Meeting People Where They Are: AI and the Church's Mission

Someone asking questions online may be taking a first step toward a life-changing conversation. Matthew Banther wants the church to be there, ready to listen and help them find community.

I spoke with Matthew, Director of Global Missions and Digital Engagement at Calvary Church, about AI and ministry. What stayed with me was his heart for people coming to know Christ. Every tool we talked about had a place in that mission: helping someone ask a question, meet a person, and find a community where faith can grow.

A question can open the door

Through his consulting with international ministries, Matthew has helped build digital outreach that invites people to learn more. On the website, chatbots draw from theological libraries and ask six or seven questions to help identify people seeking a deeper understanding of Christ. But after that comes an invitation to connect with a real person. People in the Discord community are ready to talk. Choosing a city helps someone find the relevant group, and AI assists with connecting them to people in that area.

That possibility is exciting: a question typed into a website can become a conversation with someone who cares, with a path toward community close to home.

The woman at the well

Matthew brought up the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus went out of his way to meet her where she was. She believed in the Messiah and went to share the news with her people.

That story gave our conversation its heart. Matthew sees digital ministry as a way to meet people where they are, with the goal of life change. For someone exploring online, a thoughtful response and an invitation into community could be a meaningful beginning.

The church needs to learn AI now

Matthew feels an urgency about this. In his view, churches arrived late to social media, and by the time many embraced it, the people they hoped to reach had moved on. He worries that AI and virtual reality could become another missed opportunity.

His encouragement to churches is to start learning now. Understand how people use these spaces. Explore how to be present, answer questions faithfully, and build relationships there. The opportunity matters because people are already bringing their questions into digital conversations.

Helping staff serve people

At Calvary, that learning is underway. The church has released initial ethical guidance, and a team of staff members with experience using AI are helping colleagues learn.

Matthew also uses sermons, commentaries, and seminary library material to support his own study. AI helps him work through long missiology papers and make the ideas easier to teach.

Matthew’s emphasis on helping staff use information reminds me of Production Document Chat, which I built for winery teams. It lets staff ask questions about their business data and get charts or downloadable lists. Suggested questions help people get started. For church staff exploring shared resources, that is a useful design idea: make the assistant’s purpose and available information easy to understand.

I appreciated Matthew’s perspective on AI’s place in ministry. He sees a strong role for it as an assistant and research tool. He also pointed out how AI should not write a sermon or counsel a person. Those are human jobs, requiring care, theological judgment, and responsibility for the people being served.