The Christian Leader’s Guide to AI

You're already using AI. You're just not sure you should be.

Maybe it was a grant proposal when the deadline was impossible. A donor thank-you letter when your inbox had 200 more waiting. Sermon research at 11 PM on a Saturday when the words wouldn't come.

It helped. But something nagged at you afterward. A question you couldn't quite answer: Was that okay?

You've looked for guidance and found either breathless enthusiasm from people who want to sell you something, or blanket prohibition from people who haven't actually tried it. Neither feels like wisdom. Neither tells you what to do Monday morning when you're drowning in real work, and the tool is sitting right there.

This book is different.

Jeremy Reis leads a nonprofit serving over 8,700 orphaned and vulnerable children across 37 countries. He uses AI daily—for research, drafting, analysis, and operations. He's also watched it go wrong. Watched leaders outsource their thinking without realizing it. Watched organizations drift toward Silicon Valley's values while believing they were just being efficient. Watched the slow erosion of capacities that only becomes visible when it's too late.

The Christian Leader's Guide to AI offers what nobody else is providing: a theological framework for discernment. Rooted in Scripture. Tested in practice. Built for leaders who need to make real decisions, not argue about hypotheticals.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

A framework that actually works. Three diagnostic questions that cut through the hype and help you evaluate any AI use: Does this serve people or replace them? What capacity am I building or losing? Whose values am I amplifying?

Seven principles for faithful stewardship. How AI shapes your thinking, your formation, and your organization, often in ways you don't notice until the damage is done. And how to navigate those currents intentionally instead of drifting.

Where AI helps and where it harms. Specific, practical guidance for administration, preaching and teaching, donor relations, pastoral care, content creation, and program delivery. Not theory—real boundaries for real ministry contexts.

How to lead your team well. A process for creating an AI policy that fits your organization. When to disclose AI use and when it doesn't matter. How to build a culture of wisdom rather than reaction.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR:

The pastor wondering if AI sermon research is a shortcut or a legitimate tool. The nonprofit executive trying to figure out where AI fits in organizational strategy. The development director evaluating AI for donor communications. The ministry leader whose team is already using AI—with or without guidance. Anyone asking: How do I steward this technology faithfully?

WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT:

This isn't a technology manual. You won't learn prompt engineering or the difference between language models. This isn't fear-mongering. The sky is not falling. This isn't a blanket approval or rejection. Anyone who tells you "use it for everything" or "avoid it completely" is oversimplifying.

This is a framework for wisdom. Principles that won't become obsolete when the next AI tool launches. Guidance rooted in theology that's guided the church through every technological disruption ... the printing press, radio, television, the internet, social media, and now this.

THE TECHNOLOGY WILL KEEP CHANGING. THE WISDOM TO NAVIGATE IT WON'T.

Your staff is already using AI. Your board is asking questions. Your congregation is wondering what you think. The decisions you make now—about what to adopt, what to protect, and where to draw lines—will shape your ministry for years to come.

You don't need more hype. You don't need more fear. You need a framework for thinking clearly when everyone else is reacting.

This is that framework.