Should Churches Use AI for Creativity and Preaching? Pastors Charles Metcalf & Fillmore Bolds Weigh In

In this episode of AI & the Church, host Michael Whittle sits down with Pastor Charles Metcalf (Transformation Church, Tulsa, OK) and Pastor Fillmore Bolds (One Church, Seattle, WA) to talk honestly about how AI fits into church life — both in creative work and in the pulpit.

The conversation covers two main areas: AI and creativity — where the pastors draw a clear line between using AI as a workflow assistant for admin, systems, and design production versus outsourcing the actual creative or artistic vision — and AI and preaching — where both pastors walk through their personal sermon-prep processes, including how they use AI as a research assistant to gather theological perspectives, stress-test arguments, and refine language, while insisting the core thesis, conviction, and voice of a sermon must come from the preacher's own study and walk with God.

Key themes include the idea that "you have to think first, prompt second," why AI can accelerate research but should never replace theological judgment or personal accountability, and why the hardest part of preaching in the AI era isn't writing faster — it's a young preacher finding their own voice. The episode closes with both pastors sharing why they're hopeful, not fearful, about the future of the church in an AI-saturated culture.