same pastors who will now lean too heavily on AI to do the work of sermon prep for them.
- Many see it as simply another way to facilitate ministry, seeking ways to integrate it into their work.
It is this third group that I want to see grow as I encourage pastors to use AI regularly and with wisdom. Together, as we share best practices, wrestle with pastoral and ethical questions, and learn from mistakes we make along the way, we can learn how to wisely integrate AI to maximize the fruitfulness of our ministry work without sacrificing the essential component of local church ministry: person-to-person relationship centered on Christ.
Want to learn more about The Ethics of AI in sermon writing check out the next installment in this series.
