Before we begin, AI for church is not a scary phrase. Also, I want to preface this with I am also wary of an abundance of AI usage in the church. The way I compartmentalise AI in church is heart vs time.
If an activity is heart driven but takes time, take the time and do it – use AI sparingly and intentionally. If it is not heart driven but takes a lot of time, then lean in more into AI.
No matter how big your church is, it requires some business activities in order to function. It can be anything from marketing to finance. I’m totally fine with going all in on AI in these lanes, so to speak.
When it comes to the heart stuff – like sermon planning, or set list planning, these tend to be more heart than business. I’d like to see less AI – not zero, but we should be more wary of the role of AI in these lanes or ministries.
Take sermons for instance. I’m hoping everyone can agree that generating sermons from a prompt is not something that should be encouraged. Likewise, writing songs with Suno AI and playing it on Sunday is something that should be adopted.
So I see a separation of heart and business and based on this AI can take on a larger role. So, with that, here are some AI apps that you should check out.
| Ministry Area | Focus | App |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Marketing made easy | Sermon Shots |
| Communications | Automation | ChurchBot |
| Accessibility & inclusion | Real-Time Language Access | OneAccord |
| Creative Ministry | Visual Design & Branding | Canva Magic Studio |
| Administration | Data Analysis & Reporting | Planning Center |
| Financial/Business | Stewardship & Giving | OnlineGiving.org AI |
| Worship planning | Worship planning & networking | WorshipTeam.ai |
Sermon Shots
Sermon Shots automatically transcribes sermons and uses AI to identify the most compelling, short clips (Sermon Shots) suitable for vertical video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It also generates suggested captions and visual quote graphics.
Why should you use it?
Pastors are the best content creators, before content creators or online influencers were a thing. Very few people prepare a well researched paper or a message every Sunday. That’s 52 40-minute, well researched messages that only the people in the room get to hear.
By using Sermon Shots, you can break up these long messages into bite sized chunks and publish them to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and more. It’s where content is consumed at insane rates. If you are not in any of these apps, you are not part of the conversation.
Sermon Shots clearly is one of those apps where the church needs to go all in on AI. You don’t have to fire anyone. In stead, your video editors will live happier lives and be more productive.
ChurchBot
Okay. I’m with you that the name ChurchBot conjures up everything the church fears about AI – Bots. But, this is where the church can lean into a little bit. What ChurchBot does is it makes your website interactive. When people visit your site, they can ask your ChurchBot questions and it can serve as a customer service rep and answer anything.
You control what it says and how it speaks by uploading a document of it’s total knowledge and it operates within those truths. It’s just one more gap that AI can fill without taking away any heart and soul and also someone’s job.
OneAccord
OneAccord provides real-time, high-accuracy translation of spoken words (e.g., a sermon) into captions in multiple languages, or even via voice for listeners using a mobile app. Think UN live translation, but for church.
I’m not sure about the wide-scale application for this, but if you are in a diverse church then something like this could be super handy.
Canva Magic Studio
While Canva Magic Studio is great, it isn’t a ministry focused tool. So until someone creates one that caters just to the church, and built by someone of faith, Canva is one of the best out there.
Canva’s Magic Studio uses AI to instantly generate professional-quality graphics, adjust layouts, remove backgrounds, or suggest color palettes based on a simple text prompt. Sure ChatGPT or MidJourney can also create some sweet images but Canva allows you to finish it up – add text, design it, polish it and make it presentation ready.
Speaking of MidJourney, it isn’t in the list, but it is a worthy mention. It can help your design team rather than replace anyone. Your designers can create the perfect image to portray some crazy analogy the pastor dreamt up. Most likely the youth pastor.
Planning Center
Planning Center – you probably already use them. PCO is like SalesForce for the church. If you don’t know what SalesForce is, you’ve been blessed too much. But PCO does a lot. One of the facets of PCO is CHurch Management. You can use AI to analyse finances and other business related aspects to help the leadership make informed decisions.
An advanced feature often built into digital giving platforms that analyzes historical donation patterns to forecast revenue, predict peak giving seasons, and identify donors whose giving patterns suggest a potential risk of lapse.
OnlineGiving
This is an older app but they’ve integrated Ministry AI that analyses tithes and donations and it is super easy to find lapses and identify members. Now, it isn’t a P&L approach. A lapse in tithing could mean that someone who’s been faithful has suddenly struck a difficult time.
Lapses like this normally would go unnoticed. With AI, it opens up new ways the church can step in and help its members – not to call and say “Hey we’ve noticed you missed a tithe”, instead “Hey, is everything okay? Could we meet for lunch”. It’s an opportunity for the church to serve.
Remember: With great power comes great responsibility.
WorshipTeamAI
WorshipTeamAI is another tool that’s built for the church but mostly for the worship team. It helps worship leaders create set lists and build teams quicker with AI doing a bit of the grunt work. It does not get in the way of the hear of worship.
In stead it focused on alleviating the grunt work in creating set lists. It offers a pro practice app that musicians can can use to create regions, loop regions and use keyboard shortcuts.
It also uses AI to surface themes from the setlist and based on the theme, it can generate Bible verses so teams can show up Sunday morning skill ready and heart ready.
Apart from a stellar setlist and practice app, it has a social media aspect where worship teams can connect and network with other leaders. Churches can also quickly post gigs, find musicians and pay them – all in-app.
If you are in a worship team, you should join WorshipTeamAI – it’s free. The only paid subscription is for Setlists and Practice. Join us, it’s going to be fun.