It’s 2025, and the creative world is buzzing with a new kind of energy—and anxiety. Artificial intelligence is everywhere: writing sermons, generating album art, remixing worship music and helping churches craft their social media presence.
For Christian creatives, AI is both a miracle and a minefield. It’s the ultimate productivity hack, but it’s also raising some very human questions.
What does it mean to be inspired? Can a machine really reflect the image of God? And, perhaps most urgently, is AI a tool for good or a threat to the soul of Christian art?
The Good: AI as a Creative Sidekick
Let’s start with the bright side. For many faith-based artists, musicians and pastors, AI is a game-changer. It’s like having a digital intern who never sleeps, never complains and can whip up a Pixar-style VBS poster in 15 minutes flat.
Akiera Carr, worship ministry director at North Church Rockmart, needed to promote Vacation Bible School. She used Microsoft Copilot to turn church members into vibrant, Pixar-style characters.
“It was better than anything I could have imagined,” said lead pastor Vince Carr. “AI allowed her to create something extraordinary in record time.”
The result? More engagement, more excitement and a VBS that looked straight out of a Hollywood studio.
Pastor Brandon Holm of The Greater Guild is another convert. His church uses NightCafe for artwork and ElevenLabs for podcast narration.
“It’s great for expanding ideas,” Holm said. “I’ll input my draft, and it adds layers of polish while staying true to our church’s tone.”
For Holm, AI is a bridge to deeper engagement, freeing up time for real ministry instead of endless admin.
And it’s not just about visuals. AI is helping churches and creatives streamline everything from social media posts to fundraising campaigns.
“We’ll take event details, feed them into AI and say, ‘Make it pop!’” Carr said. “It generates engaging text and visuals that draw people in.”
The payoff? Skyrocketing social media engagement and a steady stream of newcomers discovering the church online.
The Bad: The Risk of Losing Our (Creative) Souls
But let’s not get too starry-eyed. For every story of AI-powered success, there’s a chorus of concern about what’s being lost in translation. Can a machine really capture the spark of divine inspiration? Or are we outsourcing our creativity—and maybe even our calling—to an algorithm?
Jeff Dionise, a Pulitzer-winning designer and illustrator, isn’t convinced.
“The concept and the idea you have is where the gold is,” Dionise said. “Can you read this complex story and come out with just the right idea for an illustration that would really help the user? That’s an area that’s a little less automatic when it comes to AI.”
Hannah Tu, a multidisciplinary designer and art director, agrees.
“I don’t think [AI] will ever replace the need for human artists,” Tu said. “There’s something about interpreting an email, for example, and working with people to find the right solution that AI can’t do at this point.”
For Tu, the real magic happens in the messy, collaborative, deeply human process of creation.
There’s also the question of authenticity.
“Art is communication as much as words are communication,” Dionise said. “So, the question is, what are we really saying? What are we communicating with? What are we designing and illustrating? Ultimately, that’s the question. And that’s where we, I think, have to be cautious that we don’t use our art to say things that we ourselves don’t believe.”
The Ugly: Copyright, Bias and the Limits of the Machine
Of course, it wouldn’t be a 2025 tech story without a little controversy. AI-generated art has sparked fierce debates over copyright and job security.
When OpenAI’s latest image generator unleashed a flood of Studio Ghibli-style animations, artist Karla Ortiz told AP News, “Companies like OpenAI just do not care about the work of artists and the livelihoods of artists.”
Ortiz is among several artists suing AI companies for copyright infringement.
And then there’s the issue of bias and accuracy. AI is only as good as the data it’s trained on, and sometimes, that data is flawed.
“AI lacks empathy,” warns Bishop Charley Hames Jr., author of Leveraged Leadership: Unlocking the Power of Influence, Impact and AI. “It’s a language processor, not a soul processor.”
He’s optimistic about AI’s potential but insists on “critical engagement,” making sure it serves the church’s mission without compromising doctrinal integrity.
The Real: What Makes Christian Creativity Unique
So, where does this leave Christian creatives? Somewhere between awe and anxiety, it turns out. AI can be a powerful tool, but it’s not a replacement for the human touch or the Holy Spirit.
“God’s gifted other people with creative talents, too,” Tu said. “Even outside of the artistic community. Writers, music, a lot of elements from different types of jobs and skill sets can also be applied to creative design. The skill sets that God’s gifted [us] can also just bleed into art and inspire you to look at things in a new way.”
Dionise goes even deeper.
“There is an aspect of this kind of something out of nothing … that I think does at least point to how God created the world,” Dionise said. “If you’re a child of God, you look around and you see creation in a way that is different than the world sees it.”
The Future: AI as a Tool, Not a Master
As we look ahead, the consensus among Christian creatives is clear. AI is here to stay, but it’s up to us to use it wisely.
“AI is a tool,” Holm said. “It’s up to us to use it wisely.”
The real challenge—and opportunity—is to harness AI’s power without losing sight of what makes Christian creativity unique: the ability to reflect God’s image, to build community and to communicate truth in a way that no machine ever could.
