Digital discipleship has struggled to scale what matters most: real relationships. Discover how conversational AI is unlocking a new era of personalized, Spirit-led ministry.
Ben Elmore sharing from the Global Missional AI Summit, May 5, 2025
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From: Ben Elmore, CEO of Servant
What’s the real difference between teaching and discipleship?
And why has digital discipleship been so hard to get right?
These questions matter deeply to me, not as a technologist, but as someone who’s spent years mentoring young leaders, walking with couples, and investing in people at turning points in their lives. Through those relationships, I’ve seen something again and again: transformation doesn’t happen because of content. It happens through conversation.
Years ago, my wife and I helped lead an internship at our church, mentoring college students who were asking big questions about calling, purpose, and faith. We’d go through books together, but the real growth always came in those personal, one-on-one conversations—when we listened, prayed, and processed life in real time. That’s when I began to understand the real difference: Teaching brings people through a curriculum. Discipleship walks with them through their life.
And that’s exactly why our digital tools have fallen short. We've built platforms that scale teaching. But discipleship, the messy, beautiful, relational kind has stayed mostly offline.
The Box We've Been In
For decades, technology has optimized for reach, not relationship. In the business world, we learned to build systems that minimize human interaction because that’s what drives efficiency and profit. That logic shaped our tools, our metrics, even our imaginations.
And we’ve brought that same logic into ministry, sometimes without realizing it. We’ve become digitally excellent at preaching and teaching, the areas that map neatly to mass communication. But discipleship, evangelism, and mercy—the parts that demand presence, listening, and personal engagement—have been harder to digitize.
It’s not because we lacked vision. It’s because the tools just weren’t there.
Until Now
The AI revolution is changing that.
Over the years, I’ve been blessed to be at the front lines of many major tech shifts. From client-server computing to mobile to cloud. Every breakthrough did the same thing: it removed constraints. It made something once limited now possible at scale.
Now, AI is doing that for high-touch ministry. It’s making personalization affordable, complexity manageable, and adoption simple, because conversation is the interface.
We no longer have to force people down a linear path. We can meet them where they are, in real time, with tools that listen, respond, and adapt.
From Funnels to Spiritual Journeys
We used to build funnels; everybody starts at the top and follows the same track. But that’s not how spiritual growth works.
Growth looks more like a spiritual pinball full of unexpected bounces, pauses, and turns. With conversational AI, we can design ministry that reflects that reality. Not rigid sequences, but responsive pathways. Not one-size-fits-all, but spirit-led, human-centered, context-aware.
We are in the era of the conversational driven user experiences that use multiple modes such as text, chat, voice, adaptive interface, to enable people to experience each other and organization in a more natural and organic way.
Most importantly, this isn’t about replacing people. It’s about extending their presence.
Imagine your best discipler multiplied, not replaced, so more people can experience that level of care and insight.
Why This Matters
The Church’s mission was never just about proclamation. It’s about transformation through evangelism, discipleship, and mercy. For too long, we’ve only digitized the parts that scale easily. Now, we can digitize the parts that matter deeply.
This isn't a theory. It’s a call to action.
Designing for the Kingdom
Technology always drifts toward what the market rewards, convenience, isolation, self-service. If we don’t actively shape it, it will shape us.
That’s why we need to design with Kingdom principles in mind:
If we want different outcomes, we need different intentions.
Come Dream With Us
What if a discipleship journey started with a timely nudge instead of a 10-week class? What if evangelism responded to real questions instead of assuming them? What if mercy meant more than a care report? What if it meant care that actually reached someone when they needed it most?
These aren’t distant dreams. These are possibilities today.
At Servant, we’re building tools and experiences to help the Church step fully into this moment. Not by digitizing ministry for the sake of it, but by restoring relationships at the center of it.
We believe the next great move of God in digital spaces won’t come through louder broadcasts. But through better conversations.
Come dream with us!
Ready to reimagine digital discipleship?
At Servant, we’re building tools that help churches scale what matters most—relationships. If you’re dreaming about what’s next, we’d love to dream with you.
info@servant.io
