By Chris Moon
AI is coming to the church.
Artificial intelligence has been making waves for months. Since the launch last fall of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot now widely used by the public, discussions about the effects of AI have become commonplace.
Some laud the potential of artificial intelligence to make life easier for everyone. Some fear how AI could be misused.
But like it or not, it’s here—and one company is looking to bring it to the church.
Michael Whittle is a California entrepreneur and lay pastor who is the founder of Pulpit AI, a soon-to-be-released platform designed to help pastors make the most of their weekly sermons.
“Our ultimate goal is to serve the vision of the pastor,” Whittle told Christian Standard. “Our desire is to serve local churches.”
Surveys show the younger generations—Millennials and Gen Zers—believe online relationships and interactions are just as meaningful as in-person ones, Whittle said.
As such, pastors should have a “digital signal” extending to their congregations throughout the week—and not just on Sundays.
Of course, there’s a “world of Christian content creators” out there who can fill that void, Whittle said. Pulpit AI seeks to help the best of those reach the church.
“To us, that’s pastors,” Whittle said.
GETTING PAST THE BLANK PAGE
To use Pulpit AI, pastors will upload audio or video recordings of their sermons to the platform.
From a sermon, Pulpit AI can produce a wide range of outputs—from quotes and highlights to Scripture references to discussion questions for small groups, Whittle said. A pastor can use the platform’s chatbox to prompt specific results.
For instance, a pastor may want at 500-word blog post based on the sermon. Or he may want an email or text message he can send to his church. Or he may want a short devotional or an Instagram or Twitter post related to the sermon.
The platform even can target specific age groups. A pastor, for instance, can ask Pulpit AI to retell a Bible story in a way a 6-year-old would understand, Whittle said.
“It should help them, at a minimum, to get past the blank page,” he said.
At its best, Pulpit AI will get the pastor to within a few small edits of a finished product. Whittle said the finished product will be “AI-generated” but “human perfected.”
“It’s not perfect, but it’s helping you get there,” Whittle said.
FOCUSED ON SMALL CHURCHES
Pulpit AI is being tested right now with about 10 churches, Whittle said. More test sites will be added soon. The finished platform will be rolled out to the public in the next 90 days.
Whittle said 1,000 people are on a waiting list to use it.
He said he’s still working to nail down the cost, but he wants it to be affordable to small church pastors in the form of a monthly or yearly subscription fee.
“Our biggest passion behind it is really small- to medium-sized local churches,” he said.
Small churches typically are led by solo pastors without big media teams. Those pastors spend hours each week on their sermons. They may upload them to YouTube or a social media platform.
Pulpit AI, Whittle said, will help those pastors to do more with their sermons.
“I want to level the playing field for them,” he said.
A ‘REVOLUTIONARY’ TIME
Whittle said he understands the fears some may have about the advent of AI and its implications for society and the church.
“I think we are in the most important time, the most revolutionary time, we’ve been in since the mobile phone,” he said.
Whittle said some people certainly will seek to use AI for evil, but the church needs to use it for good. Churches and denominations will have to make decisions about how to do that.
Whittle said a Baptist pastor once told him about the “menial task” of culling discussion questions from his weekly sermons. A church staff member was assigned that job. Still, the pastor said, “that is work unto the Lord, and I don’t want to digitize that.”
Whittle said he understands that argument, but he doesn’t agree with it.
“I think every pastor and church movement and staff has to wrap their heads around it,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This is a news article about Pulpit AI, not an endorsement of the platform, which is still under development.
Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colorado.
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