You don’t need a tech degree to make AI work for your church. Known for being user-friendly, widely available, and especially versatile, ChatGPT is surprisingly helpful for everyday administrative tasks. You’ve heard it being used to write emails, brainstorm ideas, summarize texts, and more, and you can utilize its many abilities to save your team time. When used wisely, ChatGPT can minimize time spent on repetitive or time-consuming tasks so you can focus on people-oriented, creative tasks that directly impact your mission.
A multipurpose tool
Think of all the tools you utilize to steward your resources: accounting software, giving platforms, project management tools, and training resources, to name a few. ChatGPT is another tool in your toolbelt to protect your time, energy, and budget.
You can use ChatGPT to brainstorm new ideas. You don’t have to use the exact ideas it generates; you can springboard off their ideas to brainstorm unique ideas with a twist. Quickly move out of a rut, writer’s block, or a creative drought with a tool that can generate ideas when you’re stumped. Use ChatGPT to adapt ideas to each season, your limitations, or your vision. Accelerate the slow parts and move quickly to what matters most: personalization and connection.
ChatGPT can generate outlines, spreadsheets, and drafts quickly. Instead of starting from scratch for each registration form, event flyer, or volunteer guideline, you can ask ChatGPT to give you a head start, and you can personalize from there. Or, tell it what you started with, and it can flesh it out. Expedite your process for organizing event schedules, generating volunteer rotations, and polishing weekly bulletins. You can even prompt it to distill complex information into something shorter and readable for your team or congregation, promoting clarity and efficiency. The applications churches can have for ChatGPT’s drafting capabilities are endless. The point is to apply the tool to the pain points in your own task list.
Not replacing people anytime soon
However you use it, remember that tech tools like ChatGPT cannot replace your team’s responsibilities. It can support ministry work, but it’s no match for the discernment, personality, and care that church staff bring to their communities. Every tech tool your team uses should serve your ministry instead of complicating it. Double-check for accuracy, never share sensitive information, and bring your voice and expertise to whatever it helps you create.
Utilizing tech tools is not the lazy answer (unless you’re using them wrong). Using ChatGPT to get ahead on your tedious tasks can be a safe, practical way to pursue efficiency, so you can focus on the personal, people-first responsibilities that make your role meaningful.
