Most pastors are using AI, but some fear it will replace teaching.

Written by Leonard BlairSenior Reporter Monday, April 6, 2026

While the majority of pastors have personally benefited from the use of artificial intelligence, others are troubled by a number of concerns about its impact on ministry, including replacing pastoral spiritual leadership and eroding congregational trust, a new study finds.

in Technology Impacting Mission: The State of Church Technology in 2026, The report, produced by Barna in partnership with Pushpay, found that nearly 60% of church leaders reported using AI for personal purposes at least several times a month, while only 24% said they never used the technology.

“When church leaders deploy AI, they primarily use it as a tool to support creativity and efficiency. The most common use cases include generating or editing documents, graphics, emails, social media posts, and, in some cases, sermons,” the report states. “This is consistent with church leaders’ general approach to technology as a communication aid.”

The new report’s findings come just months after researchers highlighted in December’s 2025 State of AI in the Church report that the majority of pastors are using AI to prepare sermons, with ChatGPT and Grammarly being the top two AI tools.

Barna and Pushpay’s latest survey highlights the practical and pastoral concerns church leaders have regarding the use of AI in ministry, including plagiarism.

About 51% of church leaders said they were “very concerned” about plagiarism and “compromising the integrity of the message,” and another 30% said they were “somewhat concerned.” Nearly half, 49%, said they were “very concerned” about the credibility of their preaching and teachings being undermined, and 83% said they were “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about data privacy.

Despite this finding, most pastors reported that they have not yet incorporated AI into their ministry or activities. Approximately 58% of church leaders said their church does not use AI to their knowledge, and 33% said their church uses AI in some way. A further 8% said they were unsure.

Just last month, Barna’s State of the Church initiative, created in partnership with Grow, found that about one-third of practicing Christians in the United States say the spiritual advice they get from AI is as good as advice from their pastors, and that practicing Christians are more likely to agree with this idea than non-practicing Christians or non-Christians.

Church leaders who participated in Barna and Pushpei’s study expressed concerns about the impact of AI on American spirituality. Although a minority of pastors expressed concern about AI replacing them completely, approximately 65% ​​are concerned that AI could replace their spiritual guidance. Additionally, 70% are concerned that this technology could erode the trust of their congregations.

“Clear guidance could help address these tensions. Most church leaders believe it is important for churches to establish policies governing the use of AI (24% very much, 40% somewhat),” the researchers noted.

“However, few churches have taken this step. Only 5% of church leaders say their church currently has an AI policy in place. This reveals a significant gap between leadership commitment and organizational readiness.”

But despite the caution, about 79% of church leaders reported in the survey that technology has significantly or moderately improved connections among their congregations. A majority of church leaders (61%) also believe that technology is helping their congregations deepen their faith.

“When it comes to fostering believers’ connections with God and with each other, church leaders view digital tools as supplementary rather than essential,” the researchers said. “Still, as mentioned earlier, the operational benefits are clear: 78% say technology has made their missionary work at least somewhat easier.”