New one artificial intelligence A platform aimed at helping pastors present their sermons more effectively will be launched later this month.
According to Michael Whittle and Jake Sweetman, the Pulpit AI they built will be officially released on July 22 and will include both free and paid versions.
Whittle lives in Nashville, while Sweetman is the senior pastor Cathedral Church in Los Angeles, which he and Whittle started. In a Zoom interview with Fox News Digital, Whittle said the two have been friends for 10 years.
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“Pulpit AI is a generative AI app that allows churches and pastors, church leaders, to upload any version of their sermons,” Whittle said. He said this includes audio, video, manuscript or outline.
“Our app then automatically turns that sermon into all kinds of associated content that a pastor or a church might need based on that sermon,” he said.
Co-founder Michael Whittle said Pulpit AI allows church leaders and pastors to upload a sermon and turn it into any type of relatable content. (Pulpit AI)
This includes, but is not limited to, “devotionals, discussion questions and guides for small groups, newsletters,” social media content – really everything a church needs to communicate with its congregation,” Whittle said.
The idea for Pulpit AI came from a desire to deliver sermons to the congregation more effectively, while also reducing work for church staff.
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“I met (Sweetman) one day and I said, ‘Hey, what if we could build a tool that lets you upload your sermon to an app… and what if it could turn it into a bus A devotion Whittle asked, “Was there a way for our community to read something based on the sermon every day of the week?”
Michael Whittle (pictured) told Fox News Digital he was inspired to create Pulpit AI when he wanted to turn one of co-founder Jake Sweetman’s sermons into a devotional that could be read throughout the week. (Pulpit AI)
The two then asked a team member from Cathedral Church what she thought of the idea.
“He said, ‘Yeah, if we could do that it would save me a lot of hours in my week.’” “So that was kind of the beginning,” Whittle said.
‘Valuable enough to live on’
“The reality is that pastors spend a lot of hours preparing for sermons,” Sweetman told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview.
Sweetman said he spends “10 to 15 hours a week writing a sermon.”
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“Despite all that work, most preachers’ sermons don’t last beyond Sunday, except maybe they’re uploaded to a podcast,” Sweetman said.
Pulpit AI is able to convert a sermon into additional content without “investing a lot of time and large costs.”
He said using tools in Pulpit AI is “very helpful from a discipleship standpoint” and that it’s able to turn a sermon into additional content “without investing a lot of time and a lot of cost.”
Sweetman said, “Pulpit AI opens a huge door for the content we deliver in our churches. I mean, we’re going to spend 15 hours a week writing a sermon. Obviously, we think it’s valuable, and it’s valuable enough to stay in (congregants’) minds beyond a 90-minute Sunday service.”
Jake Sweetman said Pulpit AI is a way for pastors to ensure their sermons “continue beyond the 90-minute Sunday service.” (iStock)
Unlike other AI programs that have been accused of Inaccuracies and bias“Pulpit AI isn’t going to suddenly start spewing heresy without warning,” Whittle said.
“The way our app is built, it’s what you put into it,” Whittle said.
So “you’re uploading something you created.”
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He added that Pulpit AI doesn’t generate the sermons themselves.
Instead, it “creates content based directly on the sermon, rather than pulling content from a variety of sources on the Internet.”
Sweetman said Pulpit AI is a useful tool that “doesn’t require a huge investment of time or a huge cost.” (Pulpit AI)
“This isn’t something where you go in and ChatGPT writes a sermon for you from the get-go,” Whittle said.
“We are not adding any commentary. We are not adding any interpretation or anything to the app that would create something that is contrary to the original intent of the person who wrote and uploaded the sermon to our app.”
Skepticism over Church’s use of AI
Dr. Charlie Camosy, professor of medical humanities at Creighton University School of Medicine and holder of the Monsignor Curran Fellowship in Moral Theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York, told Fox News Digital that he believes the church should be cautious about the use of AI, though he doesn’t rule it out entirely.
“I think we need to go slow on this matter,” Camosy told Fox News Digital in an email, adding that he thinks the church should “slow down and Think and pray and observe.”
He said, “In principle, I understand that it’s okay to use AI as a tool in the service of human interactions. Sometimes, it’s even better than okay. It’s even great.”
“What would it mean if the art of taking notes of one’s sermons and using them to create other documents were lost? Probably nothing. But do we know that yet? It’s hard to predict.”
But he said he was concerned that AI could have the effect of “undermining human interaction”.
“What would it mean if the art of taking notes of one’s sermon and using them Create another document “Will it end? Maybe nothing. But do we know that yet? It’s hard to predict,” Camosy said.
“The Church thinks in terms of the centuries, and its primary focus is on service and love to others.” imitation of christNot primarily in terms of what’s the most efficient, time-saving thing.”
Pulpit AI doesn’t create the content of a sermon, its co-founder told Fox News Digital. Instead, he said, it helps pastors communicate their messages more effectively. (Pulpit AI)
“The biggest thing is that nobody knows what the consequences of using these technologies will be,” he said. “And the church is in a unique position to consider, perhaps for decades or centuries, whether this is a good idea.”
One pastor who used Pulpit AI ahead of its release told Fox News Digital that he found it easy and intuitive to use, which freed up his team to work on other projects.
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“Ever since Pulpit AI created this platform, we have started having small groups on our sermons and podcasts,” Adam Mesa, pastor of Patria Church in Rancho Cucamonga, California, told Fox News Digital in an email.
“The sheer volume of category summaries the system gives us has allowed our team to expand communication emails, small group questions, and content,” he said.
One of Pulpit AI’s many tools transcribes and summarizes sermons using AI — and other tools create video clips for sharing on social media accounts. (Pulpit AI)
Mesa said the Patria Church has about 12,000 members, “and we have also heard from many of them that they have greatly enjoyed our updated communication frequencies.”
“My team relies heavily on Pulpit AI on a weekly basis, and for me, this is a huge benefit as it takes away some of the tedious stuff from their workload,” he said.
“Once the sermon is uploaded to the app, regardless of the length, it takes about five minutes to transcribe the entire audio,” Mesa told Fox News Digital.
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Using Pulpit AI, Mesa is able to produce two podcast episodes each week, he said.
“Once loaded, each tool only takes a few minutes to make (the content) available to us,” Mesa said.
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Mesa said the material includes episode summaries, full transcripts, discussion questions, key points and an e-mail summary.
In addition, Pulpit AI creates “highlights and quotes” for social media use, he said. “Overall, we really like the platform.”
