The digital age is transforming how people connect — and the church must follow accordingly, noted Don Barger, director of innovation and artificial intelligence for the International Mission Board.
Why is AI important for the Church?
At a conference held at Taylor Road Baptist Church Montgomery May 8, Barger led a session titled, “AI in Ministry: The What, Why and How of Artificial Intelligence,” designed to help church leaders understand how AI can serve the mission of the Church — empowering, not replacing, human connection.
“Younger generations — especially Gen Z — are what we call ‘digital natives,’” Barger explained. “As much as 60% of their social interaction happens in digital spaces. As [they] increasingly shape our world, the Church has a unique opportunity to reach them through the very technologies they use every day.”
Practical tools for ministry
A Hueytown native, Barger has emerged as a leading voice helping Christians navigate opportunities and challenges of AI. He encouraged attendees not to fear it, but, as with any technological advancement, to understand and steward it wisely.
“You probably used AI on the way here — Waze, Google Maps, Siri, Alexa,” he noted. “AI is not a threat to human connection. It’s a tool, and like every tool, it depends on how we use it.”
Barger reminded the audience that the Church has historically embraced innovation — from the printing press to radio and beyond.
“God isn’t surprised by AI,” Barger said. “It’s just math. Complicated math — but still just a tool that predicts what comes next based on data.”
Barger drew a key distinction between AI and traditional software: While an app performs fixed functions, AI “bots” respond dynamically and are trained to provide contextually relevant responses.
By equipping missionaries and churches with AI tools, the IMB is helping Southern Baptists reach unreached peoples and places, fulfilling the Great Commission in the digital age.
What’s FaithBot.io?
One such tool Barger created is FaithBot.io, a customizable AI chatbot churches can add to their websites to answer biblical or spiritual questions.
He also introduced Synthesia, a platform that creates text to video in more than 100 languages and syncs facial expressions with the new audio. AI media tools offer new approaches to video editing and even creation.
Barger gave a lighthearted demonstration of the technology, showing him speaking English, Spanish, Mandarin, French and Arabic — all using AI.
The presentation also highlighted AI tools like Polyglossia, which translates live events such as training and sermons. For example, Ukrainian refugees can now have sermon transcripts in real-time on their phones, automatically translated.
Ethical considerations
But it isn’t all optimism. Barger addressed AI’s limitations and risks, such as ethical concerns and bias.
“AI only reflects the data it’s trained on,” he asserted. “If the data is biased, the AI will be too.”
He noted that image generators still default to outdated stereotypes — for example, rendering all physicians as white men.
Barger also cautioned pastors against relying on AI-generated sermons.
“There are subscription services advertising AI ready-made sermons complete with transcripts and slides in only five minutes,” Barger warned. “These tools bypass the Spirit-led preparation and study God calls us to.”
Security
Security is another concern Barger noted, advising care when using open-source platforms like ChatGPT, especially when handling sensitive information.
“Don’t ever put sensitive information like passport numbers or hotel room lists into ChatGPT,” he cautioned. “It learns from the data it’s fed — unless you specifically disable that. Closed-source options like Microsoft Copilot don’t have that same risk.”
Doug Rogers, who hosted the event for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said there already is interest in a follow-up conference focused on digital engagement strategies.
“We’d encourage pastors and tech leaders alike to attend,” Rogers said.
Resources from the conference, including a recording of the May 8 session, are available at alsbom.org/ai. Don Barger can be followed at donbarger.substack.com, or contact the IMB innovation team at innovation@imb.org.
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