According to the 2026 State of AI in the Church Survey by Exponential AI NEXT and ChurchTechToday.com

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concern for churches — it is a present reality. Pastors are using it to draft sermons. Communications teams are using it to write newsletters and social posts. Staff are using it to generate graphics, answer emails, and plan programming. Most of them are doing this without any shared guidelines, without any theological framework, and without any governance structure to protect the congregation's data or values. That is the gap these resources exist to close.

For progressive and inclusive congregations, the stakes are higher than they are for churches that haven't thought carefully about representation, justice, and whose voices get amplified by default. Most AI tools were not built with your community in mind. The images they generate default to representations that often erase diversity. The language they produce reflects the dominant theological assumptions baked into their training data — assumptions that may not align with an affirming, justice-centered, or liberation-informed faith. Using these tools uncritically isn't neutral. It carries risk.

That doesn't mean progressive churches should avoid AI — it means they should use it more intentionally than anyone else. At Progressive Church Media, we've spent time developing our own responsible AI framework, testing image generation tools for inclusive output, and building resources specifically for congregations that hold justice and inclusion as core values. Everything on this page comes from that work. Whether you're starting with governance — building the policy your staff needs before something goes wrong — or starting with creativity — finding a better way to produce worship visuals that actually look like your community — you're in the right place.