AI and the church: Seminaries prompt students to ask – can AI write a sermon?
From divinity school hallways to organised seminars to governing bodies, professors of the art of preaching are considering about what AI means their students. GENEVIEVE CHARLES, of Religion News Service, reports…
AI and the church: Meet the Christian creators designing chatbots “with a Biblical worldview”
Since its launch in November, 2022, ChatGPT has spurred excitement among Christians, forcing leadership to reckon with this technology and adapting their habits. FIONA ANDRÉ, of Religion News Service, reports…
Sight-Seeing: Can chatbots write inspirational and wise sermons?
JOANNE M PIERCE, professor emerita of religious studies at College of the Holy Cross, says, in an article first published on The Conversation, explains what the limitations are…
The Interview: Rev Jan Naylor Cope, editor of National Cathedral sermon compilation, on lessons from the pandemic
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, speaks with Rev Jan Naylor Cope about the cathedral’s expanded online congregation, the way it adapted Communion and the enduring lessons of pandemic preaching…
The Interview: US preacher Will Willimon on what makes a good sermon
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, interviews Will Willimon, described in a Baylor University survey as one of the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world and the subject of a new documentary, about his approach to preaching and what makes a good sermon…
Sermon preparation: Why some preachers rely on holy ghostwriters and other pulpit helps
“Cheating” or much-needed help for busy pastors? BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, explores the use by some churches of sermon ghost writers…
Median length of sermons in US churches is 37 minutes, according to new analysis
The median length of a sermon given in US churches runs for 37 minutes, according to a new analysis of almost 50,000 online sermons. The Pew Research Centre study found that historically black Protestant churches had the longest sermons – a median of 54 minutes – while Catholic churches had the shortest with a median of […]
Alexa responds to minister’s sermon, orders toilet paper
Oklahoma City The Christian Chronicle When Phil Brookman preaches, even Alexa listens – and dutifully obeys. Brookman, a minister for Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, was delivering a Sunday message from I Corinthians 12 when his sermon illustration nearly resulted in the purchase of $US28 worth of toilet paper. When a sermon illustration becomes […]
New website hopes to make sermons a vital part of life
RNS Every week, millions of American go to houses of worship to hear a message from a spiritual leader. Most of those congregations are small. And few sermons ever make their way beyond the four walls of a given congregation. Publisher David Murray – a connoisseur of the spoken word – wants to change that […]
BILLY GRAHAM: NEW EXHIBIT SHOWS HE DREW LESS FROM OLD TESTAMENT AS YEARS WENT BY
MENACHEM WECKER, of Religion News Service, reports on the findings from a new exhibition at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC…