From Ethics to Sustainability: Artificial Intelligence (AI)'s Role in Transforming Christian Ministry Communication in Nigeria

Situated within Nigeria's dynamic Christian landscape, this study examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming communication in Christian ministry. It focuses on AI's potential to enhance outreach, engagement, and sustainability within Nigerian churches. Employing the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) framework alongside Theological Ethics, the research explores how AI tools interact with Nigeria's social, ethical, and theological values. Using a library-based methodology, the study evaluates practical AI applications—such as chatbots for personalized pastoral care and virtual reality for immersive worship—to demonstrate their capacity to streamline operations and foster inclusivity. Theological Ethics is applied to address challenges like fairness, transparency, and inclusivity, ensuring AI aligns with core Christian values. The SST framework highlights the dynamic relationship between technological innovation and human agency, emphasizing the need for responsible AI integration. The study fills a gap in the literature on ethical and sustainable AI use in Nigerian Christian ministry, suggesting that, when implemented thoughtfully, AI can improve communication and accessibility without replacing essential human interaction. This research offers actionable insights for church leaders, guiding them to balance innovation with ethical principles and to pursue collaborative innovation and ethical oversight, ensuring that AI serves as a transformative tool aligned with Christian mission and values.