How A Pastor’s 30-Minute Sermon Can Turn into 10+ Items Of Content material (And Why Most Church buildings Are Lacking This Alternative) – ChurchTechToday.com

There’s an odd irony occurring in church buildings throughout the nation proper now. Pastors are pouring hours into crafting biblically sound, culturally related messages that join with their congregations on Sunday morning. Then Monday rolls round, and that sermon basically disappears—filed away in a video library or relegated to a dusty podcast feed that solely essentially the most devoted members verify.

In the meantime, those self same church buildings are scrambling to determine what to publish on social media, struggling to remain constant on-line, and questioning why they’re not reaching youthful generations who spend hours scrolling by content material each single day.

The hole between these two realities has by no means been extra apparent—or extra solvable.

We sat down with Corey, founding father of SermonShots, to discover how AI is altering the sport for sermon repurposing and why this could be some of the missed alternatives in church communications as we speak.

The Full Interview: with Corey Alderin from SermonShots

QUESTION #1: Let’s begin with the apparent: why do you suppose most pastors underuse the sermons they’ve already written and preached?

Corey: Traditionally, sermons have been created for a single second in time: Sunday morning. As soon as they have been preached, their objective was fulfilled, and there wasn’t a lot want or alternative to reuse them. Most church buildings didn’t have the know-how, platforms, or sources to increase the attain of that message past the pulpit. However as we speak, that has modified. We dwell in a digital world the place folks eat content material all through the week on social media, YouTube, podcasts, and extra. The sermon remains to be highly effective, however now it has the potential to talk far past the sanctuary. Many pastors merely haven’t made the shift in mindset but. They’re nonetheless treating sermons like one-time occasions as a substitute of long-term sources that may preserve discipling folks all week.

QUESTION #2: What’s one thing AI can train pastors about how their folks suppose, battle, or seek for which means?

Corey: AI will help pastors give you sermon concepts that talk extra on to what individuals are truly fascinated with. By analyzing frequent questions folks ask on-line, trending subjects in tradition, and even which components of previous sermons get essentially the most engagement, AI can reveal themes that actually matter to their viewers. It’d spotlight that individuals are looking for assist with nervousness, which means, or forgiveness excess of we understand. That perception can encourage pastors to craft messages that really feel well timed and private. As an alternative of guessing what may join, they’ll begin with actual information about what their group is already wrestling with. AI turns into a device for listening at scale, serving to pastors train with much more relevance and readability.

QUESTION #3: If a pastor gave you a uncooked sermon video and mentioned, “Assist me attain extra folks this week,” what would you do first?

Corey: The very first thing I’d do is flip that sermon into quick, vertical clips and publish them as reels on social media. Sermon clips are by far the best format for reaching new folks. In contrast to a full sermon video, clips are fast, partaking, and tailor-made for the way folks scroll and watch content material on-line. One of many largest advantages is that reels are proven to individuals who don’t already observe your web page, which helps broaden your attain past your current viewers. You possibly can take a single second from the sermon and use it to spark curiosity within the full message. It’s a easy shift that may dramatically improve visibility.

QUESTION #4: What’s one thing you’ve seen pastors do with AI and sermons that stunned or impressed you?

Corey: One factor that has actually impressed me is seeing pastors use AI not simply to clip their sermons, however to brainstorm utterly new content material concepts based mostly on them. I typically hear pastors say, “I do know I needs to be posting extra, however I simply don’t know what to publish.” Some have began feeding their sermon into AI and asking, “What different movies might I make from this message?” It opened my eyes to how AI might be greater than only a time saver. It will probably truly assist pastors suppose extra creatively about easy methods to train and attain folks. That concept impressed me to begin engaged on a brand new function that helps pastors do precisely that.

QUESTION #5: What’s the most important false impression pastors have about “repurposing” a sermon?

Corey: One of many largest misconceptions is pondering that merely posting the complete sermon video on totally different social media platforms counts as repurposing. That’s extra like reposting, not actually repackaging the message for brand spanking new audiences. Even when church buildings take the subsequent step and create clips, they generally attempt to flip these clips into summaries of your entire sermon. However clips work finest when they’re quick, catchy, and centered on one highly effective thought. The aim is to not disciple somebody in 60 seconds. The aim is to encourage them to take a subsequent step, whether or not that’s watching the complete sermon, coming to church, or beginning a dialog. Repurposing isn’t about condensing the message, it’s about opening a door.

QUESTION #6: What’s the best general behavior a pastor can begin with AI instruments, even when they’re not “techie”?

Corey: One of many easiest habits a pastor can begin is taking the transcript of their sermon and importing it into an AI chat device. From there, they’ll simply begin asking questions. For instance, inform the AI, “That is my sermon from Sunday. What concepts do you’ve gotten that I can share on social media?” That one step opens the door to a complete vary of content material concepts, from reels to quotes to devotional ideas. You do not want to be tech-savvy to do that. Simply deal with it like having a dialog with somebody who helps you brainstorm. The extra you have interaction with it, the extra helpful and pure it turns into.

QUESTION #7: The place do you suppose sermon repurposing is headed within the subsequent 2–3 years with instruments like AI within the combine?

Corey: Within the subsequent few years, I believe we’re going to see new varieties of content material emerge that church buildings can simply faucet into. AI will make it simpler for pastors and groups to remain on high of traits, as a result of what as soon as felt sophisticated or time-consuming will now be easy and quick. However what I’m most enthusiastic about is how AI will streamline your entire workflow. It won’t simply assist generate content material, it should additionally make it simpler to arrange, schedule, and share that content material throughout totally different platforms. We’re shifting towards a time when repurposing a sermon shall be so simple as importing a video and clicking a number of buttons. That type of integration goes to make consistency and creativity far more accessible for each church, irrespective of the dimensions.

QUESTION #8: Let’s be sincere! What’s a repurposing mistake you see church buildings make on a regular basis?

Corey: One of many largest errors I see is solely not posting sufficient. With the flexibility to leverage AI and your sermon, the Church has among the finest alternatives to flood the web with significant, hope-filled content material. A thirty-minute sermon {that a} pastor could have labored on for weeks is filled with highly effective moments, and now AI makes it quick and easy to tug these out. Simply a few years in the past, making a single video clip may need taken a video knowledgeable two hours. Right now, virtually anybody within the church can create that clip and ten extra items of content material in much less time than that. We needs to be posting extra. Each time we do, we’re filling the web with messages that matter.

QUESTION #9: If a church needed to utterly ban AI instruments beginning subsequent week, what a part of ministry would you miss utilizing it for essentially the most?

Corey: I’m in all probability biased, however I might undoubtedly miss utilizing AI for social media essentially the most. It is rather uncommon to listen to from a church that appears like they’re posting sufficient. Nearly everybody appears like they need to be doing extra, however the time and sources simply will not be there. That’s the place AI has been a recreation changer. It makes creating content material from sermons quick, simple, and accessible to anybody on the workforce. With out it, church buildings must return to spending hours enhancing movies, writing captions, and brainstorming concepts.

Editor’s Take: Why This Issues Extra Than You Suppose

Right here’s what struck me most about this dialog: Corey’s problem to “flood the web with significant, hope-filled content material” is a calling extra church buildings want to listen to and think about.

Each week, I speak with church leaders who really feel behind within the digital house. They see the tradition shifting sooner than they’ll sustain. They watch their youngsters scroll by infinite content material and surprise how the church can probably compete for consideration.

The reality is: you’re not competing with leisure content material engines, you’re already creating the content material. You simply must let it breathe past Sunday.

I hope you possibly can acknowledge that the sermon you already invested 10 hours into, comprises sufficient knowledge and content material to feed your group spiritually all through the week.

I’ve watched too many church buildings deal with their on-line presence as an afterthought, one thing they’ll get to “once they have time.” In the meantime, their group is on-line proper now all day each day, looking for solutions to the precise questions that final Sunday’s sermon addressed.

Yet one more thought: Corey’s level about AI serving to church buildings perceive what individuals are truly fighting is profound. For years, pastors have relied on instinct, pastoral counseling conversations, and prayer to know their group’s wants. These stay irreplaceable.

However what if you happen to might additionally see patterns in what lots of of individuals in your group are looking for on-line? What if you happen to found that “easy methods to cope with nervousness as a Christian” is being searched 10x greater than you realized? Right now you should utilize information that helps you communicate extra on to actual wants.

That’s not simply good church communications. That’s digital discipleship accomplished proper.

Wish to dive deeper? Corey talked about a sensible course at RepurposeYourSermon.com that walks pastors by 10+ methods to show sermons into high-impact content material utilizing AI. If this interview sparked concepts, that could be the next move.

Have you ever began repurposing your sermons with AI? What’s working on your church? Tell us within the feedback or attain out to us at ChurchTechToday.com.