Technology has always shaped how God’s people carry out its mission to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. The invention of the printing press helped disseminate the pages of Scripture and other truth-filled literature to people hungry for God’s Word during the Dark Ages. Ellen G. White saw the printing press of her day as “a powerful means to move the minds and hearts of the people.” She added, “God has placed at the command of His people advantages in the press, which, combined with other agencies, will be successful in extending the knowledge of the truth” (Evangelism, pp. 160, 161). Within the Adventist Church, television and radio ministries took evangelism to new heights, spreading the three angels’ messages across the airwaves. The emergence of the Internet has amplified these methods, making global ministry possible overnight, opening opportunities to truly reach every kindred, nation, tongue, and people.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is simply the newest tool in that long line of emerging technology and innovation. The real question for church leaders and members is always about stewardship. In Scripture, the steward’s responsibility is faithful management of something valuable. AI use in ministry is a stewardship issue rather than a technology debate.
In 2023 as ChatGPT was gaining traction, a survey showed that “43 percent of church leaders said they were uncomfortable with the idea of using AI in church settings, and more than half voiced concern about the ethical and moral implications of these tools.” By 2025, nearly 90 percent of faith leaders “now say they support using AI in some form of ministry” as indicated in a survey conducted by Exponential and ChurchTechToday.com. (“Is AI Harming or Helping Faith Communities?”; Deseret News, Oct. 25, 2025)
The challenge today is how ministry leaders, pastors, teachers, and members can use AI faithfully, with prayerful discernment, to balance utilizing this technology while still maintaining the essence of faith and Adventist identity.
AI may change how we do ministry, but it will never replace why we do ministry.
Navigating AI in ministry requires both discernment and experience. Following are two complementary perspectives to the conversation. Raciel Hernández pastors two New Hampshire churches in the Northern New England Conference (Nashua and Portsmouth). Using his dual degree in computers and technology, he enjoys discovering ways to merge technology with ministry. Stephen L. Williams, a former pastor in the Northeastern Conference, is currently the lead chaplain for Kettering Hospital-Hamilton in Hamilton, Ohio. Williams has researched and tested emerging technologies in ministry for decades and is a frequent presenter on the subject in the Atlantic Union and North American Division.
Their voices help frame a simple but essential question: What should the church do—and what should it avoid—as it seeks to use AI faithfully? The following insights highlight both. (Scroll to the bottom for a list of useful AI Terms to Know.)
DO use AI to reclaim time for real ministry
DON’T let AI replace actual human presence
Generative AI serves as a powerful tool for project and time management, planning, and creativity, thereby saving time and enabling broader and more engaging personal outreach. With its predictive analytic capabilities, many Adventist ministries are already utilizing it to automate common tasks, even delegating some tasks to AI. Used strategically, AI significantly reduces hours spent on research or administrative tasks, allowing pastors and ministries time to focus on community engagement and building human connections.
As a pastor for two churches, Hernández appreciates the time savings that AI brings with important tasks such as creating PowerPoint materials to accompany his sermons—something especially appreciated by visual learners in the congregation. “That’s the reason I can visit my church members during the week. [I have] more time to engage with the community, to let them know there is a pastor here in the area.” He is able to get more done in the same 24-hour period and avoid ministry burnout. “I have AI working for me,” he added.
DO use AI to assist your work—not to replace your calling
DON’T preach what you haven’t studied
With the right prompts, an AI chatbot can help generate ideas, edit, and streamline material, manage your calendar, and even produce a solid sermon or Bible study outline that can save a significant amount of time in your research processes. However, there is no substitute for personal study in God’s Word. Plus, AI cannot replace the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and your personal testimony and experience. Hernández warned, “AI is strictly an administrative and creative tool… it supports, but never overshadows the Bible.” Utilizing due diligence is absolutely necessary.
LLMs are not foolproof, so take time to carefully verify the information to ensure it lines up with Adventist theology, and double-check when requesting direct quotes from the Spirit of Prophecy, as it has been known to misquote or paraphrase sections. Also, check that the received output is not plagiarized. Bottom line: being “lazy” about your preparation is not an option when using AI Hernández emphasized, “There are a lot of people who say, ‘AI created a sermon for me’… and then they end up preaching something really crazy.”
Joseph P. Duchesne, Adventist pastor and founder of “Church AI Guy”—a website dedicated to helping Christian leaders navigate the ethical challenges around AI, wrote, “LLMs are a tool you can use along with commentaries, Bible dictionaries, atlases, topical studies and the like. Do not use them exclusively and believe you are getting a finished result” (“AI Sermon Case Study: Should You be Using an LLM to Write Your Sermons?; www.churchaiguy.com).
DO use AI to think strategically about evangelism
DON’T rely on outdated outreach models
AI “is a marketing genius… a demographic genius,” said Williams. Utilizing strategic prompts, AI can cull large amounts of information from expert marketing, psychology, and sociology articles and studies to narrow down best practices for strategic planning. This can transform evangelism by identifying target demographics, suggesting relevant topics, and improving marketing strategies. “If I was to feed the demographics of my church into the AI model and tell it what I want to do in my community, it will start structuring the program right away to tell me how to plan over the next four or five years,” Williams explained.
Williams shared an experience with asking AI to rearrange his sermon PowerPoint slides for the most audience impact. The result was shocking. “I barely got the appeal out of my mouth,” Williams exclaimed. “When I made the appeal, the people got up and almost ran up there.”
DON’T lose your voice or integrity
DO be transparent and authentic
AI is here to stay, and is already a part of many things we use. LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude can generate useful material in a matter of minutes. Williams cautions about ethical considerations and being mindful of acknowledging AI’s inherent biases (since it generates from human programming), possible security risks, and limiting AI’s access to sensitive information. “You have to know where you’re going so that you can direct AI where to go. … Give it direction; don’t give it freedom.”
Transparency is also important. If you ask ChatGPT for information on a topic that you are incorporating into a sermon or presentation, acknowledge it. “I’m transparent as to where I am drawing the information from,” said Williams. “You can’t just present it as if it’s your idea.” He prefers to allow his individuality and personal connection with God to shine through, even with the use of AI. “Just like if I got it from a book, and I read it and delivered it—it’s the same thing. [To me,] AI is just like another book—another computer that gives data, but gives it faster and better. But when I deliver it, I want it to be my delivery, not AI’s delivery.”
DON’T forget what only the church can provide
DO protect the human, spiritual core of ministry
AI may assist with information delivery and content generation, but it cannot replace love, presence, and community. “What people need are communities of believers who love like Jesus, and live like Jesus. … That’s our saving grace, because that cannot be replaced,” Williams explained. “As a chaplain, I go into these hospital rooms and the main thing I hear is ‘I can’t find a church,’ or ‘I go to a church, but I just don’t feel comfortable there,’” Williams said. Technology can help deliver well-researched content creatively and to large numbers of people, but the most important thing for people is finding community. “People need community. That’s what the church has to be. Once you have that, you attract people… That cannot be replaced.”
The author used ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Gemini.ai, and much prayer to brainstorm and organize this cover feature. Click the button to download the “AI Toolkit for Ministry,” a useful list of tested tools to help you study, create, and lead more effectively.
AI Terms to Know: Simple Definitions to Get You Started
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Technology that allows computers to perform tasks that normally require human thinking—like recognizing faces, understanding speech, or making decisions.
Generative AI: A type of AI that creates new content—text, images, audio, video, or code—rather than just analyzing existing data. Think of it as AI that can produce something from scratch based on what it has learned.
Large Language Models (LLMs): The engine behind most modern AI chatbots. These are powerful AI systems trained on massive amounts of text that allow them to understand and generate human language. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are all built on LLMs.
Prompt: The instruction, question, or request you provide to AI. The quality of your prompt directly shapes the quality of the response you receive—the clearer you are, the better the result.
Output: The response or content AI produces after receiving your prompt. This could be text, an image, a summary, a piece of code, or anything else AI generates.
Chatbot: A computer program designed to simulate conversation with a human, such as Claude or ChatGPT, that can write, explain, analyze, and reason. It can do much more than just answer simple questions.
AI Model: The underlying system that has been trained to perform a specific task. Think of it like a brain that has studied enormous amounts of data and learned patterns from it. Different models are built for different purposes (writing, image creation, coding, etc.).
Hallucination: When AI confidently states something that is factually incorrect or completely made up.
Context Window: The amount of text AI can “see” and remember at one time during a conversation. Once a conversation exceeds this limit, AI may begin to “forget” earlier parts of your chat.
Definitions provided by Claude.ai with some human editing.
