The Church and AI: The Next Evangelism Frontier

What is the connection between the Church and AI? Can the church use AI? This post will answer these questions and several others that you may have in mind.

Artificial Intelligence is almost in every discussion these days. While it is becoming acceptable in most aspects of our lives, the church still has a few concerns. Should we use AI to propagate the gospel? Are there any benefits of using AI to the church? 

Whether we like it or not, using AI presents the church with an array of benefits, especially when it comes to evangelism. In this post, we will discuss how AI can be the next evangelism frontier for the church. 

Explaining AI 

A good place to begin this discussion is to define AI. It is an acronym for Artificial Intelligence and it refers to the ability that machines and computers have to think. Learn, and carry out tasks like humans. 

Through certain algorithms, computers and software programs gather information from collected data. With such information, they can make decisions, produce content, and handle tasks like humans do. Some of the most popular artificial intelligence apps used these days include Siri, Alexa, and ChatGPT.  

Should the Church Use AI for Evangelism? 

Evangelism, in the Christian faith, is simply spreading the gospel of Christ. It was one of the last commands that Jesus Christ gave His disciples before ascending to heaven. Over the years, technology has presented us with an array of ways to spread the good news to different people beyond the four walls of our local churches. Through the internet, we can reach out to people on different continents as well as those who may never step into physical churches. 

With the arrival of AI on the scene, the church is presented with a new question. Should the church use AI for evangelism? Truth be told, a lot of care needs to be taken in this regard, especially in terms of ethical considerations.  

If a church is going to employ AI for its evangelism processes, then it is expedient that it approaches this model with caution. While it is a great idea with several amazing benefits, the church must consider the autonomy and privacy of its audience. Also, it must avoid adopting strategies that come across as manipulative or invasive. 

How to Use Artificial Intelligence for Evangelism 

There are indeed several concerns regarding using artificial intelligence, especially for evangelical purposes. However, with its immense benefits, there are several ways the church can use it for evangelism that are ethical, healthy, and won’t water down the gospel. In this section, we will show you four ways the church can use AI for evangelism healthily and ethically: 

Developing social media content ideas 

It is no longer a debate that social media is one of the most important gifts technology has given us in the twenty-first century. Many people scroll through social media for long periods daily. Churches understand this and are beginning to take advantage of these platforms to reach out to wider audiences than just their congregants. 

If your church has been struggling with creating social media content, you can seize the opportunity that AI presents. With artificial intelligence, you can come up with social media content ideas for different audiences and platforms. By doing this, your church can increase its reach and improve weekly and daily engagements. AI can also help you with designs for your social media posts.

Repurposing sermons 

Not everyone is going to attend your services or listen to your sermons when you put them up on YouTube. We are in an age where the human attention span has dropped drastically. Because of this, many people want to spend very little time reading, listening to, or watching content. 

It might be quite challenging to reduce 50- or 60-minute-long sermons for a human. However, with AI, you can do so successfully and recraft the content for several purposes. You can also use artificial intelligence to convert sermons into text for your blogs or to create social media posts. The opportunities are endless. 

Developing blog article ideas

If your church has a functional website, then one way you can increase engagement is through blog posts. Where the challenge arises is that churning out blog posts every few days may be cumbersome and time-consuming. However, you can use AI to get ideas for your blog posts. 

Don’t use AI to write your blog articles as this is not ethical. Instead, use the right prompts to get ideas for your articles as well as article outlines. You can then research these ideas to come up with unique articles to boost engagement. 

Generating images 

Images help to improve the quality of our online communication. With the right images, you can boost engagements on social media and blog posts. Images are also important when creating fliers for online and offline purposes. 

If you have been struggling with finding images to suit your purposes, we have some good news for you. With AI, you can create original images within seconds, and without any specialized skills. Through this, you save cost and effort while delivering the value that you need to take your evangelism to the next level. 

Conclusion 

Is AI the next evangelism frontier for the church? If properly used, artificial intelligence can be a formidable ally to help the church reach wider audiences across the globe. This post has shown you four ways to use AI for evangelical purposes at your church. Do you have any others? Kindly share them with us in the comments section. Meanwhile, visit GodKulture to learn more and access other helpful gospel resources for leaders.