Artificial intelligence, authentic faith
Catch up on the latest news from The Christian Chronicle.
HAS AI come to your church?
My latest story for the Chronicle explores how Christians are grappling with responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Many who are embracing AI as a new tool to help spread the Gospel also warn of the need for discernment — to avoid the potential dangers of engaging with AI and AI-generated content in a “Digital Babylon.”
Also in this week’s update, a Chronicle intern, Ephraim Rodenbach, reports on the revival of the Owen Chapel Church of Christ, a historic Tennessee church built on tradition, prayer and community.
And from Branson, Mo., Erik Tryggestad writes about a small Missouri church that provides eight days of Scripture-loaded preaching in the Show Me State Bible Lectures.
Artificial intelligence, authentic faith
By Calvin Cockrell | Managing Editor
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — From theological research to Scripture translation to Bible trading cards, Christians — like most Americans — are embracing artificial intelligence.
More than half of adults under 50 said they interacted with AI at least once per day in 2025, according to Pew Research.
Meanwhile, more than 60 percent of practicing Christians said in a recent Barna study that AI is improving their lives and making the world a better place — compared to 53 percent of U.S. adults overall.
But as AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini and other AI tools become ubiquitous in everyday life, what does the technology mean for the mission of the church?
“I believe tech will play a role in this great movement of Jesus around the world, because tech is simply a means for spreading the most powerful thing given to humans — and that’s the Gospel,” said Wes Woodell, a church planter and founder of Connect My Church.
Woodell explained that Christians have always been at the forefront of new technology, often innovating new means to share the Good News. He pointed to the church’s adoption of mediums like books, magazines, radio, movies, TV, websites, podcasts, phone apps and online livestreaming — all for the furtherance of the Gospel.
“The mediums change, but the mission doesn’t,” noted Woodell, whose company — besides offering church management software — is developing AI tools for Bible study and discipleship.
Old walls, new life
By Ephraim Rodenbach | Intern
BRENTWOOD, TENN. — For more than 160 years, the Owen Chapel Church of Christ stood as a monument to tradition, its identity shaped by early ties to prominent Restoration Movement figures such as David Lipscomb, Tolbert Fanning and E.G. Sewell.
At the congregation’s 150th homecoming celebration in 2009, more than 150 members filled the pews.
But for years, numbers dwindled as church elders dipped into the congregation’s trust fund to keep the lights on.
Elsewhere in the Nashville area, a group of Christians, unsettled by a doctrinal disagreement with their church’s elders, was looking for a new home.
“There was a group of people who were looking for help, and there was another group of people looking for a place to help,” said Dan Harrell, Owen Chapel’s minister. “And God brought us together.”
Arrival of ‘Cowboy Dan’
In 2024, Owen Chapel placed advertisements searching for a new minister. From that search came Harrell, a West Texas native better known to the congregation as “Cowboy Dan.”
A graduate of Abilene Christian University, Harrell moved to Middle Tennessee as an aspiring songwriter before building a career in agriculture. Outside of his ministry, he creates songs that spotlight agriculture while sharing his faith.
Known for his cowboy boots and Western style, he quickly brought a friendly, outgoing presence to the congregation.
Believers ‘ink up’ their Bibles in Branson
By Erik Tryggestad | President and CEO
BRANSON, MO. — Something Brent Green said must’ve rubbed the devil the wrong way.
The associate minister for the Kansas Expressway Church of Christ in Springfield, Mo., was about halfway through his sermon, titled “Satan Wants You,” when a summer squall erupted outside. Rain pounded the A-frame, wood-slat roof of the Branson Church of Christ’s auditorium. The winds howled, attempting to drown out the message.
Green wasn’t even scheduled to speak on the next-to-last day of the Show Me State Bible Lectures. Another minister, slated for the Saturday night spot, contracted meningitis and was hospitalized just before the lectureship. Organizers asked Green, who also teaches for the Bible Institute of Missouri, to fill in.
Despite the impromptu request and the noisy weather, Green preached fervently, quoting from Ephesians 5:15-16 as he warned about Satan’s use of distractions to tear believers’ focus away from God: “See then that you walk carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
“We’re in a battle for our spiritual lives,” Green said. “The devil does not take a day off.”
Thunderstorms pelted this tourist town in the Ozark Mountains throughout the week. But the weather didn’t stop the 40-member Branson congregation from offering eight days of gospel preaching by 29 ministers, seven congregational singing sessions and six fellowship meals. Nearly 300 church members came for the kickoff service on Sunday, and an average of 200 attended throughout the week, representing nearly 90 congregations in 14 states, organizers said.
Speakers at the Show Me State Bible Lectures put heavy emphasis on Scripture, in keeping with the state’s unofficial nickname. The “Show Me State” is thought to come from an 1899 speech by Missouri Rep. Willard Duncan Vandiver. “Frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me,” Vandiver said. “I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.”
