Pro Church Tools with Brady Shearer

Pro Church Tools with Brady Shearer Helping churches navigate the biggest communication shift in 500 years.
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1 In 3 Christians Trust AI As Much As Their Pastor (Now What?)30% of practicing American Christians say spiritual advice...
06/17/2026

1 In 3 Christians Trust AI As Much As Their Pastor (Now What?)

30% of practicing American Christians say spiritual advice from AI is as trustworthy as advice from a pastor.

Among Gen Z? 39%. Among Millennials? 40%.
(Source: Barna's 2026 State of the Church)

Big yikes.

You'd expect non-Christians or casual churchgoers to trust AI more. Nope.

Practicing Christians are MORE likely to say AI spiritual advice is trustworthy than non-practicing Christians and non-Christians.

The people most engaged with your church are the ones most open to an alternative, apparently.

4 in 10 Christians say AI has already helped them with prayer, Bible study, and spiritual growth.

Not "would consider using AI."

Already using it. Already finding it helpful. Already forming their theology through it.

To be clear, "as trustworthy" doesn't mean "preferred."

The same Barna data shows Christians still overwhelmingly value in-person community, pastoral prayer, and human connection.

Now, how could this be? Well, consider that:

AI is available at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday. AI doesn't make you schedule a meeting. AI doesn't judge the question.

So what do we do about it?

1. Address it from the pulpit.

Your congregation is using AI for spiritual questions - especially under 40. Don't pretend it's not happening. 33% of practicing Christians want guidance from their pastor on how to handle technology. Yet only 12% of pastors feel comfortable teaching on it.

2. Invest even more in what AI can't do.

AI can draft an email. It can summarize a commentary. It can answer a Bible trivia question at midnight.

It cannot visit you in the hospital. It cannot pray over you with hands on your shoulders. It cannot sit with you in silence when the words won’t come.

That's where the church lives.

64% of church leaders say having an AI policy is important. Only 5% actually have one.

We created a free one-page AI policy template to help you get started. Comment DRAFT and I'll send it to you.

06/16/2026

No profession in America has lost more public trust than pastors. From 67% in 1985 to 27% today. The steepest decline among any profession Gallup tracks.

In 1985, Gallup asked Americans how they'd rate pastors on honesty and ethics. 67% said high or very high.Making pastors...
06/11/2026

In 1985, Gallup asked Americans how they'd rate pastors on honesty and ethics. 67% said high or very high.

Making pastors one of the most trusted positions in America.

Gallup just asked the same question again. The answer?

27%. A 40-point collapse in trust over four decades. And it gets worse…

Because among Americans under 35, that number is only 17%.

It's so bad that trust in pastors has fallen more than any other profession Gallup tracks.

More than politicians.
More than lawyers.
More than used car salesmen.

Obviously, the question isn't whether this affects your church. It does. The question is what you do about it.

Here are five ideas…

1. Radical transparency in finances. Publish your budget - not because you have to, but because it builds trust.

2. Feature imperfection, not just authority. "Here's what I got wrong this week" builds more trust than trying to project perfection.

3. Build multiple voices, not one platform. If all credibility lives in one person, one scandal destroys everything.

4. Address the elephant. Acknowledging the trust crisis from stage is itself a trust signal.

5. Overcommunicate accountability structures. If your church has a board, financial oversight, or pastoral accountability - tell people, repeatedly.

64% of church leaders say an AI policy is important.Only 5% have one. (Source: Barna)Here's what belongs in yours - and ...
06/10/2026

64% of church leaders say an AI policy is important.

Only 5% have one. (Source: Barna)

Here's what belongs in yours - and I’ve got a free template to get you started.

#1: SERMON PREPARATION

Is your pastor using AI to research, outline, or draft sermons? That's not automatically wrong - but your church should decide where the line is.

Does AI help with research and brainstorming? Fine for most churches. Is AI writing full sermon drafts? That's worth a conversation. Should AI use be disclosed to the congregation? Your call - but make it a conscious one.

#2: CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS

Who's writing your church's Instagram captions? Your email newsletters? Your website copy?

If the answer is "AI, mostly" - that's not a scandal. But your team should know where AI-generated content is acceptable and where a human voice is non-negotiable.

Announcements and event descriptions? Probably fine. A letter from the pastor to a grieving family? Probably not.

#3: COUNSELING AND SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE

This is the big one.

30% of practicing Christians already say spiritual advice from AI is as trustworthy as advice from a pastor. Your people are asking ChatGPT theological questions whether you address it or not.

Your policy should say something. Encourage it? Caution against it? Offer guardrails?

#4: DATA PRIVACY

If your church is using AI tools - for communication, for admin, for anything - you're feeding information into those tools.

Congregant names. Prayer requests. Counseling notes. Giving data.

Your policy should be clear about what information can and cannot be entered into AI platforms.

Here's the good news - this doesn't need to be a 50-page document.

A one-page statement of principles is enough to start. Four sections. Clear language. A living document you revisit as AI changes.

We’ve made it easy for you. We wrote the policy. You can customize it.

Comment DRAFT and I'll send it to you.

06/09/2026

Is the announcements slot the most unenviable position in a church service?

Watch the language: "Just two more. I swear I'll be done very soon." "I'm going to breeze through them as fast as possible." "We've got a lot of them..."

Nobody wants to be that person. And deep down, they know why – because they're loading the congregation with information that isn't going to land.

The problem is the system, not the person.

We built The 7 Building Blocks to fix it – the rule book for church communications. These churches each got their Church Chaos Score: a real picture of where their ministry stands, plus a personalized plan to improve.

Score runs from 0–100. Lower = less chaos. Takes 3 minutes.

Get yours at churchchaos.com – or comment CHAOS and I'll send you the link.

06/04/2026

Stop emphasizing the information from the stage at church. The stage is for inspiration.

Tell the story. Show the photo. Make me feel something.

THEN point me to one place where I can find every detail I need.

Here's the thing - every church I know tries really hard on this. Virtually no church gets taught how to do it right.

So I published a full Church Communications Masterclass on YouTube to fix that.

Comment CLASS and I'll DM you the link.

06/03/2026

Someone asked ChatGPT for a church recommendation last week. They showed up Sunday.

Comment CHECKLIST and I'll send you the full episode with our 5-step AI visibility checklist.

Every June, churches tend to roll out the same Father's Day playbook.Bacon theming is common.I’d love to see a different...
06/02/2026

Every June, churches tend to roll out the same Father's Day playbook.

Bacon theming is common.

I’d love to see a different approach this year - stop making dads into caricatures.

Statista asked dads what they want most on Father's Day. The #1 answer?

Nothing. 1 in 5 dads said nothing.

1% said flowers. 6% said beer or liquor. The rest wanted to be left alone.

This is the starting point. Dads aren't showing up hungry for a spectacle. They're showing up like they do every Sunday.

The trap? Too many services on Father’s Day treat dads as one, generic type: grilling, sports, tools, bacon, grunting approval.

But the dads in your church are more varied than that. You've got new dads running on no sleep. Dads of teenagers navigating distance. Dads of adult kids missing the noise. Granddads.

A caricature flattens all of that into one joke. And once you've flattened someone, it's hard to honor them.

It’s not uncommon for Mother's Day to get the full treatment at church - the sermon, the flowers, the service design, the photo wall.

Father's Day gets a slide. Maybe a gift. Sometimes nothing because it landed in the middle of summer and nobody planned for it.

To be clear, you don't need to build a Mother's Day equivalent for dads. The data says dads probably don't want that anyway.

What you need is effort pointed at the right place. Specific stories. Real memories. Small, useful gestures. Maybe a tradition that repeats.

Need more specific ideas? I put together a full list of 9 unique Father's Day ideas - free, creative, and none of them involve bacon.

Comment DADS and I'll DM you the link.

05/28/2026

The best church policies are firm but fun. And Christ Community Church nailed it.

Most churches wing it. Please, do not do that.

I published a free Church Communications Masterclass on YouTube that walks through this and includes a full policy you can steal.

Comment CLASS and I’ll DM you the link.

05/27/2026

Comment FRESH and we'll send you this full podcast with every unique idea we've got for Father's Day 2026 at church.

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