AI in Church Operations Shifts from Early-Adopter to Mainstream
Report shows adoption is up 80% — but churches aren’t ready to embrace it for everything
A recently released report on church technology trends reveals a significant rise in embracing artificial intelligence. 
According to Pushpay’s 2025 State of Church Tech Report, 45% of church leaders currently use AI, up 80% compared to last year’s findings, reflecting that the use of AI in church operations has moved from early-adopter to mainstream status.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of how digital tools—from AI-powered platforms and live streaming to mobile engagement—continue to transform ministry connection and interaction. About 1,700 church leaders across the country contributed responses to the report.
What are churches using AI for?
Only a small minority have ventured into using AI for core ministry work, such as writing sermons, developing devotionals, or creating theological content, the report states.
Yet, churches are “overwhelmingly” using AI to assist with generating and editing emails, social media, and graphics and streamlining basic communication.
When asked how leaders report leveraging AI to enhance operational efficiency, 40% of church leaders cite improving communication efficiency as their primary reason for adopting AI, far exceeding any other application of the technology.
More than half of the churches surveyed (51%) said communication is the number one challenge ministry leaders wish technology could better address. Volunteer coordination (43%), outreach (37%), event management (33%), and discipleship (31%) follow in order of importance.
Churches are leveraging AI tools not only to encourage, remind, and teach their communities between services but also to reach those exploring faith or unable to attend in person. Automated emails and AI-generated graphics may help ministries boost engagement while keeping members informed about upcoming events, new sermon series, and volunteer opportunities.
As church leaders increasingly use digital channels to connect with their communities, they face a growing set of challenges. Publishing emails, social posts, videos, and graphics requires a significant amount of time and expertise.
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The shift to digital engagement strategies
The surge of opportunity presented by digital outreach brings with it a parallel dilemma: how to consistently create, publish, and moderate all this engaging content.
To have what it says is an effective content strategy, ResourcesUMC suggests that staff dedicate five to 40 hours weekly (depending on a church’s size) to maintaining and updating its website and communicating via email. Large churches could even allocate a full-time position for these tasks, it says.
Furthermore, ResourcesUMC recommends dedicating four hours a week to Facebook, which should include four to six updates and time to reply to comments and track analytics. Add to that three hours for Instagram for daily photo or video posts and liking other peoples’ content—and an hour to focus on uploading videos, creating playlists, and subscribing to different feeds on YouTube.
To execute the above, workers also need time to design graphic visual content (three hours) and research time (two hours) to keep current on nonprofit and church tech trends.
According to these recommendations, church staff and/or volunteers could easily spend somewhere between 13 and 53 hours on organically crafting and managing online content.
Conclusions
The report states that 86% of church leaders believe technology enhances connection within their communities, and churches are four times more likely to say that technology reduces loneliness rather than increases it.
Nearly half of ministry leaders (48%) report that digital innovation has helped deepen faith among congregants, while 70% say technology has contributed to greater generosity in their churches.
Looking ahead, 45% of church leaders now believe that AI will be “strategically important” for their congregations within the next two to three years—a 36% increase over last year.
The fourth annual State of Church Technology report from Pushpay (along with partners Engiven and Checkr) is based on a survey conducted in February 2025. A third party conducted the study, gathering responses from more than 1,700 church leaders and technology decision-makers from across the United States, who represent a diverse mix of ministries in terms of congregation size, denomination, and budget.
For other perspectives on how the Church can faithfully steward technology, listen to a conversation MinistryWatch President Warren Cole Smith had with the authors of “Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age.”
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