Artificial intelligence is creating fresh opportunities for evangelism, but Christians must help shape the technology's future before it is defined by those with "very different values", leaders at the Missional AI Summit in London said.
Silicon Valley pastor Paul Taylor argued that AI is prompting people to ask what it means to be human, while Premier CEO Kevin Bennett urged the Church to ensure biblical values help guide the AI revolution.
Taylor, who pastors Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, spoke from the Book of Haggai 1:1 to argue that the Church should respond to the rise of AI through three roles - the king, the prophet and the priest.
Kings use their authority and influence to shape culture, while prophets challenge those in power by raising difficult questions.
Taylor said: "Prophets have no power - they exist outside of the system, they are not running companies or building institutions, they exist on a periphery.
“They ask questions to the people who do have authority and the world needs prophets to ask questions in this AI moment about employment, about loneliness, about human flourishing. We need those prophets to ask the questions, even if people don’t listen.”
Priests, he said, are the ones”stepping into culture and helping people find God in a changing world”.
Taylor thinks AI presents a significant opportunity for the Church because it is prompting society to reconsider what it means to be human: “I’m convinced that this moment in AI provides an incredible opportunity for the Church, because the technology is becoming more human like and it’s forcing us to ask the question that we have already heard many times: ‘what does it actually mean to be human?’”
He continued: “As our AI models approach humanity, it’s going to force us to ask that question more fervently, and this is an opportunity for the Church because we’ve been trying to get people to ask this question for a very long time.
"This is the question that, if you follow the thread, it eventually leads to Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be human? Look at Jesus.”
Taylor challenged Christians to identify which of the three roles they are called to fulfil: a king using influence to shape culture, a prophet asking the questions others avoid, or a priest helping people find God in a changing world.
He concluded: “Jesus lives within us and He helps us as individuals and as the Church at large to live out these three roles whenever culture requires us.
“I believe this is a moment where culture needs us to show up as the Church. I’m optimistic about this moment not because I’m optimistic about the technology, but because Jesus created the Church for moments like this.”
The Missional AI Summit brought church leaders and technologists together in London to discuss the theme of “Light & Shadow – The Two Edges of AI”.
Sponsored by Christian Vision, Premier and Biblica, the event examined how artificial intelligence is reshaping society and what that means for the Church’s mission, ministry and witness.
Premier CEO Kevin Bennett challenged Christians to think more carefully about what artificial intelligence actually is.
“If we want to use AI well, we have to understand AI,” he said.
Bennett questioned whether the term “artificial intelligence” is always helpful, suggesting that current systems are better understood as technologies that assimilate and process human knowledge.
He described it as a “fantastic accelerator” that will “get you from A to B really quickly”, but pointed out important limitations.
“You need to be at A - you need to find the idea, you need to have the inspiration, and let AI help you bring that to life. I think if you do that, you get the benefit of AI without the slop,” he said.
He continued, “AI can commoditise a lot of things, but it can’t commoditise your character, your conviction, your courage, your community or your trust. You need to focus on those things that AI can’t commoditise.
“AI knows everything that is public, but there are some things that only you know - your data, your intellectual property, and spiritual equity; your calling and inspiration, what God put you on this planet to do, and your discernment, your prophecy.”
He said the challenge for the Christian community was to think about what message is being sent to the rest of the world about AI.
“AI isn’t God. In a world that says you are no different to the machines, you have a spirit and soul; in a world that says you have been replaced and you are not needed anymore, you can say you have a unique purpose, God put you on this planet for a specific thing - that can’t be taken by AI," he said.
Bennett observed the uniqueness of Christians, noting that while "AI has algorithms", they have the Holy Spirit.
"AI has predictions, but you have been given a prophetic imagination to create things that have never existed before," he said.
He suggested that the Church has a unique role to play in safeguarding society as AI continues to expand into more of modern life.
“We should be pro-technology - the Church always should be - but we must be pro-human because God died for humanity; He didn’t die for machines,” he said.
“A secular world view is not enough. I believe passionately that Christianity is actually the only world view strong enough to make the future of humans flourish in a world of AI.
“Therefore Christians must shape the future, because if we don’t it will be shaped by people who have very different values to us.”
The Missional AI Summit was hosted by Gareth Russell, co-founder and CEO of Jersey Road, a communications agency serving Christian charities and non-profits.
He suggested the conversation around AI is beginning to move beyond initial concerns and into questions of practical application.
“Today we are moving past the early ‘be careful about AI’ narrative framing, and into the harder, more useful questions of how will we build, how will we deploy, and how will we discern well,” he said.
Among the keynote speakers was Chine McDonald, director of Theos think tank, who reflected on how Christians can remain deeply human in a technological age.
Drawing on the opening chapters of Genesis, McDonald argued that the creation account reveals not only God’s power but also his creativity and attentiveness.
“Genesis 1 isn’t just about creation, it is also about the Creator,” she said. “Before we learn anything about humanity, we encounter a God whose first revealed characteristic is astonishing creativity.”
McDonald suggested that if AI can remove some of the repetitive demands of daily life, it could create opportunities for people to pay greater attention to God’s Word. While technology may increase efficiency, she said the Church’s role is to recover the art of contemplation.
She also warned against allowing digital connection to replace genuine human relationships. While technology can help people stay connected, she said there remains something unique about face-to-face encounters.
“Part of our mission is about seeing others,” she said. “Seeing not just the circumstances someone is in, but how God sees them.”
A panel discussion chaired by Sam Hailes, editor of Christianity magazine and publishing director of Premier, explored the role of AI in worship, discipleship, publishing and Bible engagement.
Among the panellists was worship leader and songwriter Richard James Butt who expressed caution about using AI to generate creative content like music.
“My general position is that I probably wouldn’t use AI for the generation of any ideas,” he said.
Butt suggested that audiences still place a high value on authenticity and human creativity and there is a sense of “disappointment” when art has been AI generated.
Lindsay Holley, senior director of global impact at Biblica, expressed the value of AI in expanding Bible translation and helping people engage with Scripture.
“If we are passionate about allowing people to meet Jesus in the pages of Scripture, we have a responsibility to utilise the tools that God has provided,” she said. “AI seems to be a tool in that arsenal, but the issue again is wisdom in how much we let it dictate versus how we use it.”
The final keynote came from James Poulter, AI strategist, author and host of the Missional AI podcast. Reflecting on the rapid pace of technological change, he described AI as being in a period between initial excitement and deeper societal debate.
Poulter compared today’s AI moment to previous technological revolutions and urged Christians not to complain about change but to engage thoughtfully with it.
Referencing Acts 2 and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he argued that believers need spiritual wisdom to navigate a period of significant disruption.
“Acts chapter 2 speaks of a new language that was given to the disciples for a moment of difficulty, change and revolution,” he said.
“God sends the Helper to help discern the times and this is what I think we need to be focusing on.”
