More churches across the U.S. are embracing the usage of Artificial Intelligence of their ministries, but pastors have stopped wanting using the technology to arrange their sermons, data from the State of the Church Tech 2025 report shows.
The report, created by Pushpay, a number one payments and engagement solutions provider for the faith-based and nonprofit sectors, was done in partnership with Engiven and Checkr. The data for the report was collected in February from about 8,000 church leaders.
According to the report, the usage of AI has increased by 80% across all ministries in churches, but just for specific tasks.
“While adoption (of AI) has increased, leaders remain reluctant to depend on AI for pastoral content. Last yr’s report revealed that lower than one quarter of AI users applied the tool for developing devotionals, sermons, or ideas for pastoral care; that pattern still holds true today,” researchers note. “The overwhelming majority of AI use cases revolve around content generation and editing of communication materials like emails, imagery, and social media posts.”
While they mostly leverage AI to reinforce operational efficiency, the research shows that church leaders overwhelmingly used AI to satisfy their communication needs.
“These patterns aren’t necessarily surprising. Those called to guide within the Church — a lot of whom began serving long before AI rose to prominence — pursued their vocation out of [a] desire to guide through the Holy Spirit. As such, AI’s role in spiritual leadership remains to be being approached with trepidation,” the researchers explain. “But, once the message is able to be shared, leaders are making the most of this next-gen tool to spread that message widely and swiftly.”
The findings of the State of the Church Tech 2025 report on AI use come a few month after Gloo, a number one technology platform connecting the religion ecosystem, announced that Pat Gelsinger, the previous CEO of multinational technology company Intel, expanded his role on the firm from investor and chairman to executive chairman and head of technology, with a plan to shape technology, particularly AI, toward positive endeavors.
Gloo noted that the religion ecosystem within the U.S., which spans roughly 450,000 churches, faith networks and nonprofits, had been slow to adopt digital technology.
Gelsinger identified the slow response of the religion community to become involved with consumer social web platforms which “has not been a positive for society,” and argued that he didn’t need to repeat that mistake with rapidly advancing AI.
“In this case, that is where we’re going, the flexibility to shape AI as a force for good is big. Being capable of truly be where faith and technology come together, be an influence for the way the church can make the most of the most recent technology but achieve this in shaping AI as a force for good,” he said.
Among other findings, the State of the Church Tech 2025 report also found that a major share of church leaders, 86%, agree that technology increases connection of their community.
“This yr’s State of Church Tech report offers greater than just statistics and data — it’s a window into the evolving mindset of church leaders,” Kenny Wyatt, Pushpay’s CEO, said in a statement on the report. “We see overwhelming consensus that technology plays a critical role in ministry, and I’m encouraged by the best way churches are approaching it. More and more leaders view these tools as an avenue to reinforce, not replace, the human relationships which might be so central to the Church.”
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