Author: conradical

There was a time when I was sitting in the backyard, ready to chow down on some barbecue, and a friend mentioned that he used ChatGPT quite a bit.

I was surprised – given that he is a firefighter. He used it for the office work. Draft letters, communication, and what not. This was in the early days. I was wrapped up in the AI space. I would speak with engineers about machine learning, SDKs, APIs, and all that stuff. But having a firefighter mention ChatGPT was when I first realised that the world is quickly catching on to AI.

Behaviours have changed a lot. Pre ChatGPT or Perplexity, people punched in phrases into Google. Now they don’t search, they research. The questions are more conversational – like they would ask a friend.

Enter conversational AI. As the majority of the world uses apps like Google Gemini, Perplexity, and ChatGPT, conversational AI is quickly becoming the interface. However, speaking – like you would to Siri, is even better.

Companies like OpenAI, PlayAI, ElevenLabs, and more recently Speechify have pioneered this conversational speech to speech. This is where you can have a conversation with an AI agent over speech.

It does not end with just a conversation though. These agents can take action for you. If you had to book a flight ticket, instead of filling in a form, just tell the agent. It will ask you follow up questions, you answer it, and your flight is booked.

While the rest of the world enjoys these comforts, worship leaders are relegated to old CRMs that the church signed up for 10 years ago. This is the tech equivalent of an unreached tribe. Out there people are talking to an AI agent and getting things done quicker and easier, while in the same universe, worship leaders fill in forms to perform simple tasks.

Given my history with AI – remember the companies I mentioned above, like PlayAI and Speechify, I helped them scale rapidly within a matter of months. However, I saw the need in worship, and given that I’ve been in a worship team for about 20 years now, it’s time I bridged that gap.

Enter Nova from WorshipteamAI – the conversational AI agent for worship leaders. No more forms. Sure, if you like forms, use them. But, imagine just telling Nova what you want in your setlist, who should play what, and when. And that’s it. Nova creates the setlist for you?

Of course you can ask Nova for research, historical data on your set lists, who’s been playing too much and might need a break, anything. Nova is like your intern who knows everything about your services and can act with little information.

So. Stop wasting hours each week and lean into conversational AI for worship leaders and worship setlist planning with Nova, the intelligent conversational AI agent for worship leaders.

Worship leaders. If your workflow involves “clicking on the pencil icon” to edit or using forms to get ready for Sunday, you are wasting time. WorshipTeamAI is the only AI agent built for worship leaders.

Using forms for a creative process is like using the computers in the DMV or library to design your cover art for your music. Not only can forms be frustrating, it eats up a lot of time – and you are limited to what the form can do.

For example, if you are in a page to edit a song. You are editing all the fields in that form. But, if you wanted to do something else, you have to leave that form, and then edit another form. WorshipTeam management has become a series of forms.

WorshipTeam.AI has the forms – should you want that. However, with Nova, we’ve worked hard to give you a digital intern where you do not have to be trapped in a specific task. Nova is the best worship leader AI agent.

Ask Nova to do anything. Ask Nova to give you a report, do research, help you find songs, edit songs, add tags to songs, add songs to a setlist, build teams, send emails, what not. All from one interface. Without forms.

Not only do you save hours each week, you save on frustration. Creating setlists isn’t from situation of dread and 1980s-esque experience.

I’m offering special deals ad-hoc. So if you want to see how you can do everything you need to manage your team, manage your library, build setlists, and offer premium practice experiences for your teams, you can get started here.

Also – if you’d like a special offer, just let me know.

There are probably a few ancient people named Asaph and also a few tools called Asaph. The most prominent Asaph however, is of ancient Israel. He was a worship leader appointed by David.

So imagine the most eminent & prolific christian songwriter and singer of today appointing another musician to a leadership position – this person would come with a high recommendation.

In the larger narrative of the Bible, Asaph is a pivotal figure who bridged the gap between structure and spirit. He was not just a musician; he was a theologian-artist who helped King David institutionalise worship in Israel.

Meet Asaph: The ancient Rich Mullins?

If David was the songwriter of Israel, Asaph was its first true Worship Pastor. He is a pivotal figure in scripture who bridged the gap between structure and spirit, helping King David institutionalise what it meant to worship God in community.

1. Who was Asaph?

Asaph was a Levite from the clan of Gershon. While the descendants of Aaron handled the priestly duties, the rest of the Levites were the “support staff” of the temple. But David saw something specific in Asaph.

David elevated him to be one of the three primary leaders of the Levitical music guild (alongside Heman and Ethan/Jeduthun). Eventually, Asaph became the “Chief Musician,” famously stationed at the cymbals, leading the choir directly before the Ark of the Covenant.

2. The appointment: Why David chose Asaph

King David appointed Asaph during a massive cultural shift: the moving of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. David realized that worship shouldn’t be an occasional event, but a perpetual occupation. To lead this new 24/7 worship culture, he needed a leader with a specific “trifecta” of qualifications:

• The Lineage: He had the required Levitical pedigree (1 Chronicles 6:39), meeting the legal standards for temple service.
• The Skill: He possessed musical virtuosity as a master singer and percussionist.
• The Anointing: This was his X-factor. Asaph is later referred to not just as a musician, but as a “Seer” (2 Chronicles 29:30). This implies his music wasn’t just artistic; it was revelatory. He wrote songs that functioned as prophecy, proving that worship is as much about hearing from God as it is singing to Him.

3. Leading the charge: Was he good at what he did?

Asaph didn’t just fill a role; he defined it. He effectively became the executive pastor of worship for ancient Israel.

• He Led the “Tabernacle of David”: Unlike the formal Mosaic Tabernacle focused on animal sacrifice, David established a tent in Jerusalem specifically for continuous praise. Asaph was the director of this radical, intimacy-driven form of worship (1 Chronicles 16:4-5).
• He Was Brutally Honest: Asaph wasn’t afraid of the minor key. He wrote 12 Psalms (Psalm 50 and 73–83) that are distinct from David’s. While David often focused on personal deliverance, Asaph’s songs were communal, historical, and philosophical. He famously wrestled with “why the wicked prosper” in Psalm 73, showing us that doubt and hard questions have a valid place in our setlists.

4. The larger arc: A legacy that outlasted him

Asaph’s significance goes far beyond his own lifetime. He understood that true success isn’t just about the performance; it’s about succession.

• The “Sons of Asaph”: Asaph founded a guild of musicians known as the Sons of Asaph. He poured into the next generation, creating a team that continued to lead worship in the Temple for centuries.
• Survival Through Exile: When the Jews returned from Babylonian exile hundreds of years later, the “singers, sons of Asaph” were still a distinct group (Ezra 2:41). His family line preserved the musical traditions of Israel through its darkest destruction.
• The Theology of Worship: Asaph taught Israel that worship involves the mind as well as the heart. His psalms often recount Israel’s history (Psalm 78), warning the people not to repeat the sins of the past. He used music as a tool for national education and memory.

What does the Bible say about Asaph

Asaph’s appointment by David:

“David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals…22 Asaph was to sound the cymbals.”23

— 1 Chronicles 15:16, 1924

Asaph’s role as Prophet:

“King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer.”25

— 2 Chronicles 29:30

Asaph’s struggles

“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.26 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”27

— Psalm 73:2-328

You can read more about Asaph here.

1. Psalm 73: His masterpiece on doubt and the justice of God.²⁹
2. Psalm 50: A prophetic song where God speaks directly to the people about the futility of empty rituals.
3. Psalm 78: A massive history lesson set to music, teaching the next generation to trust God.

Asaph in another context: AI App for Worship Leaders

However though, since I am in the AI and worship space, and you found this blog, I assume you are too, Asaph in this case is an excellent tool for worship leaders – and we’ll dive into what Asaph.io is all about.

What is Asaph.io?

From a high level, Asaph.io is a tool to help worship leaders build set lists, get intel on the songs they are playing and to produce more meaningful – or at least, figure out the meaning or theme of the set list. It’s packed with data and graphs and charts.

Asaph has a few tools and they all play together. They are:

1. AI Worship Setlist Generator
2. Gap Analysis
3. Worship Song Feedback
4. Planning Center Extension

AI Worship Setlist Generator

What this tool does, is in the name. And I love such clarity. Worship leaders save hours by just plugging in a few data points like how many songs, the theme, or Bible verses, and then Asaph runs off and finds the perfect list of songs.

Each song comes with it’s own chart so you can tell the “vibe” and theme of the song. Then you can see the theme of the entire setlist. Is it sad, is it touching on Christmas? All great instant feedback for worship leaders. Perhaps helping them reconsider certain songs or being more intentional with their selction.

Data driven worship set lists. Love it.

Worship Song Analysis

We sort of touched on this in the previous paragraph but Asaph gives you data ASAP. Every song comes with various metrics like whether it is uplifting, building, or reflective. The energy level of the song. If you love this type of data to help validate your choices, it’s perfect.

Sidebar: When I was leading growth at a few AI companies, I’d say “If all we have is data, let’s go with data. If all we have is opinions, let’s go with mine.”

Worship Song Feedback

This is sort of an extension of the analysis. Deep dive into colourful charts and graphs. If you’d rather not read about how low-energy and depressing your Christmas setlist is, then graphs will quickly tell you that your fastest song is at 102 clicks. Perhaps rethink a song or two to trumpet the birth of Christ?

Asaph.io for Planning Center

No thanks. I already have Planing Center. Well actually, Asaph does not take away from Planning Center. Asaph is your helper for Planing Center. Think of Planning Center as your Android and Asaph is an app. It alleviates some of the pains worship leaders face while bringing new features into the flow of planning a setlist.

Who is Asaph for?

Asaph is for the entire worship team. Obviously, leaders and administrators are the ones providing the content like set lists and all of that, but teams can also use Asaph to rate songs and share feedback. It takes your boring Planning Center and adds some energy and instills some team communication throughout the week.

No matter the size of your church, Asaph works for you.

What about WorshipTeam.AI and Asaph?

WorshipTeam.ai is completely different from Asaph. We are like Planning Center (but an iPhone 😉 ). WorshipTeamAI is not an AI setlist generator, it’s something better. It’s a worship leader’s AI agent.

WorshipTeamAI and Asaph differ in many ways, but unify in the vision of helping worship leaders and shepherding AI in ethical and moral means into worship.

1. Generator vs Agent
   • Asaph is a worship setlist generator. It’s rigid and very limited. You fill in forms, you get data.
   • WorshipTeamAI has Nova – the AI agent who is conversational. No forms. Talk to nova and build set lists or edit, or research, or communicate, or whatever. Learn more about generator vs AI agent.
2. Add-on vs Full Product
   • Asaph requires planning center as it is, an app that requires a host.
   • WorshipTeamAI is all encompassing, though, you can connect Planning Center to your account and import all your songs automatically.
3. Community
   • Asaph does not have a broader community aspect for worship teams
   • WorshipTeamAI has a community aspect where worship teams from around the world can share thoughts, ideas, connect, and learn from each other. Think LinkedIn + Twitter for the worship community
4. Gigs
   • Asaph is not into the gig and volunteering space
   • WorshipTeamAI is like Upwork or Fiverr for worship musicians. Find and hire musicians in your zip code to fill in on your worship team. Because it’s like LinkedIn as well, you can vet a musician before connecting with them.
5. Find Talent
   • Asaph, Planning Center, WorshipTeam.com etc are siloed and closed off. Churches have no access to the teams of other churches.
   • WorshipTeamAI opens up the local musicians to churches. Search by skill and capabilities by Zipcode. Find talent.
6. Find Churches
   • Asaph is not a directory of churches
   • WorshipTeamAI is also a directory of churches just for worship teams. Find the near church, see who is on their team, connect, and perhaps get to know the church down the street. Find churches, check if they have open gigs, see their set lists. We hope to make our world more transparent and smaller.

In summary, there is no bad choice. There is only a choice that solves the problem you are facing. If you’d like to chat conversationally (soon with voice even) and go from 0 songs to a set lists scheduled and communication sent in minutes just by talking, then there is no other app other than WorshipTeam.ai

AI Assistants is the lay people’s term. Most use the term Agents. Nonetheless, whether you say Agents or Assistants, it really means an LLM trained on a specific task. It can and must be able to execute as well otherwise it’s just a listener. It must take action and automate a lot of the work you do.

So, with that, I’ll stick with AI Agents rather than Assistants. So, are there even AI Agents for worship leaders?

As of now, there is just one true AI agent for worship leaders. If you have to fill in a form, it’s not an agent.

So, what is an AI Agent?

AI agent is an autonomous software system that uses artificial intelligence to perceive its environment, make independent decisions, and execute complex, multi-step tasks to achieve a specific goal with minimal human intervention.
Unlike basic chatbots or traditional software that follow rigid, predefined rules. AI agents can think, learn, and operate on their own. They can be coached on a topic by uploading docs and you can give them the freedom of operating strictly within it’s uploaded knowledge base, or to browse the internet and find answers.

So – with that in mind. Is there a conversational AI agent for worship leaders where a leader can speak with an agent and then have it go and do stuff? Yes. Just the one.

Are there other apps with more AI infused intelligence, yes, there are quite of few of those, but those generally require you to fill in forms, do all the grunt work and then AI will manipulate and give you data.

Nova the Worship Planning AI Agent from Worship Team

Nova is the only worship planning AI agent right now. Everything about your team, their schedule and frequency settings, the instruments they play, your church, your entire set list history, is in Nova’s knowledge base accessible only to you and it can do almost anything you want.

Nova is a conversational AI agent that can save worship leaders hours each week. It took me about 2 – 3 minutes to research what songs were played recently, if a song was ever sung in the past, checked availability of all my team members, created the set list and sent invites out to the entire team.

Try Nova Here. Request a demo.

This is more of a feature of WorshipTeamAI, but Nova takes full advantage of – because WorshipTeamAI is also a community of worship musicians, some of whom are open to volunteering and helping the local church, Nova can search for vetted musicians in your zip code to help you fill in missing slots.

For example, if someone were searching for an electric guitarist in the 30102 zipcode, they might find me.

I have a home church, I have a demo reel, you get to see capabilities, removing any unnecessary awkwardness, other short form videos for a quick theology check, my rig, and also recommendations. Someone write a recommendation for me – for crying out loud. Hah.

By vetted – I mean, they must have a home church and also peers have written recommendations. At the very least, these are good signals before you message them.

Asaph

Asaph is a splendid worship planning tool. It also integrates with Planning Center. However Asaph’s role is to not be an AI agent. It does a lot of things really well but it’s mostly after the fact. By this I mean, you still do the old school search for songs, and build your set list and fill in forms.

Once you are done with that, AI will give you intel about the songs as far as themes etc. This is more of a sprinkles on the cake.

Nova however is the best chef you will know. It can make you the cake.

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.

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.