60% of Pastors Are Now Using AI in Ministry as Concerns Mount Over Plagiarism, Authenticity, and Spiritual Authority

Why Are 60 Percent of Pastors Now Using AI in Ministry Despite Major Concerns?

A new Barna study reveals that around 60 percent of church leaders are now using artificial intelligence for personal use at least a few times a month, while only 24 percent say they never touch the technology. The findings come from Technology for Missional Impact: State of Church Tech 2026, produced in partnership with Pushpay.

Pastors primarily use AI as a creative and efficiency tool. The most common applications include generating or editing written materials, graphics, emails, social media posts, and in some cases, sermons themselves.

When church leaders do adopt AI, they primarily use it as a tool to support creativity and efficiency. The most common use cases involve generating or editing written materials, graphics, emails, social media posts, and, in some cases, sermons. This aligns with church leaders' general approach to technology as a communication aid.

That statement came from the Barna report itself. The findings follow last December's 2025 State of AI in the Church Survey Report, which highlighted that a majority of pastors already use AI to prepare sermons, with ChatGPT and Grammarly ranking as the top two tools.

However, concerns remain widespread. About 51 percent of church leaders said they were very concerned about plagiarism and compromised message integrity, while another 30 percent said they were somewhat concerned. Nearly half, 49 percent, said they were very concerned about losing the authenticity of their preaching and teaching. A staggering 83 percent expressed concern about data privacy.

How Pastors Are Quietly Adopting Artificial Intelligence in the Pulpit

Despite the personal adoption, most pastors said they have not yet incorporated AI into their official ministry or operations. Some 58 percent of church leaders said their church was not using AI as far as they knew, while 33 percent said their church is using AI in some capacity. Another 8 percent said they were unsure.

Last month, Barna's State of the Church initiative, produced with Gloo, found that about a third of practicing American Christians said the spiritual advice they get from AI is just as good as that from a pastor. Practicing Christians were more likely to agree with this notion than non practicing Christians and non Christians.

Church leaders in the Barna Pushpay study expressed alarm about AI's broader impact on American spirituality. While only a few pastors expressed concern that AI would replace them outright, some 65 percent worry that AI could displace their spiritual guidance. Another 70 percent worry that the technology could diminish congregants' trust in them.

Yet only 5 percent of churches currently have an established AI policy, revealing a significant gap between leaders' sense of responsibility and their organizational readiness.

The Crusader's Opinion

Let us be blunt. ChatGPT cannot lay hands on the sick. ChatGPT cannot weep with the grieving widow at 3 AM. ChatGPT cannot break bread or baptize a soul into the Body of Christ. The pastorate is not a content production job, and the moment we treat it like one, we have already surrendered the altar to the algorithm. If a third of practicing Christians think a chatbot gives spiritual counsel equal to a shepherd, the problem is not the machine, it is the shepherds. Preach the Word in season and out of season. Know your sheep by name. No silicon can replace the cross.

Take Action

• Support pastoral ministry and persecuted shepherds at www.TheShepherdsShield.org
• Read the full Barna report on church technology at www.barna.com and discuss it with your pastor
• Ask your church leadership directly: Does our church have a written AI policy? If not, encourage them to draft one
• Pray daily for your pastor by name. Send an encouraging note this week
• Support persecuted Christians worldwide through Voice of the Martyrs at www.persecution.com
• Read Scripture before you read a screen. Start your day in 2 Timothy 4:1 to 5