Pastors ask me which AI they should use, the way people used to ask which Bible software to buy. It’s a fair question with a less exciting answer than people hope: for most church work, the major tools are all capable. The bigger decisions are which account you use and how you set it up.
Still, they’re not identical. Here’s a practical take as of this writing. These products change monthly, so treat the details as a snapshot.
The big four
ChatGPT (OpenAI). The best known, with the broadest set of features: voice, image creation, file analysis, and a large ecosystem of add-ons. If your volunteers already use one AI tool, it’s probably this one. That familiarity is a real advantage for training.
Claude (Anthropic). Strong at long documents, careful writing, and editing. Many people find its writing voice less salesy, which matters for church communications. It handles long sermon transcripts and policy documents well. It’s what I use most in my own writing and work.
Gemini (Google). Built into Google’s world. If your church runs on Google Workspace, Gemini’s access to Docs, Gmail, and Drive is the main draw, and your administrator controls a lot of its behavior.
Grok (xAI). Integrated with X (formerly Twitter) and strong on current events from that platform. It’s been marketed as less filtered than its competitors. That can be useful for some research, but it also means you should be extra careful with what it produces for public use. I’ll write more about bias and worldview in every model.
Microsoft Copilot deserves a mention too. If your church uses Microsoft 365, Copilot works inside Outlook, Word, and Teams, under the agreements your church may already have.
What actually matters more
1. Personal versus organizational accounts. A volunteer’s free personal account and a church-managed team account are very different things. Business and team plans from the major providers generally don’t train on your data by default and give an administrator control. Consumer accounts often do, unless someone changes a setting.
2. Where the data already lives. If your documents are in Google Drive, an AI that can read Drive (with permission) is more useful than a smarter one that can’t. Same with Microsoft 365, Notion, or Planning Center integrations.
3. Your people. The best tool is the one your staff will actually learn to use well. Pick one primary tool for the team and train on it. Ten volunteers on five different chatbots is how data ends up in places you never intended.
4. Cost. Most have a free tier and a paid tier around the price of a couple of lunches a month per person. Team plans cost more. For a small church, one paid organizational account for the pastor or administrator may be the right start.
My recommendation for most churches
- Choose one primary assistant for staff and key volunteers.
- Use an organizational or team account if anyone will touch anything sensitive.
- Turn off model training on any personal accounts that are used for church work.
- Write down what it’s for and what it’s not for. (That’s your AI policy.)
- Revisit the choice once a year. This market moves fast.
Luke records Jesus asking, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). Counting the cost of a tool isn’t only about dollars. It’s about data, training, and what you’re forming in your people.
Choosing tools and setting them up well is exactly the kind of thing I help churches with. I’m a pastor with more than twenty years in business and technology. If that would help your church, here’s how I work.
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