Artificial intelligence has officially entered the church, with the majority of pastors reporting using AI tools to prepare their sermons.
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According to data shared in the new 2025 State of AI in the Church Report by AiForChurchLeaders.com and Exponential AI NEXT, 61% of pastors report using AI weekly or daily. This is up from 43% who said the same in 2024.
Meanwhile, 26% of church leaders use the popular tool ChatGPT for a variety of tasks, including “preparing sermons, researching, and creating church communications,” The Christian Post reported.
Other tools are also widely used. 11% of church leaders use Grammarly to clean up email, blogs, and other church communications. 9% use Microsoft Co-Pilot. 8% use popular tools like Google Gemini.
So, while it is clear that there are concerns and concerns about the ethical and moral implications of AI, the data shows that pastors and church leaders are leaning toward using AI and finding ways to reduce the burden of various tools on the market.
“Overall, the survey shows that while the church is increasingly open to the potential for mission through artificial intelligence, it is still grappling with the significant ethical and practical considerations that come with it,” the report says. “Most churches seem to believe that while AI can be useful as a tool, it cannot replace human connection and spiritual discernment.”
Of course, when it comes to using AI, writing sermons can raise some eyebrows. It is important that the Christian message comes from the hearts of pastors and not from impersonal means.
The pastors surveyed seemed to understand this, and preachers expressed concerns about misinformation, theological accuracy, and other related issues.
However, leaders appear to be more willing to leverage these AI tools, with 87% willing to consider AI training and other related measures.
