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Churches Embrace Digital Tools as AI Reshapes Ministry Landscape

Protestant churches are seeing rapid technology growth, marking a transformative shift in ministry operations. “The rapid development and expansive availability of digital tools can make it overwhelming for leaders to know which tools they can trust to best support their ministry,” said Brad Hill, chief solutions officer for Gloo.

As religious institutions consider AI’s ethical implications, technology trends and how both church leaders and attendees think about and engage digital tools for ministry and personal development is the theme of the latest installment of the State of the Church initiative from Gloo and Barna Group. Among the key insights:

• Forty-three percent of Christians and churchgoers say that they want to hear from their pastor about how to use AI wisely.

• A majority of U.S. adults, including Christians, say churches could benefit from doing more with technology, such as using tech for online giving and donations (75 percent), creating a digital resource hub (74 percent) and using digital communications strategies (68 percent).

• Although digital resources are ubiquitous, the majority of pastors lean more on scripture (85 percent), peer insights (79 percent) and books and printed resources (79 percent) vs. learning from the internet to help inform their ministry leadership.

• Being part of a faith community may reinforce the importance of in-person relationships, even for young people. Seven in 10 practicing Christian Gen Z strongly agree that in-person relationships are more valuable than digital relationships.

Gen Z embraces AI, though they are torn on whether AI is useful in building community (17 percent) or hurting community (15 percent).

“Many church leaders may not realize how much their people welcome digital tools, especially when used thoughtfully in ministry,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. The new AI tools continue to evolve, as congregations seek to balance traditional practices with modern innovations.

–Dwight Widaman

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