{
  "title": "What the churches have said about AI",
  "description": "Official church and denominational statements on artificial intelligence, dated and linked to the source. Summaries are Lumin’s paraphrase, not quotation.",
  "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai",
  "markdown": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai.md",
  "atom": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai.atom",
  "maintainer": {
    "name": "Andrew Kittridge",
    "organization": "Lumin",
    "email": "support@lumin.faith"
  },
  "lastChecked": "2026-09-22",
  "nextCheck": "2026-12-22",
  "lastChanged": "2026-09-24",
  "notes": [
    "Each summary is Lumin’s paraphrase, not quotation. Open primaryUrl before quoting a statement.",
    "primaryUrl is the link the library gives: the document itself when it is public, otherwise the report named in sourceLabel.",
    "authority says what kind of authority the document carries.",
    "When dateLabel shows only a year, date is approximate."
  ],
  "count": 15,
  "statements": [
    {
      "id": "usccb-task-force-2026",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#usccb-task-force-2026",
      "title": "Bishops’ Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence",
      "body": "United States Conference of Catholic Bishops",
      "tradition": "Catholic",
      "date": "2026-09-16",
      "dateLabel": "Sep 2026",
      "kind": "Task force",
      "authority": "A new working body of the U.S. bishops. It will advise and advocate; it does not issue doctrine.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.americamagazine.org/news/2026/09/16/us-bishops-form-ai-task-force/",
      "sourceLabel": "America Magazine report",
      "summary": [
        "Formed after the bishops’ Administrative Committee met with technology leaders and AI specialists.",
        "Chaired by Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, the diocese that includes Silicon Valley.",
        "Focus: policies that protect human dignity, religious liberty, workers, families, and vulnerable people, including children online."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "brentwood-statement-2026",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#brentwood-statement-2026",
      "title": "Brentwood Statement on Artificial Intelligence and Christian Ministry",
      "body": "Lifeway Christian Resources with Southern Baptist leaders",
      "tradition": "Baptist & evangelical",
      "date": "2026-06-08",
      "dateLabel": "Jun 2026",
      "kind": "Statement",
      "authority": "A signed statement by denominational leaders. Not a convention resolution and not binding on churches.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://brentwoodstatement.lifeway.com/",
      "sourceLabel": "brentwoodstatement.lifeway.com",
      "summary": [
        "Seven articles for ministry leaders: pursue wisdom, champion God-given dignity, promote truth, cultivate trust, protect privacy, represent the Kingdom, model faithful leadership.",
        "People are made in God’s image and are fundamentally distinct from machines.",
        "Leaders should guard congregational data and stay above reproach in how they use AI.",
        "Drafted by Jason Thacker after an April 2026 gathering in Brentwood, Tennessee; signed by leaders of Southern Baptist entities and seminaries."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "magnifica-humanitas-2026",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#magnifica-humanitas-2026",
      "title": "Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence",
      "body": "Pope Leo XIV",
      "tradition": "Catholic",
      "date": "2026-05-15",
      "dateLabel": "May 2026",
      "kind": "Encyclical",
      "authority": "A papal encyclical, among the most authoritative forms of papal teaching in Catholic social doctrine.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html",
      "sourceLabel": "vatican.va",
      "summary": [
        "Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, devoted to AI.",
        "Technology is neither evil nor neutral: it takes on the character of those who design, fund, regulate, and use it.",
        "Human dignity rests on being made in God’s image; warns against transhumanist promises of salvation through technology.",
        "Calls for protecting truth, dignified work, and freedom from digital dependency, and for AI that serves people rather than concentrating power."
      ],
      "explainerUrl": "https://www.lumin.faith/pope-leo-ai-encyclical",
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-24"
    },
    {
      "id": "elca-issue-paper-2025",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#elca-issue-paper-2025",
      "title": "Artificial Intelligence Issue Paper",
      "body": "Evangelical Lutheran Church in America",
      "tradition": "Lutheran",
      "date": "2025-12-05",
      "dateLabel": "Dec 2025",
      "kind": "Issue paper",
      "authority": "An issue paper. The ELCA has said its AI work is the start of a conversation, not a new social statement.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://resources.elca.org/corporate-social-responsibility/artificial-intelligence-issue-paper/",
      "sourceLabel": "ELCA Resources",
      "summary": [
        "Published through the ELCA’s corporate social responsibility work.",
        "Applies existing ELCA social teaching to AI rather than creating new teaching.",
        "Raises concerns about regulating a fast-moving technology and protecting vulnerable people."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "anglican-church-of-canada-2025",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#anglican-church-of-canada-2025",
      "title": "Resolution C005: Artificial Intelligence Use in the Church",
      "body": "Anglican Church of Canada, General Synod 2025",
      "tradition": "Anglican",
      "date": "2025-06-23",
      "dateLabel": "Jun 2025",
      "kind": "Resolution",
      "authority": "The resolution page records it as referred to the Council of General Synod.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://gs2025.anglican.ca/resolutions/c005/",
      "sourceLabel": "General Synod 2025",
      "summary": [
        "Asks for an AI ethics task force to set guiding virtues for the church’s use of generative AI.",
        "The task force would review resources, advise on intellectual property and data protection, and draft policies for dioceses."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "methodist-church-britain-2025",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#methodist-church-britain-2025",
      "title": "Embracing AI with care and caution: interim guidance for Methodist churches",
      "body": "The Methodist Church in Britain (AI Working Group)",
      "tradition": "Methodist",
      "date": "2025-02-28",
      "dateLabel": "Feb 2025",
      "kind": "Guidance",
      "authority": "Interim practical guidance for local churches from a connexional working group.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.methodist.org.uk/for-churches/digital-church/digital-training-blog/embracing-ai-with-care-and-caution-interim-guidance-for-methodist-churches/",
      "sourceLabel": "methodist.org.uk",
      "summary": [
        "Do not enter names, contact details, or confidential information into AI tools.",
        "Tell the congregation what AI is used for and what data it touches.",
        "Review providers’ privacy and security before adopting a tool.",
        "Human relationships, compassion, and spiritual depth cannot be replaced by a machine."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "antiqua-et-nova-2025",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#antiqua-et-nova-2025",
      "title": "Antiqua et nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence",
      "body": "Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and Dicastery for Culture and Education",
      "tradition": "Catholic",
      "date": "2025-01-28",
      "dateLabel": "Jan 2025",
      "kind": "Doctrinal note",
      "authority": "A note approved by the Pope and issued by two Vatican dicasteries.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250128_antiqua-et-nova_en.html",
      "sourceLabel": "vatican.va",
      "summary": [
        "AI performs tasks; it does not think the way embodied, relational human beings do.",
        "Warns against describing AI in human terms, which blurs the line between persons and machines.",
        "Treating AI as a substitute for God would be a form of idolatry.",
        "Education and relationships need real persons; simulated empathy is not the same as being known."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "bartholomew-2025",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#bartholomew-2025",
      "title": "Addresses on AI, including to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe",
      "body": "Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew",
      "tradition": "Orthodox",
      "date": "2025-01-27",
      "dateLabel": "Jan 2025",
      "kind": "Addresses",
      "authority": "Public addresses by the Ecumenical Patriarch. Orthodox churches have not issued a joint synodal statement on AI.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://archons.org/persecution/ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-ai/",
      "sourceLabel": "Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate",
      "summary": [
        "AI must respect individual dignity, safeguard fundamental freedoms, and advance social equity.",
        "The Orthodox tradition calls for moral discernment alongside scientific development.",
        "Also addressed AI and youth at a December 2024 conference in Athens."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "lausanne-2024",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#lausanne-2024",
      "title": "State of the Great Commission report: Artificial Intelligence",
      "body": "Lausanne Movement",
      "tradition": "Baptist & evangelical",
      "date": "2024-09-01",
      "dateLabel": "2024",
      "kind": "Report",
      "authority": "A research report for the global evangelical mission movement, not a confessional statement.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://lausanne.org/report/human/artificial-intelligence",
      "sourceLabel": "lausanne.org",
      "summary": [
        "Names AI as one of the forces shaping global mission toward 2050.",
        "Human worth comes from the image of God, not from capacities machines might match.",
        "AI can serve Bible translation, discipleship, and outreach but cannot replace relational, personal witness."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "episcopal-church-2024",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#episcopal-church-2024",
      "title": "Resolutions on generative AI and a Task Force on AI and Intellectual Property",
      "body": "The Episcopal Church, 81st General Convention",
      "tradition": "Anglican",
      "date": "2024-06-23",
      "dateLabel": "Jun 2024",
      "kind": "Resolutions and task force",
      "authority": "Resolutions of the church’s governing convention and an interim body still at work.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://extranet.generalconvention.org/governing_and_interim_bodies/interim_bodies/1547/mandate",
      "sourceLabel": "Task force mandate",
      "summary": [
        "Resolution D017 supported regulation of generative AI, calling for guardrails, transparent ethics, and independent review.",
        "Resolutions D020 and D045 created a task force on AI in sermon and liturgy preparation, hiring, academic writing, and church copyright.",
        "The task force reports to the next General Convention."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "church-of-england-2024",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#church-of-england-2024",
      "title": "Motion on the dignity of work in an age of AI",
      "body": "Church of England, General Synod",
      "tradition": "Anglican",
      "date": "2024-02-26",
      "dateLabel": "Feb 2024",
      "kind": "Synod motion",
      "authority": "A motion of the General Synod, the church’s national assembly.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.churchofengland.org/media/press-releases/synod-affirms-work-key-human-dignity-and-purpose-face-ai-revolution",
      "sourceLabel": "Church of England press release",
      "summary": [
        "Affirmed that paid and unpaid work is part of human flourishing and dignity amid AI-driven change.",
        "An amendment from the Archbishop of Canterbury endorsed the Rome Call for AI Ethics.",
        "Passed by a large majority on a show of hands."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "wcc-2023",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#wcc-2023",
      "title": "Statement on the Unregulated Development of Artificial Intelligence",
      "body": "World Council of Churches, Central Committee",
      "tradition": "Ecumenical",
      "date": "2023-06-26",
      "dateLabel": "Jun 2023",
      "kind": "Statement",
      "authority": "Adopted by the governing Central Committee of a fellowship of 350+ member churches.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/statement-on-the-unregulated-development-of-artificial-intelligence",
      "sourceLabel": "oikoumene.org",
      "summary": [
        "Urges governments to establish strong, binding regulation of advanced AI.",
        "Supports making developers and deployers legally responsible for harm.",
        "Invites member churches to reflect theologically on AI and to advocate with their governments."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "sbc-2023",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#sbc-2023",
      "title": "On Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies",
      "body": "Southern Baptist Convention",
      "tradition": "Baptist & evangelical",
      "date": "2023-06-14",
      "dateLabel": "Jun 2023",
      "kind": "Resolution",
      "authority": "A resolution adopted by messengers in New Orleans. SBC resolutions express the convention’s view and do not bind local churches.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-artificial-intelligence-and-emerging-technologies/",
      "sourceLabel": "sbc.net",
      "summary": [
        "Engage AI with hope rather than uncritical embrace or fearful rejection.",
        "Scripture is sufficient for the ethical questions these technologies raise.",
        "Human dignity comes from the image of God, not from productivity.",
        "Calls on all who use these tools to do so honestly, transparently, and in love of neighbor."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "rome-call-2020",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#rome-call-2020",
      "title": "Rome Call for AI Ethics",
      "body": "Pontifical Academy for Life, with Microsoft, IBM, the FAO, and the Italian government",
      "tradition": "Catholic",
      "date": "2020-02-28",
      "dateLabel": "Feb 2020",
      "kind": "Joint call",
      "authority": "A voluntary ethics pledge, not a doctrinal document.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://www.romecall.org/the-call/",
      "sourceLabel": "romecall.org",
      "summary": [
        "Principles for AI: transparency, inclusion, responsibility, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy.",
        "Signed by a Vatican academy alongside technology companies and governments.",
        "Later endorsed by the Church of England’s General Synod and signed by leaders of other faiths."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "erlc-2019",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#erlc-2019",
      "title": "Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles",
      "body": "Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention",
      "tradition": "Baptist & evangelical",
      "date": "2019-04-11",
      "dateLabel": "Apr 2019",
      "kind": "Statement",
      "authority": "A signed statement of principles, one of the earliest Christian statements on AI.",
      "primaryUrl": "https://erlc.com/policy-content/artificial-intelligence-an-evangelical-statement-of-principles/",
      "sourceLabel": "erlc.com",
      "summary": [
        "Twelve articles on AI in medicine, work, war, public policy, and more.",
        "Each person bears God’s image with intrinsic worth and moral agency, distinct from all creation.",
        "Signed at launch by more than 70 evangelical leaders."
      ],
      "added": "2026-09-22",
      "updated": "2026-09-22"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "id": "2026-09-24-magnifica-humanitas-explainer",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#change-2026-09-24-magnifica-humanitas-explainer",
      "date": "2026-09-24",
      "type": "updated",
      "statements": [
        "magnifica-humanitas-2026"
      ],
      "note": "Added a link to Lumin’s plain-language explainer, Magnifica Humanitas, explained."
    },
    {
      "id": "2026-09-22-library-published",
      "url": "https://www.lumin.faith/church-statements-on-ai#change-2026-09-22-library-published",
      "date": "2026-09-22",
      "type": "added",
      "statements": [
        "usccb-task-force-2026",
        "brentwood-statement-2026",
        "magnifica-humanitas-2026",
        "elca-issue-paper-2025",
        "anglican-church-of-canada-2025",
        "methodist-church-britain-2025",
        "antiqua-et-nova-2025",
        "bartholomew-2025",
        "lausanne-2024",
        "episcopal-church-2024",
        "church-of-england-2024",
        "wcc-2023",
        "sbc-2023",
        "rome-call-2020",
        "erlc-2019"
      ],
      "note": "The library opened with 15 statements from 2019 to 2026, each checked against its source."
    }
  ],
  "notYetInLibrary": [
    {
      "tradition": "Pentecostal and charismatic",
      "bodies": [
        "Assemblies of God",
        "Church of God in Christ"
      ]
    },
    {
      "tradition": "Historic Black churches",
      "bodies": [
        "African Methodist Episcopal Church",
        "National Baptist Convention, USA"
      ]
    },
    {
      "tradition": "Presbyterian and Reformed",
      "bodies": [
        "Presbyterian Church in America",
        "Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)"
      ]
    },
    {
      "tradition": "Methodist",
      "bodies": [
        "United Methodist Church"
      ]
    },
    {
      "tradition": "Lutheran",
      "bodies": [
        "Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod"
      ]
    },
    {
      "tradition": "Anglican",
      "bodies": [
        "Anglican Church in North America"
      ]
    }
  ]
}