AI and Church Planting: A few Quick Thoughts

Can AI inform church planting strategy in the future?

Photo by Terren Hurst on Unsplash

A few weeks ago, I received two excellent questions from a friend (Chris). They are worth discussing, so with that in mind, let’s explore the first:

Hi Dave, Can you see AI informing church-planting strategy in the future? Imagine the ability to triangulate demographic data with geospatial location of churches and an analysis of the 'offer' on church websites in that area.

The short answer, I think, is this: in some ways, yes. In other ways, no.

For the sake of clarity, I like to think of church planting as a two-phase process: let’s call them preparation and implementation. Both will necessarily be informed in different ways by artificial intelligence.

During the preparation phase, AI-driven data analysis could do precisely what Chris suggests; it could triangulate demographic data with the geospatial location of churches and use text mining processes to analyze the ‘offer’ on church websites in that area. More broadly, churches could analyze text data from social media, surveys and forums in the area and gain a powerful insight into the community’s felt needs.

Using predictive analytics, artificial intelligence could help a church planting team to assess general historical data on metrics like attendance, engagement, and demographics to forecast when a church should launch, allocate necessary resources, and identify possible opportunities for connection.

However, I appreciate that the keyword Chris used was inform rather than direct. The understandable temptation might be to allow AI to dictate or lead us toward where it is most practical to plant a church, but we must go where God leads us and do what God calls us to, even if it does not correlate with the data.

For example, in Acts 16, we see that Paul made a strategic, data-driven (and painful) decision to reach people for Jesus with Timothy in Lystra and Iconium—namely, he recognizes a robust Jewish community and hence decides to circumcise his protege in order to be more effective in their message (Acts 16:3)! Yet, just a few verses later, as they travel through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they sense the Holy Spirit forbidding them to speak the word in Asia (Acts 16:6). Longenecker rightfully describes Paul’s missionary journeys as “an extraordinary combination of strategic planning and sensitivity to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in working out the details of the main goals.”¹

For the sake of brevity, we’ll avoid delving into the numerous other examples, but what we see here in preparation for church planting is calm-headed, data-informed decision-making and absolute commitment to following the ultimate guidance of the Spirit.

Artificial intelligence is only helpful in one of these areas and practically useless if it usurps the role of the Spirit.

And by the way, if AI tells you to circumcise one of your staff members, you probably shouldn’t.

During the implementation phase, a church plant should strive to be missional in nature if it is to be fruitful. But what does a mission-minded church look like? In his classic book Center Church, the late Tim Keller describes six marks of a missional church:

1. The church must confront society’s idols.

2. The church must contextualize skillfully and communicate in the vernacular.

3. The church must equip people in mission in every area of their lives.

4. The church must be a counterculture for the common good.

5. The church must itself be contextualized and should expect nonbelievers, inquirers, and seekers to be involved in most aspects of the church’s life and ministry.

6. The church must practice unity.²

AI can provide helpful assistance in many of these areas. It can help to identify a community’s idols through the previously mentioned data analysis. It could provide support in contextualization and communication in the vernacular, helping first to recognize the context and aid in areas like graphic design, advertising, and editing written content. AI-driven training can also help equip believers for mission, evangelism, and language interpretation for multicultural areas, all of which inform how one might approach church planting. Indeed, church-planting pastors may find that the productivity boosts gained through AI enable them to focus more on outreach and less on general administration than was previously possible.

However, as I wrote in Guidelines for Church Leadership in an Increasingly AI-driven World, I believe that one of the seven imperatives for church leaders will be to prioritize relationship, community, and pastoral care. Here’s a snippet:

As AI becomes increasingly prominent, I propose that the sort of church leadership model where the pastor’s role may better resemble that of a CEO rather than a shepherd will become increasingly redundant. Instead, the need for relationship, community, and pastoral care will become paramount. Indeed, the Church may see a resurgence in pastoral visitations as the congregation thirsts for meaningful connection. Such relationships will provide much-needed stability in an environment that feels increasingly unstable, and can never truly be replaced by machine learning.

With this in mind, I wonder if the negative social consequences that have come by way of social media (and will be exacerbated by AI) will mean that church planting strategies during the implementation phase will be more effective without artificial intelligence rather than with it. Church plants that prioritize human connection and personal relationships over performance and entertainment may find they fulfil the initial perceived needs of non-believers quickly. If this happens, they have ample opportunity to address the ultimate need: the saving work and power of Jesus.

These are just a few Friday morning musings and far from a full treatment of the issue…so let me know what you think! What have I missed?

1. Richard N. Longenecker, “The Acts of the Apostles,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 456.

2. Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2012), Kindle Loc. 7964 of 11995.