I greatly appreciate this resource as an older pastor adapting to new technologies. While this is laid out sequentially with increasing depth, I confess my tendency to jump around and pick and choose. Neurodivergence? I don't know. I used the questionnaire to have ChatGPT interview me and create an AI Ministry Operating Profile. I might go back and expand some sections, or even modify my responses after seeing the implementation.

Got a deeper look today. I really like how practical and results-focused all of this is. Repeatedly using the same format in a variety of contexts builds muscle memory. My one hesitant point was sermon prep. I tend to be pretty prophetic in the way I minister, so I can’t imagine allowing AI to help me organize my thoughts, because the Spirit generally leads me through a pretty clear flow-of-thought during my prayer and prep. Where I do use AI (almost daily) is in digging up historical and culture context to clarify my understanding, cross-referencing developments throughout Scripture, and coaxing out the subtlety of tensions. But that’s just me. And, in my book writing, the organization help has been welcome, as a book is way too long for me to keep the content all in firm grasp in my tiny brain at one time. Interestingly, I’ve had several chats where I had to argue my theological point and the AI seemed to learn from me as we went along. That said, it does a good job of helping me recognize when one of my arguments is not as much of a “slam dunk” as I think it is. haha Maybe the moral of the story is that in context where organization of larger swaths of content are involved, a super-brain can help. Where the emphasis is the inspiration of the Spirit, AI needs to take a strategically diminished/focused role.

Three new systems just went up in 08 Premium Systems, built around the work that wears small-church pastors down. Annual Ministry Planning walks you through one planning weekend a year, so Easter, the fall series, and your volunteers stop colliding. The Volunteer Pipeline helps you invite, onboard, check in with, and rest the people who carry your church, so the same eight folks don’t burn out. The Hard-Moments Communication Kit helps you prepare the hardest messages before you need them, with clear rules about who hears first and what AI should never decide. There’s also a new Small Group Guide add-on in the Sermon Repurposing system, for turning Sunday’s sermon into a one-page discussion guide.

AI drifts unless something holds it in place. Left alone, it slides toward a voice that isn’t yours, theology that isn’t yours, and details nobody checked. Anchored AI walks you through building a small library of files that keeps AI tethered to your convictions, your voice, and your standards. Your AI Workbench shows you where those files live and how to put them to work with projects, connectors, and agents, with you approving anything that goes out. Both are in 08 Premium Systems. Free members, start with the new lesson “Why AI Drifts” in 07 Responsible AI & Tools.

I made a short video that explains why this community exists. It starts with something most of you already know. The tiredness usually doesn't come from the preaching. It comes from everything around it. The bulletin. The budget. The volunteer schedule that fell apart Thursday night. In a small church, it all lands on one desk. Moses knew that desk. In Exodus 18, Jethro told him the work was too heavy to carry alone. He wasn't telling Moses to care less. He was showing him how to share the load. The early church hit the same wall in Acts 6. Most of us don't have a Jethro, or seven people waiting to take the tables. So the video ends with a way to sort the work: what's yours, what belongs to people in your church, and what can be assisted. That last group is what the Classroom is built for. After you watch, reply with one task from last week that belongs in the assisted pile. Your answers will shape what I build next. Joe