Most pastors and practicing Christians are worried about artificial intelligence replacing God, yet they continue to use the technology anyway, according to new data released by Barna Group.
The data released last month by the Christian research firm was based on two surveys conducted in partnership with Gloo, as part of the State of the Church initiative. One survey conducted in November 2025 collected responses from 1,514 U.S. adults. Another study conducted in December 2025 collected responses from 442 Protestant pastors in the U.S.
Researchers found that Christians expressed strong openness to using AI across multiple domains of life, with 48% saying they trust the technology to help them grow spiritually.
Almost three in five respondents (61%) said they would also completely or somewhat trust AI to help them achieve financial stability, while 56% said they trust AI to help with their mental and physical well-being.
More than half also said they would trust the technology to help them feel happy and content with life, understand and express their true selves, find a sense of meaning or purpose, and build meaningful relationships with others. Practicing Christians also expressed higher trust in AI than their pastors and non-practicing Christians, the research found.
“What we’re seeing is that Christians are genuinely open to AI as a support for the domains that matter most to them — wellbeing, purpose, even spiritual growth,” Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research, said in a statement. “That level of openness is higher than we might have expected, and it holds across multiple areas of flourishing.”
Still, Christians and their pastors are concerned about AI’s growing influence in areas of faith and spirituality, particularly regarding “Scripture, divine authority, and the integrity of faith itself.”
Some 83% of practicing Christians and 94% of pastors worry about AI misinterpreting Scripture. About three-fourths of U.S. adults (74%) share that concern.
Nearly two-thirds of pastors (63%) expressed concern about AI replacing them, compared with 72% of practicing Christians. Nearly three-quarters of practicing Christians (73%) are also worried that AI might make people lose their faith.
“This is where the data gets genuinely confounding,” Copeland stated. “Christians say they trust AI with spiritual growth, and a meaningful share say its spiritual guidance is as trustworthy as a pastor’s — yet large majorities are simultaneously concerned about AI misinterpreting scripture, replacing God, or undermining the role of spiritual leaders. The use case and the underlying fear are both present, and they’re pointing in different directions.”
While recent studies show that most pastors use AI, there has been a persistent concern that use of the technology could displace their spiritual guidance.
In "Technology for Missional Impact: State of Church Tech 2026," produced by Barna in partnership with Pushpay, around 60% of church leaders report using AI for personal use at least a few times a month, while only 24% say they never use the technology.
Researchers also highlighted in "The 2025 State of AI in the Church Survey Report" last December that a majority of pastors use AI to prepare their sermons, with ChatGPT and Grammarly as the top two AI tools.
While only a few pastors expressed concern that AI would replace them outright, about two-thirds (65%) worry that AI could displace their spiritual guidance. About 70% worried that the technology could diminish congregants’ trust in them.
“Clear guidance could help address these tensions. Most church leaders believe it is important for churches to establish policies governing AI use (24% extremely, 40% somewhat),” the researchers for the 2025 report noted.
“Yet few churches have taken this step. Only 5% of church leaders say their church currently has an established AI policy — revealing a significant gap between leaders’ sense of responsibility and their organizational readiness.”
Originally published by The Christian Post.
