1Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish clear, God-honoring guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the ministries of Your Church.

We adopt AI deliberately, as faithful stewards, to extend our capacity for ministry while safeguarding the things that only people made in God's image can do: preach, shepherd, pray, and love. This policy defines what AI may be used for, what it may never be used for, and how we remain accountable to God, to one another, and to those we serve.

2Biblical and Theological Grounding

We affirm that every human being is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) with intrinsic worth, dignity, and moral agency that no technology can hold or replicate.

We affirm that artificial intelligence is a product of human ingenuity and a gift to be stewarded (Genesis 1:28). It is not a moral agent, it cannot worship, and it carries no spiritual authority.

We deny that we may transfer our accountability before God to any tool we use. The proclamation of God's Word and the care of His people are entrusted to people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and supported by Scripture (Colossians 1:15-17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Therefore we will use AI as a servant of ministry and never as a substitute for the calling God has placed on His church.

AI-generated content is weighed in light of Scripture, your church's confession or statement of faith, pastoral wisdom, and leadership oversight. AI may assist ministry work, but it may not function as a pastor, elder, counselor, teacher, or doctrinal authority.

3Scope and Who It Applies To

This policy applies to all who act on behalf of Your Church: pastors and elders, paid staff, contractors, interns, and volunteers in every ministry.

It governs the use of any AI tool, whether provided by the church or personally owned, when used for church work. It applies to church-licensed accounts and to personal accounts when those are used for ministry purposes.

4Guiding Principles

• Stewardship, not dependence. We use AI to enhance ministry, never to replace the people God has called to do it.
• Truth and accuracy. AI may inform our work but never determines what we teach as true. All theological content is verified against Scripture by a qualified person.
• Transparency. We will not use AI to deceive. People will know when they are interacting with AI, or with AI-assisted content, where it could otherwise mislead.
• Confidentiality. We protect the sacred trust of member, donor, prayer, and counseling information.
• Human accountability. A named person is responsible for every AI-assisted output. AI is never the final decision-maker in matters affecting people.

5Approved Uses

The following uses are generally approved, subject to human review before anything is published, sent, or taught:

• Administrative support: scheduling, drafting routine emails, meeting notes, and summarizing non-confidential documents.
• Research and study aids: gathering background and locating sources, always verified against Scripture and trusted references.
• Communications and design: first drafts of newsletters, bulletins, and social posts, plus graphics, captions, and transcripts.
• Sermon and teaching support: brainstorming, outlining, and illustration ideas, never composition of the message itself (see Section 8).
• Operations: analysis of non-sensitive data, IT support, and accessibility tools.

Approved use does not mean automatic publishing. Staff and volunteers remain responsible for reviewing AI-assisted content before it is used.

6Uses Requiring Review

The following uses require approval from a designated reviewer with pastoral oversight before use:

• Any tool that will process sensitive information, including member records, donor or giving data, counseling or benevolence notes, health information, or any information about minors.
• AI used in hiring, volunteer screening, performance review, or benevolence decisions. A person, not an algorithm, makes the final decision.
• Public-facing AI on sensitive or pastoral topics, such as a website chatbot answering questions about grief, crisis, or doctrine.
• Adoption of any new AI tool that is not already on the church's approved-tools list (see Section 16).

7Prohibited Uses

The following uses are prohibited:

• Entering confidential or sensitive information, including member records, giving history, counseling or benevolence notes, prayer requests, personnel matters, or any information identifying a minor, into any public or consumer AI tool, or into any tool without a written guarantee that data will not be used to train models or be made accessible to others.
• Using AI to write sermons, prayers, or pastoral communications in a way that passes AI-generated work off as the personal words of a pastor or staff member.
• Generating or distributing AI-created audio, video, or images that depict a real person saying or doing something they did not, or that misrepresent a real event.
• Using AI to score, rank, profile, or surveil members based on behavior, giving, or attendance.
• Treating AI output as doctrinally or spiritually authoritative, or substituting AI for confession, counseling, spiritual direction, or pastoral care.
• Generating any sexual, exploitative, or abusive content. AI-generated indecent imagery of a minor is illegal and triggers mandatory reporting to law enforcement.

8Sermon and Teaching Safeguards

Preaching and teaching are Spirit-empowered acts of worship and shepherding. AI may assist the preparation of sermons and lessons, but it may never produce them.

The gospel is proclaimed by people whom God has called and the Spirit empowers. AI may support that preparation, but it cannot do the spiritual work entrusted to the preacher.

Permitted:

• Background research and historical context.
• Locating cross-references and surfacing illustration ideas.
• Checking a draft for clarity.

Not permitted:

• Generating the sermon manuscript or outline as the substance of the message.
• Writing the pastoral prayer.
• Fabricating personal stories, testimonies, or illustrations presented as the preacher's own experience.

Doctrinal review: any teaching content that AI helped produce is reviewed against Scripture by a person qualified to teach before it is delivered. AI is known to fabricate Bible verses and misattribute quotes, so no reference or quotation from AI is used without independent verification.

Where leaders are undecided, this draft follows the common pastoral consensus: AI may support research, but the message itself is studied, written, and prayed over by the preacher.

Human authorship: the one who delivers the message is its author, having wrestled with the text in study and prayer.

9Children's and Youth Ministry Safeguards

Because we hold a sacred duty to protect children:

• No information identifying a minor, including name, photo, voice, contact, location, or personal details, may be entered into any public or general AI tool.
• We obtain parental consent before collecting or using a minor's information, including any AI processing, and we honor requests to review or delete it.
• We never use AI to generate or alter the likeness of a minor, and AI companion chatbots are never used by minors unsupervised in our programs.
• All AI use involving youth ministry is supervised, disclosed, and human-reviewed. Standard adult-minor communication boundaries apply to AI-mediated communication as well.

10Pastoral Care and Counseling Confidentiality

The care of souls is entrusted to people, not machines. AI is never used to conduct pastoral counseling, and the content of pastoral conversations, confessions, and counseling sessions is never entered into any AI tool.

AI may not substitute for the ministry of presence. Any AI-assisted resource offered to those in crisis must make clear that it is not a substitute for speaking with a pastor.

11Member and Donor Data Privacy

We treat member and donor information as a sacred trust. Donor names and giving history, member records, and personal information are never entered into public or consumer AI tools.

We process church-held personal data with an AI tool only when the provider gives written assurance, in an enterprise agreement, that our data will not be used to train its models or be made accessible to others, and we require church-licensed enterprise accounts, never personal consumer accounts, for any such work.

12Communications and Social Media

AI-assisted communications, including newsletters, posts, captions, and graphics, are permitted with human review before publishing. The church's voice and theology must be preserved, and all output is checked for accuracy, tone, and doctrinal soundness.

Where AI content could reasonably be mistaken for a real photograph, a real quote, or the personal words of a leader, it is labeled or attributed.

13AI-Generated Imagery, Deepfakes, and Authenticity

We will not use AI to deceive. AI-generated images used in church communications are labeled as AI-generated where they could be mistaken for real photographs.

We never create synthetic audio or video of a real person, and we never depict events that did not occur. Protecting the congregation's ability to trust that the leader who is speaking is really that leader is a core commitment of this church.

14Disclosure and Transparency to the Congregation

We will be open with our congregation about how we use AI. Your Church uses AI tools to assist with research, administration, and communications. All ministry communications and teaching are reviewed and approved by a pastor or staff member before they reach the congregation.

We do not use AI to write sermons or to replace pastoral care, and questions about our use of AI are always welcome.

15Staff and Volunteer Responsibilities

Anyone using AI for church-related work is responsible for the following:

• Reviewing output before use.
• Checking facts, quotes, and Scripture references.
• Maintaining confidentiality.
• Avoiding overreliance on AI.
• Following this policy and seeking review for restricted categories.
• Reporting concerns to ministry leadership.

16Approved Tools and Tool Vetting

Only tools on the church's approved-tools list may be used for church work involving non-public information.

Before a new tool is approved, a designated reviewer with pastoral oversight reviews:

• The provider's terms of service and data-ownership terms.
• Whether the provider trains on or retains our data, and whether we can opt out.
• Security posture, including encryption and recognized certifications where applicable.
• Data retention and residency, and cost.

17Training

Everyone who uses AI for church work completes basic training on this policy, on safe and effective use, and on how to spot AI errors and hallucinations, before using AI in their role and at least once a year afterward.

18Accountability and Oversight

Your Church designates a designated owner with pastoral oversight, responsible for this policy. AI adoption is a leadership decision, not a technical one.

Violations are addressed through the church's standard staff and volunteer accountability process. Leadership periodically reviews AI-assisted outputs to confirm accuracy, truthfulness, and compliance.

19Review and Updates

This is a living document. a designated reviewer with pastoral oversight reviews this policy at least twice per year, and sooner when AI tools, ministry practices, or applicable laws change significantly.

Selected posture: Balanced. AI may support ministry work within clear boundaries, with review triggers and privacy safeguards.

20Definitions

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): computer systems that perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence.
• Generative AI: AI that creates new text, images, audio, or video, such as ChatGPT.
• Large Language Model (LLM): the kind of AI behind most text tools, trained to predict and produce language.
• Hallucination: when an AI tool produces false information, including fabricated Bible verses or misattributed quotes, that appears credible.
• Deepfake: synthetic audio, image, or video that depicts a real person saying or doing something they did not.
• Sensitive information: member, donor, counseling, health, personnel, or minor data that must be protected.
• Enterprise vs. consumer account: an enterprise account carries contractual data protections a personal consumer account does not.
• Human-in-the-loop: a person reviews and approves AI output before it is used.

21Adoption and Acknowledgment

Adopted by Your Church on June 25, 2026. Version 1.0 (draft for review). Approving body: church leadership.

Staff and volunteers who use AI for church work acknowledge that they have read this policy and agree to abide by it. A signature block for formal adoption appears at the end of this document.

22Foundations and Further Reading

This draft draws on widely recognized Christian and governance frameworks that your leaders may wish to consult:

• The ERLC Evangelical Statement of Principles on Artificial Intelligence (2019).
• Barna, AI and the Church (2025), on adopting AI as faithful stewardship.
• The NIST AI Risk Management Framework, for governance, review, and oversight practice.