Most pastors, practicing Christians worry about AI replacing God but use it anyway: Barna
June 3, 2026
New data released by Barna Group shows that most pastors and practicing Christians are worried about artificial intelligence replacing God, yet they continue to use the technology anyway.
The Christian Post reports that the data released last month by the Christian research firm was based on two surveys conducted in partnership with Gloo, as part of the State of the Church initiative.
A survey in November 2025 collected responses from 1,514 U.S. adults while a separate study in December 2025 gathered responses from 442 Protestant pastors in the U.S.
According to Barna, researchers found that Christians expressed strong openness to using AI across multiple domains of life, with 48% saying they trust the technology to help them grow spiritually.
Almost three in five respondents said they would also completely or somewhat trust AI to help them achieve financial stability, while more than half said they trust AI to help with their mental and physical well-being.
More than half of those surveyed said they would trust the technology to help them feel happy and content with life, understand and express their true selves, find a sense of meaning or purpose, and build meaningful relationships with others.
According to the Christian Post, researchers found that practicing Christians also expressed higher trust in AI than their pastors and non-practicing Christians.
Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research, said in a statement: “What we’re seeing is that Christians are genuinely open to AI as a support for the domains that matter most to them — wellbeing, purpose, even spiritual growth. That level of openness is higher than we might have expected, and it holds across multiple areas of flourishing.”
Copeland added, “Christians say they trust AI with spiritual growth, and a meaningful share say its spiritual guidance is as trustworthy as a pastor’s — yet large majorities are simultaneously concerned about AI misinterpreting scripture, replacing God, or undermining the role of spiritual leaders.”
While recent studies show that most pastors use AI, there has been a persistent concern that use of the technology could displace their spiritual guidance.
Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Solen Feyissa