Mostly Resilient
Last Update: 7/31/2026
AI Resilience Score for Religious Ed. Directors:
56.8%
Median Score
Meaningful human contribution
Measures the parts of the occupation that still require a human touch. This score averages data from up to four AI exposure datasets, focusing on the role’s resilience against automation.
Med
Long-term employer demand
Predicts the health of the job market for this role through 2034. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it balances projected annual job openings (60%) with overall employment growth (40%).
Med
Sustained economic opportunity
Measures future earning potential and career flexibility. This score is a blend of total projected labor income (67%) and the role’s inherent ability to adapt to economic and technological shifts (33%).
High
This reflects the reliability of your score based on the number of data sources available for this career and how closely those sources agree on the outlook. A higher confidence means more consistent evidence from labor experts and AI models.
Most data sources align, with only minor variation. This is a well-supported result.
Contributing sources
AI Resilience Report forDirectors, Religious Activities and Education
$52,100 median salary•13,800 annual openings•SOC Code: 21-2021.00
Directors, Religious Activities and Education are somewhat more resilient to AI impacts than most occupations, according to our analysis of 8 sources.
This career is labeled "Mostly Resilient" because the heart of the work, which includes counseling grieving members, mentoring people through spiritual questions, and building real human community, is something AI simply cannot replicate. While AI is taking over time-consuming administrative tasks like scheduling, budgeting, emails, and event planning, those changes actually free up directors to focus more on the deeply personal work that congregations value most.
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This career is labeled "Mostly Resilient" because the heart of the work, which includes counseling grieving members, mentoring people through spiritual questions, and building real human community, is something AI simply cannot replicate. While AI is taking over time-consuming administrative tasks like scheduling, budgeting, emails, and event planning, those changes actually free up directors to focus more on the deeply personal work that congregations value most.
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View analysisChat with CoachLatest newsMore career infoAnalysisChatNewsMoreAnalysis of Current AI Resilience
Religious Ed. Directors
Updated Quarterly
How is AI changing Religious Ed. Directors jobs?
Right now, AI is mostly augmenting — not replacing — the people who direct religious education and activities. The work is shifting first in administrative and content-prep tasks, exactly the areas O*NET flags as most automatable. According to new Barna research from March 2026 [1], a majority of church leaders personally use AI at least once a month, though only 33% say their church has formally integrated it into ministry or operations.
Surveys cited by Hartford International Seminary [2] show that 45% of church leaders now use AI — an 80% jump from the prior year — mostly for emails, scheduling, bulletins, visitor follow-ups, and sermon research, while fewer than 25% use it for theological content like sermons or devotionals. Practical guides like ChurchTechToday's 2026 roundup [3] describe new "agentic" assistants that can research retreat venues, monitor event registrations, and turn receipt folders into expense reports — directly tackling the budgeting and program-implementation tasks. The deeply human tasks — counseling members through grief, financial stress, or doubt — are not being automated.
As a chaplain writing in the Journal of Lutheran Ethics [4] explains, AI apps can summarize what different traditions say about suffering, but they cannot truly "know" a person or weigh the moral and ethical realities of someone's specific situation.
Sources
How fast is AI adoption growing for Religious Ed. Directors?
Adoption is moving faster than many people expected, but with real brakes. On the "go faster" side, cheap, ready-to-use tools like ChatGPT and AI features already built into Planning Center, Tithe.ly, and Mailchimp make the technology nearly free compared to hiring more staff, which is why Smart Church Management's 2026 guide [5] calls AI "as ordinary in church operations as email." Small and understaffed congregations especially benefit. On the "slow down" side, trust and ethics are huge issues: Barna found [1] that 83% of leaders worry about data privacy, 51% about plagiarism, and 49% about losing authenticity in preaching — yet only 5% of churches have a written AI policy.
Congregants are wary too; the Hartford piece notes a 2025 Pew study [2] finding 73% of Americans believe AI should play no role in advising people about their faith. Scholars in the field are also raising bigger concerns: the Religious Education Association's 2025 annual meeting [6] highlighted how AI is creating new inequalities for resource-limited communities, a phenomenon researchers call "digital colonialism."
The hopeful takeaway for you: AI is taking over the spreadsheets and scheduling, but the heart of this job — counseling, mentoring, and walking with people through their biggest spiritual questions — is exactly what AI cannot do, and what congregations say they value most.
Sources
Will AI replace Religious Ed. Directors?
No. We don't think AI will replace Directors, Religious Activities and Education, though we do expect the job to change.
Our 56.8% AI Resilience Score reflects a role where the core work is deeply human, even as AI takes over the edges. Right now, adoption is moving fast on the administrative side: scheduling, visitor follow-ups, bulletin prep, and expense tracking are already being handled by AI tools built into platforms churches already use [5]. About 45% of church leaders now use AI, an 80% jump from the prior year, mostly for emails and sermon research rather than theological content [2].
What stays human is the heart of the job. Counseling someone through grief, doubt, or a financial crisis requires knowing that person, not just knowing what different traditions say about suffering [4]. Congregations seem to agree: 73% of Americans say AI should play no role in advising people about their faith [2]. There are also real brakes on adoption, including concerns about data privacy, authenticity, and equity for under-resourced communities [6].
The economic picture supports staying in this field. Wages and career flexibility score well in our data, and the demand for genuine human presence in spiritual community is not going away.
Sources
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Latest AI news for Religious Ed. Directors
These articles highlight the importance of embracing AI in religious education, offering valuable insights for students pursuing careers as Directors of Religious Activities and Education. For instance, understanding AI as a tool in theological education can enhance curricular development, while exploring its impact in African churches showcases the need for cultural adaptability. Additionally, examining AI's role in deepening spiritual experiences, such as during Ramadan, can inspire innovative programming. By fostering AI resilience, future leaders can effectively integrate technology into faith-based settings, enriching the educational landscape.
Notre Dame receives $50 million grant from Lilly Endowment for the DELTA Network, a faith-based approach to AI ethics
news.nd.edu • 12/19/2025
The University of Notre Dame has been awarded a $50.8 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support the DELTA Network: Faith-Based...
African church leaders explore artificial intelligence
www.oikoumene.org • 7/22/2025
Amidst an increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), church leaders in Africa have sought a deeper understanding of the technology to...
Leveraging artificial intelligence for theological education: ‘AI is not a human, it is a tool’
www.christiandaily.com • 4/15/2025
At a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping global education, theological institutions are wrestling with what the...
Can AI deepen spiritual experiences during the Holy Month of Ramadan?
campaignme.com • 3/11/2025
As technology continues to shape every aspect of our lives, artificial intelligence affects everything. The fusion of faith and technology,...
How students and teachers feel about AI in the Jewish classroom
www.jta.org • 12/27/2023
Jewish educators and rabbis are going a step further and looking at AI through a Jewish lens and considering its effects on the overall Jewish educational...
More Career Info
Career: Directors, Religious Activities and Education
They plan and lead religious programs and events, teach people about their faith, and help guide their spiritual growth.
Parent Careers
Employment & Wage Data
Median Wage
$52,100
Jobs (2024)
138,900
Growth (2024-34)
+2.1%
Annual Openings
13,800
Education
Bachelor's degree
Experience
Less than 5 years
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024-2034
Task-Level AI Resilience Scores
AI-generated estimates of task resilience over the next 3 years
1
Analyze member participation or changes in congregational emphasis to determine needs for religious education.
2
Counsel individuals regarding interpersonal, health, financial, or religious problems.
3
Interpret religious education activities to the public through speaking, leading discussions, or writing articles for local or national publications.
4
Locate and distribute resources, such as periodicals or curricula, to enhance the effectiveness of educational programs.
5
Plan or conduct conferences dealing with the interpretation of religious ideas or convictions.
6
Visit congregational members' homes or arrange for pastoral visits to provide information or resources regarding religious education programs.
7
Train and supervise religious education instructional staff.
Tasks are ranked by their AI resilience, with the most resilient tasks shown first. Core tasks are essential functions of this occupation, while supplemental tasks provide additional context.
