Documentation

AI Features

Intelligent tools that amplify your ministry—not replace it. From sermon preparation to pastoral insights, AI helps you work smarter so you can focus on what matters most: people.

Overview

Artificial intelligence isn't here to replace pastors, volunteers, or the Holy Spirit's leading in ministry. But it can be an incredibly powerful tool to reduce administrative burden, surface insights you might miss, and help you create content faster—freeing you to spend more time actually ministering to people.

Relius integrates AI thoughtfully throughout the platform: helping you prepare sermons, turn messages into multi-channel content, identify members who need care, schedule volunteers wisely, predict donor trends, translate content into multiple languages, and search scripture semantically. These aren't gimmicks—they're practical tools solving real ministry challenges.

Every AI feature follows the same philosophy: AI suggests, you decide. Whether it's a sermon outline, a thank-you note, or a volunteer schedule, the AI presents options for you to review, refine, and approve. You stay in control, maintain your unique voice, and exercise pastoral discernment—while saving hours each week.

AI-Powered Features

AI Sermon Planner

Generate sermon outlines, discover relevant scriptures, plan multi-week series, and get illustration suggestions—all guided by your theological tradition and teaching style.

AI Content Studio

Turn one sermon into email summaries, social media posts, small group discussion guides, and newsletter content—automatically, while maintaining your voice.

AI Pastoral Insights

Detect members at risk of disengagement, analyze sentiment in care notes and prayer requests, and get personalized care recommendations based on patterns.

AI Volunteer Scheduler

Intelligently match volunteers to roles based on skills, availability, and preferences. Detect burnout risk and balance workload across your team automatically.

AI Donations Manager

Predict donor churn, segment givers for targeted campaigns, generate personalized thank-you messages, and identify re-engagement opportunities with AI insights.

Translation Console

Translate sermons, emails, and announcements into 100+ languages instantly. Enable live captioning during services for accessibility and multilingual congregations.

Semantic Bible Search

Search scripture by concept, not just keywords. Find passages about "feeling abandoned by God" even if those exact words aren't in the text—powered by AI understanding.

How AI Works in Relius

1. You Provide Context

Whether it's a sermon topic, a thank-you note request, or a volunteer scheduling need, you tell the AI what you're trying to accomplish. The more specific you are, the better the results.

2. AI Generates Options

The AI analyzes your request, draws from its training on biblical texts and ministry best practices, and generates suggestions—outlines, content, insights, or schedules.

3. You Refine & Approve

Review what the AI produced, make edits, request alternatives, or regenerate entirely. You're always in control. Once satisfied, use the content—knowing it reflects your voice and values.

Real Ministry Impact

"AI Sermon Planner cut my prep time in half. I still craft the message, but I'm not staring at a blank page for hours anymore. More time for hospital visits."

— Pastor Mike, community church in Ohio

"The at-risk detection flagged a family I hadn't noticed was slipping away. We reached out, and they're back and thriving. That one feature paid for itself."

— Sarah, executive pastor

"We translated our service into Spanish and Korean automatically. Now 40% more families can engage with our content. Game-changer for our immigrant community."

— David, multiethnic church in California

Ethical AI in Ministry

We take the responsibility of using AI in church contexts seriously:

  • ✓Privacy first: Your data trains only your AI models—we never use your church's information to train public models
  • ✓Theologically neutral: AI adapts to your tradition—Reformed, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Catholic, etc.—without imposing a theological bias
  • ✓Human oversight required: AI never makes final decisions about people, content, or ministry direction—you do
  • ✓Transparency: We clearly label AI-generated content and explain how each feature works
  • ✓Opt-in only: AI features are optional—use what helps, ignore what doesn't fit your ministry philosophy

Getting Started with AI

  1. Start with one feature: Don't try to learn everything at once—pick the AI tool that addresses your biggest pain point (sermon prep, donor engagement, volunteer burnout)
  2. Experiment with prompts: The better your input, the better the output—try different ways of asking for what you need
  3. Review and refine: Never use AI output raw—always personalize it to fit your voice and context
  4. Train your team: Show staff and volunteers how AI can help them work smarter, not harder
  5. Give feedback: The AI improves as you use it—rate suggestions and the system learns your preferences

Best Practices

  • ✓Be specific: Detailed prompts produce better results—include audience, tone, length, and key points
  • ✓Verify facts: AI can occasionally hallucinate statistics or quotes—always fact-check before publishing
  • ✓Maintain your voice: Edit AI content to sound like you, not a robot or generic pastor
  • ✓Use insights, don't over-rely: AI can surface patterns, but pastoral discernment trumps algorithms
  • ✓Protect privacy: Don't feed sensitive pastoral information into public AI tools—use Relius's secure, private AI instead

Ready to amplify your ministry with AI?

Start with AI Sermon Planner to see how intelligent assistance can transform your preparation workflow.

Explore AI Sermon Planner