CENTER FOR AI AND RELIGIOUS IMAGERY
Church AI policy worksheet — review edition, 25 September 2026

Purpose
Use this worksheet to agree responsibilities before adopting a tool. It is a discussion resource, not legal advice or a claim that all churches share one policy.

1. Name the task and the person responsible.
Describe the problem before naming a product. Identify who verifies its output, who can stop its use and who receives concerns.

2. Protect relationships and confidences.
Do not enter private pastoral conversations, identifiable prayer requests, safeguarding allegations or information about children into a consumer tool without an approved privacy process. Use fictional examples for training. Consult the responsible safeguarding and privacy leads for real cases.

3. Keep spiritual authority accountable.
Retrieving a passage is different from interpreting it for a person in distress. Do not present a chatbot as God, a deceased leader, an ordained minister or an accountable pastoral relationship. Verify biblical quotations, references, historical claims and translations.

4. Tell the truth about assistance.
Decide when the audience should know AI helped prepare material. Never present an invented quotation, image or encounter as a witnessed event. Keep the responsible author identifiable.

5. Review effects, not merely output.
Ask whether the tool helps people learn, serves neighbors and preserves human judgment. Record problems, accessibility barriers, costs and who is excluded. Agree a review date and a way to stop use.

Christian reflection
Genesis 1:27 grounds dignity in humanity's relation to God rather than productivity. James 3:13–18 connects wisdom with conduct and character. First Thessalonians 5:21 encourages testing claims. Discuss how these principles guide a specific use rather than treating them as a verdict on every technology.

Decision record
Task:
Responsible person:
Permitted information:
Prohibited information:
Verification and disclosure:
People consulted:
Approval date:
Review date:
Stop conditions: