Red Ice TV - August 14, 2025


Churches Turn To AI Sermons

Topics
AI sermons and concerns
Hosted by
Henrik Palmgren Lana Lokteff
Mentioned
Carrick Martin Luther You Ahzus Lutheranism Naomi
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Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

173.0

Word count

1,753

Sentence count

162

Harmful content

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, we talk about the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the church, and whether or not it can replace a priest s role as a spiritual guide. We also talk about what it means for the future of the church and the role of technology in it.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.260 Dependency on AI is increasing and it's increasing in every single human field and occupation, including apparently among priests.
00:00:09.200 Denmark is now debating what they call AI sermon tools for pastors.
00:00:14.000 It turns out that they're turning to things like OpenAI to help write what they read from the pulpit.
00:00:20.020 The Danish National Association of Pastors recently launched a new artificial intelligence tool known as the Sermon Helper.
00:00:28.380 The AI platform is designed to assist the Church of Denmark priests in crafting sermons.
00:00:34.340 So AI is spiritual now? AI has a soul that it could put a spiritual twist to these things?
00:00:40.080 Do you remember the New Agers that we played that had conversations with AI and they added, you know, kind of, you know, New Age-y music over it?
00:00:48.060 And I was like, oh my gosh, this is so deep. I'm not surprised, actually. You're going to see more and more of this.
00:00:53.300 They were also doing it for wedding speeches and funeral orations.
00:00:57.900 Very authentic, yes.
00:00:59.580 However, the tool has incited significant concern among theology students, church leaders, and members of the public who fear that technology might erode the importance of personalized spiritual guidance.
00:01:11.500 Wouldn't that be up to the, you know, whether you're a good priest, I guess?
00:01:16.360 Can you channel, you're going to read something from the Bible and then you have to kind of like, what?
00:01:19.860 You have to do your spin on it.
00:01:21.120 It applies today or something, you know, kind of thing, right?
00:01:23.300 Yeah, exactly. Make it relevant. Make it important to your people. Personalize it a bit, right?
00:01:30.120 From writing assistant to sermon generator.
00:01:32.300 While the association insists the AI is designed as a support tool, critics argue that it's capable of much, much more.
00:01:39.700 To demonstrate its capabilities, the association provided step-by-step instructions on how to generate full-length sermons using the chatbot.
00:01:48.460 These guys have raised many red flags, especially as religious leaders perform central roles in interpreting spiritual teachings and providing comfort to their local communities.
00:01:57.700 I mean, it sounds like laziness to me, right? Like, ah, I can't even be bothered. I'll just dump it in this chat, you know, chat and see what it spits out, right?
00:02:07.820 I mean, in some of these pastors, I was thinking about that actually just the other day.
00:02:11.680 That's why I didn't see this article going by Candlelight Church, which is awful, right?
00:02:15.100 In Coeur d'Alene, how they have two services a day.
00:02:19.180 So it's like, it's two performances a day.
00:02:21.340 And, you know, how's the pastor feel, you know, the day before?
00:02:24.060 Or is he going to use these tools to kind of, you know, write it for him the night before?
00:02:28.560 I don't know. Here we are.
00:02:29.800 I'm just saying also it's evident of increasing lack of using words appropriately and conjure something up or whatever.
00:02:36.360 And these AI tools is much more apt.
00:02:39.480 Spirituality, soul.
00:02:40.680 You know, but many of these churches are very performative and many of the pastors, you can see it maybe more so among, I don't know, this could be hard to say.
00:02:53.040 But how do I put this?
00:02:55.500 I think there was a reason why Germanic people earlier, as they turned to like Lutheranism and, you know, Martin Luther and things like this, kind of questioning the church and questioning things like that.
00:03:05.940 I think it's much more prone among Lutherans to study or, you know, Protestants to study their way out of religion more so than among Catholics.
00:03:15.500 And I think what I'm saying is what if it's like there might be priests, but they don't have a spiritual, like they're still kind of like doubting or they're, do you see what I'm saying?
00:03:26.360 Like that it's hard to conjure this up.
00:03:28.760 For a Catholic, that would be scary too because, you know, that's the whole basis of the Protestant Reformation, right?
00:03:34.680 Like the idea that you can talk to God directly, like Catholics don't have that. 1.00
00:03:38.700 You have to go through the priests.
00:03:39.820 It's authority of the Catholic Church.
00:03:40.160 In this case, you're going to be going through an AI, an AI-influenced priest, maybe.
00:03:46.140 It's always an authority.
00:03:47.200 I don't think you can ever escape that of sorts, right?
00:03:49.240 But it was at least the idea that you could read the Bible yourself, right?
00:03:52.060 You didn't need to come from a saint or a priest.
00:03:56.760 A clergy, you know, kind of thing.
00:03:58.080 But anyway, so there's other pieces about that.
00:04:02.200 NPR did a whole segment on it.
00:04:04.080 We ask clergy if they use AI to help write sermons.
00:04:07.620 Here's what they say.
00:04:08.480 And of course, some people say, yes, I do.
00:04:11.180 12% described as being comfortable using AI to write sermons.
00:04:16.660 Again, this is Protestants. 0.99
00:04:16.920 Maybe they're looking up, like, give me all the verses that talk about, you know, whatever.
00:04:22.360 Yeah, sure, it could be.
00:04:23.760 But eventually, it's like, hey, here's a good spin on this.
00:04:25.820 And what I'm saying is the dependency.
00:04:27.540 It's like, oh, yeah, that's actually pretty good.
00:04:29.540 I'll consult it again.
00:04:30.720 It becomes like a drug, right?
00:04:31.880 If you can't access it yourself, you need something to help you, right?
00:04:35.660 Get dependent.
00:04:36.560 43% said that they saw its merits in sermon preparation and research.
00:04:41.040 That's more what you're talking about there, I guess.
00:04:42.420 It's like a mini research paper you have to prepare every week, said Naomi.
00:04:46.100 Naomi sees Carrick, a pastor at Messiah of the Mountains, a Lutheran church in Burnsville,
00:04:52.320 North Carolina.
00:04:53.020 And some week, life is just a lot.
00:04:55.160 That's what I'm saying.
00:04:56.140 Is this a full-time?
00:04:56.720 I mean, this is a full-time position.
00:04:58.240 That's what I'm saying.
00:04:58.680 What if a pastor had a bad week or the night before he couldn't write it and then he's
00:05:02.480 just going to fall back on this?
00:05:04.000 Yeah.
00:05:04.220 I'm sure they've been doing this for a little bit now.
00:05:06.320 Carrick said, clergy tend to talk about AI in hushed tones, but recently, during one
00:05:10.900 of those busy weeks, she opened up ChatGPG.
00:05:13.700 She plugged in the Bible reading for the week along with a few blog posts on the passage she
00:05:17.380 particularly admired.
00:05:18.240 And boom, literally within not even 30 seconds, I had a 900-word sermon and I read through
00:05:24.300 it and I was like, oh my God, this is really good.
00:05:28.500 I was supposed to use the Lord's name in vain, I thought.
00:05:31.100 Well, she's talking about the AI God here, but she also thought this feels wrong.
00:05:37.820 Exactly.
00:05:38.480 Because you didn't do it.
00:05:40.080 You're just reading it.
00:05:41.620 It's an ethical question which clergy across the country are wrestling.
00:05:44.740 The goal of a sermon is to tell a story that can break open the hearts of people to a holy
00:05:49.700 message.
00:05:50.240 The question is whether it matters where that comes from.
00:05:53.360 Well, of course it does, right?
00:05:54.800 Well, it's fine.
00:05:55.400 Open AI is still part of the world.
00:05:57.440 It's still God's creation, so it's fine.
00:05:59.820 In the house of God, everyone is welcome with open arms, even robots.
00:06:06.680 Like it or loathe it, ChapGBT is part of society and now part of the congregation. 0.62
00:06:12.760 As Germany's church has experienced a drop in numbers of pastors, this church in the
00:06:17.320 Bavarian town of Föt has the answer by using artificial intelligence.
00:06:23.240 During service, this avatar preached to more than 300 people for mass.
00:06:27.640 But can we really commune with robots?
00:06:30.920 I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.
00:06:34.540 But one thing I definitely missed, of course, was simply emotionality.
00:06:38.440 So, in this church, worshippers are no longer inspired by the words of a preacher.
00:06:45.160 And while some may say this is sacrilegious, the theologian behind it insists this is the
00:06:50.160 future of worship.
00:06:51.720 I would say 98% comes from the machine, generally speaking.
00:06:56.020 And what we're going to see is an effort of us as human beings staying out of the church
00:07:00.540 service.
00:07:01.060 The 40-minute service saw the bot writing the sermon, prayers, and even accompanying music.
00:07:09.680 Intrigued and filled with anticipation, churchgoers queued for an hour to get front pew seats and
00:07:15.460 find out just how it works.
00:07:18.660 Whether you're a believer or not, the use of AI arguably brings services into the 21st century,
00:07:24.860 allowing them to become more accessible and inclusive.
00:07:32.680 At today's service, AI has made all the speeches, all the prayers.
00:07:38.820 AI has made all the videos we are showing.
00:07:41.740 AI has made almost all the voices we are using.
00:07:46.600 The Bible text is the only thing that hasn't been done by AI.
00:07:54.280 The order of worship today was generated by ChatGPT.
00:08:00.120 But anyway, as a little recall here, they're using these AI tools now quite more often, and
00:08:06.420 they've been created in an AI Jesus avatar.
00:08:09.700 I remember.
00:08:10.520 Test man's faith in machines and the divine.
00:08:16.600 Switzerland.
00:08:21.960 AI Jesus existed for two months, and there was a big interest, so many people came to
00:08:30.520 talk with him.
00:08:31.980 So we have like 900 conversations now registered.
00:08:38.100 Do they record them?
00:08:39.140 All ages also, I can say.
00:08:41.260 There were young people, older people.
00:08:43.320 Well, you remember the, what was it, the first intelligence operation, right?
00:08:48.080 It was confession booths, right?
00:08:49.960 It was like, what are they?
00:08:51.080 Tell me all your secrets, that kind of thing, right?
00:08:53.700 But now there will be AI listening to you instead.
00:08:56.360 What was really interesting to see that the people really talked with him in a serious
00:09:01.640 way.
00:09:02.240 Hello, Jesus.
00:09:04.040 Do you have some advice for us in this time?
00:09:08.460 Kind of looks like him.
00:09:08.920 In these challenging times, remember that in the face of adversity, love and faith are
00:09:13.320 your steadfast guides.
00:09:14.840 The response that the AI Jesus forms is actually...
00:09:19.940 Did he kind of model it to look like him?
00:09:21.480 That's what I'm saying.
00:09:22.180 Look just like him.
00:09:22.900 ...based on Bible excerpts.
00:09:25.940 All knowledge and wisdom ultimately come from God.
00:09:29.060 If used wisely, AI can indeed be a tool to explore the wonders of creation, deepen our
00:09:34.640 understanding of scripture, and foster connections among people.
00:09:38.020 You and I live life today.
00:09:44.120 You and I live life today.
00:09:44.380 That's how this may go take place.
00:09:45.080 You and I live life today.
00:09:46.580 Don't you live life today.
00:09:47.260 I'm a child.
00:09:47.800 You and I live life today.
00:09:49.020 That's how this may go take place.
00:09:50.040 I live life today.
00:09:51.260 For you.
00:09:54.180 You and I slick worldview.
00:09:55.360 You and I live life today.
00:09:59.920 You you and your plan.
00:10:02.440 Look we watch.
00:10:04.180 Okay.
00:10:04.860 You see for this.
00:10:06.340 You Ahzus. 1.00
00:10:07.440 Look we watch.