Most pastors use AI but some worry it could replace their guidance in pews: study

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, April 06, 2026

• 60% of church leaders surveyed by Barna report using artificial intelligence a few times a month.
• But many pastors worry that AI technology could replace their guidance. 
• Concerns also include plagiarism and loss of congregants' trust. 

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While a majority of pastors are personally reaping benefits from the use of artificial intelligence, some remain troubled by a raft of concerns about the technology's impact on ministry, including the displacement of pastoral spiritual guidance and the erosion of congregants’ trust, a new study shows.

In Technology for Missional Impact: State of Church Tech 2026, produced by Barna in partnership with Pushpay, around 60% of church leaders report using AI for personal use at least a few times a month, while only 24% say they never use the technology.

“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,” the report states. “This aligns with church leaders’ general approach to technology as a communication aid.”

The findings in this new report come just months after researchers highlighted in "The 2025 State of AI in the Church Survey Report" last December that a majority of pastors use AI to prepare their sermons, with ChatGPT and Grammarly as the top two AI tools.

As they continue to use the technology, the latest Barna-Pushpay study highlights several practical and pastoral concerns church leaders have about the use of AI in ministry, including plagiarism.

About 51% of church leaders said they were "very concerned" about plagiarism and "compromised message integrity," with another 30% being "somewhat concerned."  Nearly half of them, 49%, said they were "very concerned" about losing the authenticity of their preaching and teaching, while 83% were either "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about data privacy.

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

Just last month, Barna’s "State of the Church" initiative, produced in partnership 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, with practicing Christians more likely to agree with this notion than non-practicing Christians and non-Christians.

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

“Clear guidance could help address these tensions. Most church leaders believe it is important for churches to establish policies governing AI use (24% extremely, 40% somewhat),” the researchers noted.

“Yet few churches have taken this step. Only 5% of church leaders say their church currently has an established AI policy — revealing a significant gap between leaders’ sense of responsibility and their organizational readiness.”

Despite their caution, however, some 79% of church leaders reported in the study that technology has significantly or moderately improved connections among congregants. A majority of church leaders, 61%, also believe that technology has helped their congregation deepen their faith.

“When it comes to fostering congregants’ connections to God and to each other, church leaders regard digital tools as supplemental, not essential,” the researchers note. “Even so, as noted earlier, the operational benefits are clear: 78% say technology has made ministry life at least somewhat easier.”