A few months ago, I was chatting with a couple of pastors. They were sharing about the very real struggle of “the grind” in parish ministry: write a sermon, preach at a funeral, create a newsletter, write a sermon, answer pastoral phone calls, lead confirmation, preside at Sunday worship, put out a few fires, write a sermon – and on and on.
In the course of the conversation, they mentioned how difficult it was as solo pastors to preach every week. “Yeah,” one said with a sigh, “Sometimes you just have to ask ChatGPT to write you a sermon.” The admission was made neither with pride nor with defiance, but with a kind of weary defeatism.
Since that conversation, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how we are training students to use AI ethically in seminary. More importantly, how are we – or are we? – training them to use AI theologically in seminary (and beyond)? We talked about this issue as a staff as we were preparing our All-Community Day Orientation and Writer’s Workshop, two events which take place during the first week of school.
“I’m going to talk about this at the Writer’s Workshop,” said Elli Cucksey, our Head Librarian of Hamma Library. And talk about it she did.
Preached about it, she did, in fact. And what a sermon it was! Though it makes this newsletter quite a bit longer than my last one, I include the entire script of her lecture here for you to read. It is passionate. It is powerful. It hits the nail squarely on the head in terms of theological reflections about the use of AI in seminary and beyond. It also clearly articulates our dearest hope for what our students will receive here at Trinity: formation, indeed, transformation by the God who has called them into ministry. AI can help with that transformation, as Elli outlines. It can also cause the transformative process to wither on the vine, to borrow one of Jesus’ favorite images. Read on for Elli’s articulate testimonial to how one does - and does not - use AI theologically and with integrity.
May God's blessings precede you,
Dean Wrenn
Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University
Reflections from the Interim Dean with Guest Writer, Hamma Head Librarian Elli Cucksey - September 15, 2025
The Ethics of AI in Seminary: Formation vs. Production
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~Romans 12:2
Good morning. As you begin your seminary journey, you're entering at a unique moment in history. Artificial intelligence tools are reshaping how we write, research, and even think about complex problems. Many of you likely used AI to help with application essays, and you'll be tempted to use it throughout your studies here. Today, we need to have an honest conversation about why that might undermine the very reason you're here.
Let me start with a fundamental question: Why are you in seminary? Is it to earn a degree, or is it to be transformed? Your answer to that question will determine how you approach every tool at your disposal, including AI.
The Heart of Seminary Education: Formation, Not Information
Seminary is not trade school for religious professionals. You're not here simply to acquire knowledge about God, Scripture, and ministry techniques that you can later deploy. You're here to be formed—to shape your mind, heart, and character into the kind of person who can faithfully represent Christ and serve God's people.
Think about the biblical model of discipleship. When Jesus called the disciples, he didn't hand them a manual and send them off to ministry. He said, "Follow me." For three years, they walked with him, struggled with his teachings, failed repeatedly, but were gradually transformed through the process. The formation was inseparable from the learning.
This is why your professors assign reflection papers rather than just multiple-choice exams. It's why you're encouraged to engage in spiritual disciplines, participate in worship, and work through difficult theological questions in community. The struggle itself is formative. The process of wrestling with a text, sitting with uncertainty, allowing scripture to challenge your assumptions—these experiences change you in ways that simply knowing the right answers cannot.
When Paul writes about being "transformed by the renewing of your mind," he's describing a process that requires active engagement, reflection, and the Holy Spirit's work through struggle and growth. This transformation cannot be outsourced.
What AI Can and Cannot Do
Let's be clear about what AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or specialized theological AI can do remarkably well:
- Generate well-structured essays on theological topics
- Synthesize information from multiple sources
- Create sermon outlines and Bible study materials
- Translate ancient languages
- Summarize complex theological arguments
- Produce pastoral care resources
These are impressive capabilities, and in many professional contexts, they're valuable tools. But notice what they all have in common: they produce products. They create output that looks like the result of theological reflection, but they bypass the very process that forms you as a theologian, pastor, or a minister.
Here's what AI cannot do:
- Experience the Holy Spirit's conviction through wrestling with Scripture
- Develop the patience that comes from sitting with difficult questions
- Build the intellectual humility that emerges from discovering you might be wrong
- Cultivate the pastoral heart that grows through genuine struggle with human suffering
- Form the character that comes through discipline and practice
- Create YOUR authentic voice that emerges from integrating faith and learning over time
When you use AI to write your reflection paper on the problem of evil, you might get an A, but you miss the opportunity to have your own understanding of God's character challenged and refined. When AI generates your sermon, you bypass the spiritual discipline of allowing God's Word to work in you before you proclaim it to others.
The Formation vs. Production Distinction
Let me illustrate this distinction with a story. Imagine two seminary students preparing for the same preaching class.
Student A spends hours in prayer and study, wrestling with the biblical text. She reads commentaries, struggles with the original languages, and finds herself challenged by what the passage demands of her own life. She writes multiple drafts, each one revealing new insights and personal applications. Her final sermon is imperfect—perhaps less polished than it could be—but it emerges from genuine encounter with God's Word.
Student B inputs the same text into an AI tool, receives a well-structured sermon with compelling illustrations and clear application points. He makes minor edits to match his style and delivers it confidently. The congregation responds positively to the clear, professional presentation.
Who received the better grade? Possibly Student B. But who was better prepared for a lifetime of faithful ministry? Clearly Student A, who developed the spiritual and intellectual muscles necessary for ongoing theological reflection.
This is the crucial distinction: formation happens in the struggle, not in the final product. Seminary is meant to be a laboratory where you develop these muscles in a safe environment, with mentors to guide you and grace to fail and try again.
The Spiritual Stakes
This isn't merely about academic integrity, though that matters. The spiritual stakes are much higher. You're being prepared to shepherd God's people, to proclaim his Word, to provide counsel in life's most difficult moments. The congregation that calls you as pastor won't be hiring your AI tools—they'll be entrusting their souls to you.
Consider the pastor who has always relied on AI-generated sermons suddenly facing a tragic event in the community. Where will he find the theological depth, the pastoral wisdom, the authentic voice that such moments demand? Or think about the chaplain who encounters suffering she's never processed herself because her seminary papers were written by machines.How will she offer genuine comfort and hope?
The prophet Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll—to internalize God's Word until it became part of his very being. You cannot eat a scroll that was processed by someone else's digestive system, so to speak. The Word must do its work in you if you're to be equipped to proclaim it faithfully to others.
Practical Guidelines Moving Forward
This doesn't mean AI tools are categorically forbidden. Like any tool, the ethical question is not whether you use it, but how and why you use it. Here are some guidelines:
Appropriate uses might include:
- Research assistance (finding sources, identifying key themes)
- Language help (translating texts, checking grammar)
- Brainstorming and initial idea generation
- Administrative tasks unrelated to your formation
Inappropriate uses include:
- Having AI write reflection papers, exegetical work, or theological arguments
- Using AI to complete assignments designed for your spiritual or intellectual formation
- Allowing AI to substitute for your own wrestling with difficult concepts
- Presenting AI-generated work as your own thinking
The key question to ask: "Will using AI in this way enhance or replace the formative process this assignment is designed to facilitate?"
In ten years, the AI tools available to you will be far more sophisticated than what exists today. But the human heart will remain unchanged, and the need for authentic, formed spiritual leaders will be greater than ever. The question is not whether you can successfully use AI to get through seminary—of course you can. The question is whether you'll allow seminary to get through you, to transform you into the kind of person God can use for his kingdom.
Your future congregations deserve leaders who have been genuinely formed, not just professionally trained. Choose formation over production. Choose struggle over shortcuts. Choose to be transformed.
The tools will evolve, but your character, your theological depth, and your authentic relationship with God—these will serve you and God's people for a lifetime. Seminary is your opportunity to build them well. Don't miss it for the sake of a more polished paper.