Southern Baptist leaders, in an effort led by Lifeway Christian Resources, have released a new statement intended to help guide pastors and ministers in the application of AI.
“The Brentwood Statement on AI and Christian Ministry” was created in conjunction with a 2026 Lifeway Research study that showed some churchgoers are skeptical of the influence of AI in ministry.
Lifeway convened a group of Southern Baptist leaders consisting of pastors, professors and representatives of Southern Baptist entities at the organization’s headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee, April 10, to craft the statement rooted in biblical principles.
‘Resource for the local church’
Jason Thacker, assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Southern Seminary and Boyce College, served as the primary drafter of the statement.
“This project is designed to be a resource for the local church that equips leaders as they navigate the realities of ministry in the age of AI,” said Thacker, who also serves as director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s Research Institute and senior fellow.
“Our hope is to assist churches to critically engage these tools, not uncritically embrace nor reject them,” Thacker said. “We need to cultivate wisdom to guide our engagement with these tools as we seek to prioritize the unique dignity of all people and personal nature of ministry.”
Key themes of the Brentwood statement include pursuing wisdom, championing God-given dignity, promoting truth and fidelity, cultivating trust and integrity, protecting privacy, representing and proclaiming the Kingdom of God and modeling faithful leadership.
“Since the democratization of generative AI tools to the public, pressure has increased on Christian ministries to provide wise leadership,” said Devin Maddox, publisher for B&H Publishing Group.
‘Joint effort’
“Lifeway’s work on the Brentwood Statement was a joint effort with pastors, Christian scholars and ministry leaders from around the SBC to answer a call to provide disciple-makers with a biblical framework to operate in areas where AI is sure to bring disruption,” Maddox said. “This is only the beginning of a longer process to think through complex issues that anticipate inevitable change AI is sure to bring to how we do ministry.”
The “Brentwood Statement” includes in its preamble, “While the pervasiveness and complexity of AI continues to increase, it is our hope that these principles continue to assist and serve local churches as they engage their communities with the hope of the gospel and encourage the application of our faith to the entirety of the Christian life, including emerging technologies like AI.”
View from the pews
Research shows pastors, churchgoers see AI as confusing, concerning
Both U.S. Protestant pastors and churchgoers have a mixed view of artificial intelligence, according to the recent Lifeway Research study. They aren’t completely opposed to it, but they have concerns about how AI is implemented and its potential influence on Christianity.
According to Lifeway Research, 1 in 10 pastors (10%) say they are regular users of artificial intelligence, while a third (32%) are experimenting with it. Almost 1 in 6 (18%) say they are waiting to see better examples of how AI could help them.
On the other end of the AI adoption spectrum, close to 2 in 5 pastors are either intentionally avoiding it (18%) or simply ignoring artificial intelligence (20%).
Even with most pastors either being current users of artificial intelligence or open to it in the future, almost all U.S. Protestant pastors have some clear concerns about implementing the technology in their work, the study showed.
In addition to pastors’ reservations, 3 in 5 (61%) U.S. Protestant churchgoers say they’re concerned about the technology’s influence on Christianity. Fewer than 3 in 10 (28%) disagree, while 11% aren’t sure.
Baptist response
Southern Baptists continue to respond to growing use of AI
The Southern Baptist Convention has been at the forefront of faith groups addressing developing technologies such as AI.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission released the first faith-based statement on AI ethics in 2019 titled “Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles.” The statement was signed by over 70 faith leaders from various sectors of society.
In 2023, Southern Baptists adopted the first denominational statement on AI as a resolution titled “On Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies.”
Now, prior to the 2026 Annual Meeting, the Southern Baptist leaders supporting the Brentwood Statement hope it will encourage local churches to continue thinking biblically about the emerging technology. The full Brentwood Statement can be read at BrentwoodStatement.Lifeway.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Jill Waggoner and originally published by Lifeway Christian Resources.
