AI and the Church: The Church’s Role in Shaping the Age of AI

The church has always had a unique place in moments of change. But we historically have been slower to the table with modern technology.

When electricity showed up, people feared what they did not understand. Some went to the point and said that electricity was “demons in the walls”.

Electric guitars created tension in worship spaces. And when the internet launched, some believers looked at three W’s and assumed it had to mean something evil because it knew too much and was globally connected.

Here is the pattern. When something shows up that looks powerful and beyond normal human ability, fear kicks in. We know that only God is all knowing and all powerful. But when we see something else operating at scale, moving fast, processing information beyond us, it creates tension. Even so, we quickly adapt. Now we stream services, tithe online, and use the very platforms we once questioned. Electric instruments are used in essentially every worship service!

AI fits that pattern, but the scale is different. It combines electricity, the internet, and advanced computing into one evolving system. In just a few years, it has already reshaped entire industries. This may be the most powerful invention humanity has ever created. That should not make us afraid. But it should wake us up and cause us to be on both offense and defense.

AI presents real threats and real opportunities at the same time. It can displace jobs, concentrate power, distort truth, automate harm, and influence behavior in ways we are only beginning to understand. At the same time, it can accelerate research, improve medicine, expand education, and help us advance the gospel at scale.

That tension is heavy. But like fire… it can burn a house down. Or it can also keep a family alive. The issue is not pretending the fire is harmless. The issue is whether the church is positioning itself to understand, so we can govern it.

AI is quickly becoming general technology just like electricity, the internet, and cell phones. As crazy and out of the box as it may sound,our children and their children will live and work among robots. They will live in a truly AI assisted society.

Like it, love it, Hate it… We have a choice about how we choose to engage now!

We cannot be hypocritical. We cannot use AI when it is convenient and condemn it when it stretches us. If we use streaming platforms, smart assistants, or social media algorithms, we are already interacting with it. So the real decision is not whether AI exists. The real decision is whether it will happen to us or whether we will engage and govern it with clarity. In all of our getting, we have to get understanding.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. That means we think clearly. We move wisely. We do not panic. And we do not ignore what is in front of us.

As a pastor, an IT engineer, and a business owner, I sit in this tension every day. I am forced to wrestle with this and it feels heavy and lonely. I am not trying to advocate for technology, and I am not trying to stand against it either. I am simply saying the church has always shown up when things were hard. We are positioned to stand for righteousness. In Proverbs it teaches us that righteousness lifts a nation, and when wrong drives a people, it pulls them down over time. AI is becoming part of the systems that shape nations. It influences economies, education, communication, and power structures. If righteousness lifts a nation, then righteousness has to be present in the systems shaping that nation. If the church does not help shape ethical AI, who will?

Barna has released new State of the Church data, and the landscape is shifting. Nearly one in three adults in the U.S. say they would trust spiritual advice from AI as much as advice from a pastor. Among younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials), that number is even higher: two in five. The church has to be informed, develop a plan and implement strategies that put spiritual leaders at the helm in order to shape this for our children’s children.

If we are not at the table, the only guiding principles left will be financial gain and power because that is where humanity naturally drifts without a Christ centered anchor. I have chosen to step into the conversation through partnerships with Gloo AI, which is purpose-built for people of faith. The question my team and I keep asking is simple. How do we safely and ethically use this technology to advance the gospel and human flourishing? There’s no easy answer, but we have to relentlessly and tirelessly seek it out, especially as AI advances.

The urgency is obvious. AI is here. Now pastors, theologians, technologists, and ethical thinkers at the same table. We need to lead from a biblical foundation. And if we fail to engage with clarity and courage, AI will shape our communities without our voice.

Troy Evans works at the intersection of technology and urban ministry, with more than 25 years of experience helping leaders create meaningful change. He is the founder of SimpleNow, a bi-vocational IT engineer and church planter who has launched four urban churches and helped organizations integrate AI and technology in practical ways.