Why I built FlockConnect with AI to equip pastors to use AI for strengthening community

Let me be honest right up front: AI helped me draft parts of this post. I used it to organize my thoughts, clean up my grammar, and make sure I wasn't missing key points. And I'm not ashamed of that.

But here's what AI didn't do: it didn't give me the conviction that built FlockConnect. It didn't sit through the pastoral staff meetings at churches where I watched pastors drowning in spreadsheets. It didn't feel the frustration of seeing powerful ChMS platforms that track everything except the thing that matters most—whether people actually feel connected.

AI is a tool. A powerful one. But it's just a tool.

And as someone who spent years in church tech at Tithe.ly and now building FlockConnect, I've had to wrestle deeply with this question: How do we build technology that serves pastors without replacing the pastoral work that only humans can do?

The answer starts with theology.

The Imago Dei Changes Everything

When I was designing FlockConnect, I kept coming back to Genesis 1:27: humans are made in the image of God—the imago Dei—for the purpose of relationships.

This isn't just Sunday school theology. It's the foundation for everything FlockConnect does (and doesn't do).

We are relational beings because God is relational. When a pastor sits with someone going through a divorce, that's not just "providing support"—that's presenting God's presence to that person. That's incarnational ministry. That's the stuff AI cannot and should not touch.

We are creative, discerning, choosing beings who can sense the Holy Spirit's leading. We know when someone needs a phone call versus a text. We can read body language. We can sit in holy silence when silence is what's needed.

We are embodied in a way that matters profoundly. A hug matters. Sharing a meal matters. Showing up at the hospital matters. These aren't nice-to-haves—they're the heart of pastoral ministry.

AI has none of this. And that's not a criticism of AI—it's just reality.

Why I Built FlockConnect to Use AI

Here's the problem I saw everywhere in church tech:

Pastors spend countless hours a week on administrative tasks—updating databases, remembering follow-ups, trying to figure out who needed attention—and they have no time left for actual pastoral care.

The tools existed to track attendance, giving, and events. But nothing tracked the thing research shows actually keeps people in churches: meaningful relationships. Studies show people need 5+ genuine connections in a church to stay engaged.

That is why I built FlockConnect—to utilize what AI does well—pattern recognition, reminders, data organization—so pastors could do what only they can do: shepherd people.

What AI Does in FlockConnect:

AI remembers relationships. It tracks who's connected to whom, monitors connection strength, and flags when someone's network is weakening. Because humans forget. Pastors have 100+ people to track. AI doesn't.

AI spots patterns. When someone stops attending, stops serving, and their connection score drops, FlockConnect sends an alert. Not because AI "knows" they need care, but because it recognizes a pattern that a human should investigate.

AI suggests connections. Based on geography, interests, and demographics, FlockConnect can say "hey, these two people live near each other and both love hiking—maybe introduce them?" That's pattern matching, not pastoral discernment.

AI handles the boring stuff. Reminders, organization, tracking notes from pastoral conversations—all the stuff that was stealing valuable hours a week from ministry time.

What AI Never Does in FlockConnect:

AI never makes pastoral decisions. FlockConnect will say "John's connection score is dropping," but it will never say "here's what you should do about it." That requires wisdom, prayer, and relationship.

AI never replaces presence. When the system flags someone as isolated, the next step isn't an automated email—it's the pastor showing up. With coffee. With time. With the embodied presence of Christ.

AI never pretends to "know" people. FlockConnect tracks data about relationships. It doesn't presume to understand someone's soul, their spiritual state, or what they actually need. That's your job as a pastor.

AI never does the work of a pastor. Ever. FlockConnect is a tool for shepherds, not a replacement for shepherding.

The Theological Line I Won't Cross

There's a line in the sand for me, and it's this: AI can serve ministries, but it cannot provide ministry.

I've seen church tech companies start to blur this line. Automated pastoral care messages. AI-generated "personal" emails to members. Chatbots for spiritual questions.

And every time I see it, I think: this is forgetting the imago Dei.

Ministry—real, transformative, Christ-centered ministry—requires the image of God encountering the image of God. Person to person. Soul to soul. That's non-negotiable.

When you visit someone in the hospital, you're not just delivering information. You're incarnating Christ's presence. You're being the body of Christ, physically present, just like Jesus was physically present with hurting people.

AI can't do that. It doesn't have a body. It doesn't have a soul. It doesn't bear God's image.

And honestly? That's good. Because if AI could replace pastoral presence, we'd have a serious theological problem. The incarnation—God becoming flesh to be with us—would become meaningless.

Examples of using FlockConnect

Let me show you what this looks like in practice:

GOOD: Connection Alerts FlockConnect monitors a member's relational health. When their "connection score" drops, the pastor gets an alert.

What happens next? The pastor calls or makes an effort to talk to them. Not an automated message. A real human conversation. FlockConnect just made sure that conversation happened before it was too late.

GOOD: Relationship Mapping FlockConnect uses AI to visualize who's connected to whom in your church. It shows you who's isolated, who's well-connected, who the natural connectors are.

What does the pastor do with this? They intentionally introduce isolated people to well-connected people. They leverage the church's natural relational infrastructure. AI showed the map; the pastor does the shepherding.

BAD EXAMPLE I WON'T BUILD: Automated "Pastoral Care" I've had some ask: "Can FlockConnect automatically send a 'thinking of you' message when someone's connection score drops?"

My answer: No. Because that's not pastoral care—that's simulated care. And people can tell the difference.

GOOD: Geographic Insights One of our potential church planting customers in NYC is planning on using FlockConnect's geographic mapping to see who lives near whom. In New York, proximity matters because of transit.

AI maps the geography. The pastor connects the people who live near each other. Result: organic community groups forming based on actual proximity.

The Honest Confession

Here's something I don't talk about much: building FlockConnect has made me deeply uncomfortable with how much power AI actually has.

I can build systems that predict with 70%+ accuracy who's going to leave your church in the next six months based purely on relationship patterns. That's... honestly kind of terrifying.

Because with that power comes temptation. The temptation to:

• Automate everything
• Replace judgment with algorithms
• Value efficiency over presence
• Treat people like data points

That's why I'm cautious about AI and developed boundaries. That's why FlockConnect will never send messages on your behalf, never make pastoral decisions, never pretend to "know" what someone needs.

Because the moment we forget that people are image-bearers—sacred, beloved, irreplaceable—we've lost the point entirely.

What Pastors Actually Need

I built FlockConnect because I kept witnessing the same thing from pastors:

"I feel like I'm managing a database instead of shepherding people."

"I know people are slipping away, but I don't see it until it's too late."

"I spend so much time on admin that I don't have time for actual ministry."

The solution isn't better admin tools. The solution is getting pastors out of admin by providing a frictionless experience so they can do the work that only they can do.

That's what AI should do for the church: track connections so pastors can shepherd souls.

The Bottom Line

FlockConnect uses AI extensively. It's built into the core of the platform. And I'm not embarrassed about that.

But FlockConnect will never:

• Pray for someone
• Counsel someone
• Visit someone
• Make a pastoral decision
• Replace human presence

Because those things require the imago Dei. They require a soul. They require someone who bears God's image encountering someone else who bears God's image.

AI is a tool. A really good tool for remembering things, recognizing patterns, and handling boring tasks.

But ministry? That requires what AI will never have:

• A heart that breaks for the broken
• Discernment that comes from walking with the Spirit
• Wisdom earned through years of loving people
• The physical presence that says "you matter to God, and you matter to me"

So yes, I use AI to build FlockConnect. And yes, I think pastors should use AI.

But let's be crystal clear about what it's for: freeing you to do the shepherding that only humans can do.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on AI in ministry. As a founder trying to navigate these boundaries thoughtfully, I know I don't have all the answers. Reach out or try FlockConnect free for 14 days.

P.S. - Yes, I used AI to help write this post about the limits of AI. That's exactly my point. AI helped with the writing—but the convictions, the theology, the stories, and the boundaries? Those came from years of watching pastors try to love people well while drowning in admin. That's human. That's what AI can never replace.