Everyone's asking whether AI will end the world. The quieter risk is that we stop thinking for ourselves, and stop listening to the people God placed around us.

Luke and Adam's hypotheses = the biggest danger is either painting AI with too broad a brush, or relying on it until we can no longer feed ourselves.

This episode features insights from Brent Hardinge, Pastor Wes Via, Craige Young, Pastor Puia Fanai and Pastor Russ Willcocks. They explore the risks AI poses to faith communities, from outsourcing our thinking and drifting from the local church to deepfakes, surveillance and a growing divide in our congregations.

This is Part Six of AI in the Age of Christianity, please subscribe to help us grow.

FEATURED VOICES

🔗 Brent Hardinge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenthardinge/

🔗 Pastor Wes Via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-via

🔗 Craige Young: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ucyinc

🔗 Pastor Puia Fanai, Hope Channel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puia-fanai-21945b196/ | https://www.facebook.com/rspuiafanai/

🔗 Pastor Russ Willcocks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-willcocks-13126640/

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✉️ Get in touch: hello@bluevineyard.com

There’s no button to make AI go away, so the question is ... where you refuse to let it in?

Luke and Adam's hypothesis = the line falls between what is distinctly human and what is repetitive.

This episode features insights from Craige Young, Pastor Puia Fanai, Pastor Wes Via and Pastor Jëan Ross, they discuss some areas where AI should and should not be used for.

This is Part Five of AI in the Age of Christianity, please subscribe to help us grow.

FEATURED VOICES

🔗 Craige Young: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ucyinc

🔗 Pastor Puia Fanai, Hope Channel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puia-fanai-21945b196/ | https://www.facebook.com/rspuiafanai/

🔗 Pastor Wes Via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-via

🔗 Pastor Jëan Ross, Amazing Facts: https://www.amazingfacts.org/ezra/

CONNECT WITH BLUE VINEYARD

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🎙️ Audio Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/bluevineyard/

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💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-vineyard/

✉️ Get in touch: hello@bluevineyard.com

If you could press one button and make AI disappear, would you?

The guys found it to be one of the hardest q's to answer. Luke started wanting to press it, Adam refuses. Listen to the end to hear where they landed.

FEATURED VOICES

🔗 Brent Hardinge, Director of Adventist Connect, North American Division: https://adventistconnect.org

🔗 Pastor Russ Willcocks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-willcocks-13126640

🔗 Pastor Puia Fanai, Hope Channel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puia-fanai-21945b196/ | https://www.facebook.com/rspuiafanai/

🔗 Pastor Jëan Ross, Amazing Facts

CONNECT WITH BLUE VINEYARD

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🌐 Website: https://bluevineyard.com

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-vineyard/

✉️ Get in touch: hello@bluevineyard.com

Will AI change how we do ministry? In this episode, Luke and Adam argue that it already is, and that the more important question is where to draw the line. Featuring insights from Pastor Puia Fanai, Craige Young, Pastor Jëan Ross and Pastor Russ Willcocks, they look at AI triaging thousands of messages at Hope Channel, a Bible study chatbot on WhatsApp that hands people to a real mentor, church website chatbots that answer within 24 hours instead of next Sabbath, and what responsible sermon prep looks like when AI is in the room. The thread running through it all: AI can change the how of ministry, but not the why. It can filter, curate, research and follow up. It cannot love, pray, discern or carry someone's suffering. Moses still needed Jethro, and the church still needs Moses.

This is Part Three of AI in the Age of Christianity, a series where Luke and Adam bring in guests, explore the hard questions, and work toward a framework the church can actually use.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Could AI pray for me?

00:00:45 Welcome, and this episode's question

00:01:15 Luke's hypothesis: AI changes the how, not the why

00:02:15 Adam's light bulb analogy

00:03:40 Clip 1: Pastor Puia Fanai on triaging engagement and Bible study chatbots at Hope Channel

00:07:40 Compression and curation: AI's core strength at scale

00:10:00 Clip 2: Craige Young on 24-hour follow-up and church chatbots

00:12:15 Getting the chatbot experience right

00:17:00 Agentic tools and the pastor's personal assistant

00:18:40 Can AI help pastors preach?

00:20:00 Clip 3: Pastor Jëan Ross on sermon prep, slides and research

00:23:20 A great study partner, a poor architect

00:27:10 Clip 4: Pastor Russ Willcocks on Moses, Jethro and what technology can't do

00:29:30 Pulling the threads together

00:32:30 Next episode: would you push the button?

FEATURED VOICES

🔗 Pastor Puia Fanai, Hope Channel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puia-fanai-21945b196/ | https://www.facebook.com/rspuiafanai/

🔗 Craige Young: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ucyinc

🔗 Pastor Jëan Ross, Amazing Facts https://www.amazingfacts.org/

🔗 Pastor Russ Willcocks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-willcocks-13126640

CONNECT WITH BLUE VINEYARD

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🌐 Website: https://bluevineyard.com

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✉️ Get in touch: hello@bluevineyard.com

In this episode, Luke and Adam react to some hot takes about A.I. They discuss Adam’s latest sermon called “Christianity in the age of AI”. And they try to reconcile seemingly conflicting viewpoints on the topic.

This is Episode 1 of AI in the Age of Christianity, a series where Luke and Adam bring in guests, explore the hard questions, and work toward a framework the church can actually use.

TIMESTAMPS

00:01:00 Why AI keeps finding its way into every conversation

00:02:00 Adam's sermon research and the rabbit hole it opened

00:03:00 Clip 1: "We Are Building God With AI"

00:07:00 Is treating AI like a god a form of idolatry?

00:09:00 Clip 2: The $800 million biohacker building gods

00:12:00 Clip 3: Midwifing a deity

00:16:00 Clip 4: Tucker Carlson and the trillion-dollar question

00:17:00 An Adventist lens on AI and prophecy

00:18:00 How much does Claude already know about you?

00:21:00 The Pope, the encyclical, and the Tower of Babel

00:22:00 Announcing the series: AI in the Age of Christianity

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Luke Farrugia is the co-founder and CEO of Blue Vineyard, a family of digital technology companies built to serve mission-driven and Adventist organisations. He's got 17+ years in web design and consulting. Luke brought his expertise into the Adventist digital space and is building an ecosystem of digital specialists.

Connect with Luke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukefarrugia

Adam Weeks serves on the pastoral staff at Auburn Seventh-day Adventist Church in Northern California. He also works on the team at Blue Vineyard.

Watch Adam's sermon on AI: https://fb.watch/HJQj5Kw6mq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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• Subscribe for more insights on faith and technology
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@BlueVineyard
• Website — https://bluevineyard.com
• LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-vineyard/
• Get in touch — hello@bluevineyard.com

In this episode, Luke and Adam share highlights from conversations they had with four ministry leaders following Adam's sermon on AI. Featuring insights from Pastor Wes Via, Pastor Russ Willcocks, Pastor Jëan Ross, and Craige Young, they explore some central issues surrounding the AI dilemma. You’ll be empowered to use your creative energies in a new way after listening to this episode!

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Welcome back, and how the AI series has unfolded so far

00:01:00 Adam's takeaways from ASI and a season of interviews

00:02:00 Luke's hypothesis: education is the foundation

00:03:00 Clip 1: Pastor Wes Via on preparing for an unknown future

00:07:00 Reframing AI from myth to tool

00:07:30 Clip 2: Pastor Russ Willcocks on the how versus the why of ministry

00:09:00 Why ministry itself can never be outsourced

00:10:00 Clip 3: Pastor Jëan Ross on AI as a resource for the gospel

00:13:00 What Blue Vineyard is building with Amazing Facts

00:16:00 Clip 4: Craige Young on the knife and water principle

00:20:00 Democratized technology and what it means for jobs

00:25:00 A teaser for what's coming next in the series

FEATURED VOICES

🔗 Pastor Wes Via — https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-via

🔗 Pastor Russ Willcocks — https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-willcocks-13126640

🔗 Pastor Jëan Ross

🔗 Craige Young — https://www.linkedin.com/in/ucyinc

CONNECT WITH BLUE VINEYARD

🔵 Subscribe for more insights on faith and technology

🎙️ Audio Podcast — https://rss.com/podcasts/bluevineyard/

🌐 Website — https://bluevineyard.com

💼 LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-vineyard/

✉️ Get in touch — hello@bluevineyard.com

Meet Dave, one of the key minds behind Blue Vineyard. This is the first episode of our new "Humans of Blue Vineyard" series. In it, we sat down to explore the journey that shaped who he is today.

You’ll discover the path he took before he worked for Blue Vineyard. Each chapter left its mark on how he thinks and leads today. And what actually shifted his path from ministry to entrepreneurship to engineering. And the moment his work at Blue Vineyard became part of his calling.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – How Luke and Dave first met
• 00:07 – Dave's winding career path, from machinist to ministry to engineering
• 00:16 – The moment Blue Vineyard became part of his calling
• 00:17 – Dave's AI and productivity toolkit
• 00:21 – What surprises him about how the church operates
• 00:28 – What Dave's most proud of outside of work
• 00:33 – His vision for solving homelessness and reshaping ministry
• 00:39 – Book recommendations
• 00:41 – Dave's superpower and closing encouragement

Dave’s Recommended Books:

• Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, by Ellen G. White
• Good to Great, by Jim Collins
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven Covey

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• ✉️ Get in touch: hello@bluevineyard.com

Your congregation is already forming deep, emotionally significant relationships online, with influencers and creators who have no idea they exist. Dr. Larry Witzel completed his PhD in Strategic Media, studying exactly this, and his conclusion is clear: if pastors are not consistently showing up online, someone else is filling that space. In this episode, we unpack the research and what to do about it.

00:00 Welcome and Larry's PhD journey

03:00 What parasocial relationships are and why they matter

07:00 Real-life examples, Technoblade, Taylor Tomlinson, and a daughter at Starbucks

14:00 What separates successful creators from wannabes

16:00 How pastors can harvest parasocial relationships evangelistically

20:00 Larry's personal social media shift and the research that triggered it

26:00 Why Larry launched the Ministry Insights podcast

32:00 Thinking in audio and video at the same time

42:00 The biggest challenges of a weekly release cadence

48:00 Practical advice for pastors who want to get started

Dr. Larry Witzel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrywitzel/ | larry@sermonview.com | sermonview.com

CONNECT WITH BLUE VINEYARD 🔵 Subscribe for more insights on faith and technology 🎙️ Audio Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/bluevineyard/ 🌐 Website: https://bluevineyard.com 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-vineyard/ ✉️ Get in touch: hello@bluevineyard.com