A Rule of Life for the Age of AI — Draft Covenant

A draft covenant for communal discernment and adaptation

A companion resource to the five-part Church Commons series, Between Babel and Pentecost

An Invitation to Discern Together

This covenant is a starting point, not a required policy or a finished answer. We offer it for pastors, commissioned ruling elders, Sessions, congregations, and other church leaders to consider, challenge, revise, or set aside as their discernment requires. We may reach different judgments about particular uses of artificial intelligence and still share responsibility for faithful ministry.

We do not begin by assuming that every technological possibility deserves adoption, or that declining a technology releases us from responsibility for its effects. We begin with the gospel and ask how our choices, including our choice not to use AI, serve God and neighbor.

The commitments below use we because discernment and responsibility belong to our shared life. They do not presume unanimous agreement or erase freedom of conscience. A congregation may edit this draft before deciding which commitments it can honestly make.

Because We Believe…

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God, that Scripture bears authoritative witness to him, and that the church’s proclamation and sacramental life must remain accountable to that Word. Technology does not determine the meaning of our calling.

We believe that human beings bear the image of God. Their dignity, agency, relationships, and legitimate expectations of privacy must not be reduced to data or displaced by convenient systems.

We believe that creation is God’s good gift. The labor, energy, water, materials, and communities supporting digital technologies require moral attention, including when their burdens are distant from us.

We believe that wisdom is received from God and cultivated through Scripture, prayer, study, experience, correction, and communal discernment. A convincing answer is not necessarily a wise answer.

We believe that ministry belongs to the whole body of Christ. Our calling is not measured by the volume of materials we produce, but by the faithfulness of our relationships, proclamation, leadership, and service.

We believe that the preservation of truth is among the Great Ends of the Church. We are always to be reformed according to the Word of God, and our own practices and judgments remain subject to examination and correction.

Therefore, We Will…

We will examine the purpose of a proposed AI use before asking whether the technology can perform it. Sometimes a simpler process, another person’s wisdom, or the decision not to do a task will be more faithful.

We will use AI, when appropriate, to support rather than surrender responsible thought, theological judgment, and leadership. We will ask questions that test assumptions rather than merely generate affirmation, and we will independently verify consequential factual, biblical, historical, and confessional claims.

We will respect confidentiality, consent, safeguarding obligations, and the dignity of people entrusted to our care. We will not place identifiable pastoral-care information or confidential church business into public AI systems without appropriate authorization, safeguards, and a justified purpose.

We will be truthful about meaningful AI assistance and will not claim research, personal experience, authorship, testimony, or authority that we do not possess. When we find errors in work distributed under our names, we will correct them appropriately.

We will consider the environmental, labor, economic, and social consequences of our uses of technology, while also acknowledging the responsibility of nonusers to take part in the church’s wider discernment and public witness.

We will be attentive to whether AI makes tasks quicker, makes our thinking more careful, or simply creates more work. We will evaluate its value by the quality of ministry it helps us undertake, not by time saved or content produced alone.

We will maintain the freedom to refrain from AI use, especially when direct human presence, accountable professional expertise, or the integrity of worship and pastoral care calls for that choice.

We Will Help Our Congregations and Councils…

We will create room for thoughtful disagreement among people with different levels of theological education, technological familiarity, and ethical concern, honoring freedom of conscience and the shared responsibilities of the church.

We will equip one another with reliable sources, opportunities for continuing theological formation, and practices for checking claims. We will not confuse academic credentials with infallibility or lack of formal education with lack of wisdom.

We will establish proportionate practices for accuracy, disclosure, confidentiality, safeguarding, and accountability in materials and decisions issued under the church’s name. We will avoid policies that sound impressive but are not usable in the everyday life of smaller congregations.

We will ensure that conversations about AI include its effects on workers, communities, creation, and people who bear consequences without choosing the technology for themselves.

We will remember that an orderly meeting, a polished sermon, or an attractive resource is preparation, not proof of faithful leadership. We will make room for listening, shared discernment, relationships, and action.

We will respond honestly when evidence challenges our assumptions or when we discover that our public teaching has been inaccurate. We will seek correction, accountability, and repair when appropriate rather than protect appearances at the expense of truth.

How We Might Begin

We may adopt some commitments, revise others, or discover important omissions. Before using this covenant, we will ask whose voices have not been heard, what responsibilities belong to individuals or councils, and which practices our community can realistically sustain.

We can begin with one practice to strengthen, one boundary to clarify, and one question to revisit. For example, we might agree on how to verify AI-generated quotations, decide what information must never enter a public chatbot, and commit to revisit our decisions after a season of ministry.

We will not treat the covenant as complete simply because we have voted to adopt it. We will return to its commitments, examine their consequences, and revise them as our understanding deepens, according to the Word of God.

This is a draft to work with, not an answer to impose. Our purpose is faithful shared discernment.