Preface
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer on the horizon; it is here, quietly embedded in the tools, platforms, and devices that shape how we work, communicate, learn, and connect.
The church is navigating a rapidly changing technological landscape, and we have a responsibility to engage it thoughtfully, theologically, and proactively rather than reactively. Earlier this year, the Conference Cabinet and Leadership established the AI Task Force to help the Virginia Annual Conference discern its relationship to AI.
What We Mean by AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to a class of computer systems trained on very large collections of text, images, and other data to generate responses that resemble human writing, speech, and reasoning. AI is already present in many of the tools churches use every day, including search engines, email platforms, and smartphones, often without being identified as such. More recently, tools like ChatGPT have brought AI into direct conversation with users, producing human-sounding responses to questions and requests. These systems are impressive and genuinely limited. They do not understand what they produce. They generate responses based on patterns, not comprehension. The principles that follow are intended to guide the more intentional uses of these tools in ministry.
A Starting Point
This document represents the Task Force’s interim guidance, a starting point, not a final policy. It has been written with the expectation that it will be revised and refined as the technology evolves, as the church grows in its understanding, and as our collective discernment continues to develop.
Think of these as a framework for paying attention. We are a Wesleyan people. We do no harm, we do good, and we stay in love with God. We trust Scripture, tradition, reason, and our own experience. We lean on the Holy Spirit. These principles are meant to be held the same way. AI is a tool. The Spirit is the source. Faithful ministry is still what we are called to, and no technology changes that.
Guiding Principles
- Verify AI-generated content. AI can produce false, biased, fabricated, or misattributed material with confidence. Facts, scripture references, quotations, citations, and theological claims should be checked before use in preaching, teaching, administration, or public ministry.
- Protect private information. Pastoral confidences, congregational data, financial information, health information, and personally identifiable information must not be entered into public AI tools. Treat AI inputs as communications that may leave the room unless the tool’s data protections are clearly understood.
- Preserve pastoral boundaries. AI must not replace direct pastoral care, counseling, spiritual direction, sacramental ministry, or human presence. AI may assist with preparation and administration, but it cannot substitute for incarnational ministry: the Eucharist, baptism, the hospital visit, the funeral, the spoken sermon, or the pastor’s prayer at a family’s table.
- Commit to AI formation. Clergy, staff, and lay leaders need enough AI literacy to use tools faithfully, recognize risks, and guide others. The Conference should provide training and resources that make faithful use more accessible, not more confusing.
- Honor legal, contractual, and denominational obligations. AI use must comply with applicable law, copyright and intellectual property obligations, privacy requirements, terms of service, Conference policy, and the Book of Discipline.
- Disclose substantive AI use. When AI materially shapes content, research, writing, images, or public communication, disclosure may be needed to preserve trust and integrity. Routine or embedded assistance, such as grammar suggestions, search summaries, scheduling tools, and productivity features, does not normally require disclosure. We’ve offered an example attribution at the close of this report and have more on our AI resource page.
- Acknowledge serious concerns. The use of AI carries serious harms, including encounters linked to suicide and self-harm; environmental costs of data center expansion in Virginia; workforce displacement, disproportionately affecting clerical, customer-service, and content-moderation workers, along with creative and knowledge workers; algorithmic bias reproducing racial, gender, and economic injustice; deepfake fraud; and the concentration of power. Members of the Conference acknowledge these harms openly and partner with the relevant boards and agencies, among them the Board of Church and Society and the Board of Ordained Ministry, so the Conference’s response is coordinated rather than fragmented.
- Embrace what AI makes possible. For the solo pastor who is also the administrator, the communications director, and the visitation team, AI can help carry some of that load. It can help draft a newsletter, research a theological question, generate ideas for a sermon series, or structure a grant application. For smaller congregations without full staff, these tools can level a playing field that has long been tilted toward larger churches with more resources.
For lay leaders and committees, AI can help organize meeting notes, summarize long documents, and draft routine communications, freeing up more time for the relational and spiritual work that only people can do.
Using AI does not mean outsourcing your ministry. It means having a fast, capable, imperfect assistant who never sleeps. If you are ready to learn how to use the tools and keep the above principles in mind, the possibilities for assistance are vast.
Context Matters
These principles are the Conference-wide floor. Boards, agencies, districts, ministry settings, and credentialing bodies may set stricter standards for their own contexts. Where a stricter standard applies, that standard governs.
Disclosure of AI Assistance
In keeping with Principle 6, the Guiding Principles Subgroup discloses the use of AI in the preparation of this document. AI research and drafting tools assisted at multiple stages: suggesting language, structuring sections, and helping to surface theological frames. The subgroup discussed each principle, reviewed every section, and authored the final language. The theological reasoning, pastoral judgments, and final decisions are the subgroup’s own, and the full Task Force reviewed the document.
This is the fifth revision of these principles. It will not be the last. The Task Force commits to ongoing review and welcomes feedback from across the Conference.
Submitted by Kim Johnson, AI Task Force Convener