Church AI Toolkit
Church AI Toolkit is a free, ecumenical collection of practical and theological resources for clergy, chaplains, and other pastoral caregivers navigating the growing impact of artificial intelligence on ministry. It focuses especially on the pastoral questions emerging alongside AI: relationships with chatbots, fraud and deepfakes, changing work and vocation, loneliness and isolation, questions of authenticity, and the ethical use of AI within church life.
The toolkit was developed by an ecumenical group of clergy, chaplains, theologians, technology practitioners, and ministry innovators from Anglican/Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian traditions.
Resources are organized around three situations ministry leaders may encounter:
First Response – “I’m facing a situation right now.” A pastoral triage guide helps clergy assess situations involving AI, including questions of immediate safety and different levels of pastoral response. The aim is to help caregivers determine whether a situation calls for conversation and discernment, greater intervention, or protective action.
Clergy Formation – “I want to be ready.” Self-reflection inventories, theological resources, and workshop materials help leaders develop greater fluency around AI before a difficult pastoral situation arises. This section also encourages reflection on ministers' own hopes, fears, assumptions, and practices around AI.
Organizational Preparation – “My congregation needs to decide.” Values exercises and sample policies help congregations discuss how AI might appropriately be used—and where communities may wish to establish boundaries.
The toolkit approaches AI primarily as a pastoral and discernment issue rather than simply a question of learning new technology. It encourages ministry leaders to consider how familiar pastoral concerns such as grief, fear, loneliness, vocation, trust, human dignity, and the search for meaning may take new forms as AI becomes part of everyday life.
It also addresses ministry leaders' own use of AI, including questions surrounding sermon preparation and composition, transparency, ethics, and the possibility of AI-based pastoral care tools. Throughout the resource, leaders are encouraged to develop enough understanding of the technology to discuss these issues openly and respond thoughtfully when they arise in congregational and pastoral settings.