Part 2: PUTTING AI TO WORK
Michael Whittle, VP of AI at Subsplash, explores how AI can personalize discipleship, strengthen engagement and follow-up, and help pastors embrace practical applications without feeling overwhelmed.
Church Executive: Let’s talk about “the now” as it relates to AI. What are 3 practical ways church leaders can begin using it in their daily operations, today?
Michael Whittle: Yeah, I think the first place to start is with the Sunday sermon. Almost every church, even if it’s not massive, records its sermon. The key question is, what can you do with that? Can you turn it into a three-day Bible reading plan to send to your church? Can you create an email summary? Maybe you have someone who spends three or four hours every week listening to the sermon and creating small-group discussion questions for that week. Well, that’s something AI can do very, very quickly and with high quality. Obviously, you want a human to check it, but I think that’s a big opportunity.
I think even little things can make a difference. AI can easily do an email triage for you in the morning: “Hey, here’s a reminder of your to-do list, here’s who’s waiting on an email response, and here’s that thank-you note you wanted to write to the person who gave a generous gift.” I think it’s just a great assistant. Anything practical in nature that, not to belittle it, an entry-level assistant would typically do is something AI can help with.
And then I think it’s super useful for things like recording staff meetings or elder meetings, with everyone’s permission, obviously. AI can produce the notes, identify next steps and action items, attach names to those items, and all of that. I think that’s really, really huge.
I also think there’s a unique opportunity for pastors in how they’re using AI in sermon preparation. Not to write the sermon for you or do the hard work, but to upload the manuscript you’ve written and ask, “Hey, where is this not clear? How would an unbeliever receive this? How about a single mom or a Gen Zer?” AI can serve as a thought partner, helping us ask, “Am I covering all the bases here? Am I thinking about this the right way?”
CE: Which church management functions are best suited to AI-assisted workflows?
Michael Whittle: Anything doctrinal, pastoral or human-to-human is something we should let humans do. For us, it’s more about communications that aren’t necessarily individual-to-individual. So, not necessarily the small-group pastor reaching out to a new guest, but things like email newsletters, announcements, social media posts, event pages and all those kinds of things.
Other opportunities include volunteer scheduling and reminders, meeting notes and action items, event-planning checklists and timelines. In a safe and secure environment, AI can also turn financial reports into plain-language summaries for the pastor or the board.
I was recently talking with a church that’s been around for about 40 years, and the executive pastor said, “For the first time ever, I get a very clear, one-page report every Monday that we’ve been trying to produce forever.” He said that that that one little thing has completely changed the game.
Then there are things like policies, job descriptions and handbooks. I think the key is that AI can draft those things, but a person makes the decisions. Anything that goes out under a church’s name should be read and approved by a human who takes ownership of it.
Ultimately, I think AI is best suited to the administrative and day-to-day operational side of ministry — the things that can help churches work more efficiently while keeping the human side of ministry where it belongs.
“I was recently talking with a church that’s been around for about 40 years, and the executive pastor said, “For the first time ever, I get a very clear, one-page report every Monday that we’ve been trying to produce forever.” He said that that one little thing has completely changed the game.”
CE: Similarly, in what ways can AI help church and ministry leaders improve discipleship (communications, engagement and follow-up)?
Michael Whittle: I think that’s a really great opportunity. Think about a pastor who preaches a sermon on Sunday and then takes that sermon transcript and turns it into a devotional that’s specific to a particular audience or demographic. One thing we’ve seen churches do that’s really cool is take Sunday’s sermon and, that same afternoon, create a family discussion guide for dinner that night — something designed for parents and kids to talk through together.
We come together as a collective body to sit under the teaching of Scripture on Sundays, but how can that teaching be personalized throughout the week to deepen engagement? That might mean creating different next steps for a new believer versus someone who’s been part of the church for years. I think those are things AI does a really, really good job with.
I also think there’s a lot of value in improving follow-up. AI can flag the signals a pastor would want to know about: a family that hasn’t been around in a month, a first-time guest who comes back for a second visit, or a volunteer who has stopped serving. Whatever AI can connect to through church data, it can help surface those insights so someone can take action — reaching out to that family or thanking that returning guest.
I think there’s a lot of value to unlock in using AI to help churches recognize those opportunities and make follow-up more intentional.
CE: What advice would you give a pastor or ministry leader who wants to begin exploring AI but feels overwhelmed at the notion and doesn’t know where to start?
Michael Whittle: I think you just have to start. What I’m finding is that a lot of people are safely asking their staff and teams, “How are you using it?” We always tell pastors, it’s not a question of whether your staff and volunteers are using AI — because they are. It’s just a matter of how.
So I think the first step is simply opening up that conversation. Let your team know, “Hey, I recognize this is a great tool. We don’t have to feel like we need to know everything today.” You’re going to stumble through it, and that’s OK. Set up a ChatGPT account, a Claude account, Pulpit AI or whatever tool you want to try, and just start playing around with it. Give yourself permission not to fully understand how it works right away.
Then take it one step at a time. Maybe, for a pastor, that means uploading a sermon and asking AI to turn it into an email summary, with three Scripture references to read during the week and a few key takeaways. Send that email to the church and see what kind of engagement it generates.
I think the key is simply to get started and not feel like you have to be the expert.
Keep an eye out for Part 3 of this insightful, timely conversation: BALANCING AI WITH TRUST
Highlights include:
- Which types of church information should never be entered into public AI tools
- What a church AI policy must include to be effective — today and in the long term
- Drawing the line between AI-assisted ministry and personal ministry
- The biggest risks church leaders should anticipate as the use of AI expands
