Culture Is the Root, Systems Are the Fruit | Chris Kuti
Churchfront Podcast
About This Week's Guest Chris Kuti has spent 20 years leading creative teams, from worship and production teams to songwriting and communications teams, in settings from living rooms to arenas and from church plants to multisite churches. In this keynote from Churchfront Conference 2025, Chris tells the story of a rehearsal that sounded perfect and felt empty, and what it taught him about leading people instead of just running ministry. You can have the right sound, the right systems and the right skill and still have the wrong spirit. He walks through five ways to build a team culture that...
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Who Should Be in Charge of Your Church's AV Project?
Churchfront Podcast
"Go get us three quotes" sounds like a responsible first step when a church is planning a sound, lighting or video upgrade. In this episode, Jake Gosselin and Luke Jackson explain why it so often sends a project sideways before it starts, and who really needs to be in the room. They talk through why a church AV system is a specialized construction project and not a commodity, why the companies you call sometimes never call back, and what happens when a church chooses the best number instead of the best partner. You will also hear the questions to ask any AV partner before you hire them, why...
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Is All This Church Tech Really Necessary?
Churchfront Podcast
At the closing session of Churchfront Conference 2025, the Churchfront team sat down on stage at Rock Harbor Church and read real comments from our YouTube channel. Do churches care more about lights than the gospel? Why does it have to be so loud? Why is all this necessary? Sean Bennett moderates, and Jake Gosselin, Matt Woltjer, Luke Jackson, Spencer Trefzger and Adam Beranek answer with their pastor hats on. The conversation covers why we ask every church "why?" before recommending an upgrade, what a sound system upgrade is really for, why professional tools last longer, and how worship has...
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The AI Workflows Every Church Production Leader Should Try
Churchfront Podcast
Work with us on your next AV project: AI tools for church ministry, from the team that uses them every day. Churchfront is an AV integration company, and in 2026 we became an AI company too. Jake Gosselin and Luke Jackson walk through how Claude now runs our email, calendar, files and projects, and what the same tools could do for a worship and production team. You will hear how an inbox can sweep itself three times a day and hand back drafts in your own voice, how to get started with Claude connectors and skill files, how one photo of a tech closet can turn into a documented system...
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Your Preference is not Theology
Churchfront Podcast
Follow us! In this episode, Sean Bennett and Luke Jackson unpack one of the most common sources of conflict in church worship: confusing personal preference, ministry philosophy, and biblical theology. When those categories collapse into one, conversations about songs, service length, instruments, volume, style, and liturgy quickly become harder than they need to be. Sean and Luke talk through how churches can build a clearer worship philosophy by starting upstream with the purpose of the gathered church, reading Scripture as a unified story, and doing the theological...
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Church Video Systems That Volunteers Can Actually Run | Colby Griner
Churchfront Podcast
Follow us! About This Week’s Guest Colby Griner serves at Compassion Christian Church in Savannah, Georgia, where he oversees broadcast video at the main campus and supports production across multiple campuses. His background includes leading production in a smaller church environment, building volunteer-friendly systems, and helping churches make practical decisions about video gear, cameras, switching, routing, and live production workflows. In this session from the Churchfront Conference, Colby breaks down how churches should think about video systems based on their actual...
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The Missing Piece in Church AV Projects
Churchfront Podcast
Follow us! A great sound system, lighting rig, or LED wall can still fall short if nobody knows how to operate, maintain, and adapt it after installation. In this episode, Jake and Luke unpack one of the biggest things church leaders miss in AV projects: the ongoing need for training, support, system ownership, and engineering expertise. They explain why AV is different from other parts of a building project, why volunteers and operators should not be expected to function as system engineers, and how churches can plan for stabilization, documentation, ongoing support, and future growth...
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You Don’t Have to Know Everything to Lead a Great Production Team | Danielle Iselin
Churchfront Podcast
Follow us! About This Week’s Guest Danielle Iselin serves at VIVE Church in Mountain View, California, helping lead production across a global church with 15 campuses. Her background in church production started at a young age, and her leadership experience gives her a practical, encouraging perspective for worship and production leaders who feel the pressure to know it all. In this Churchfront Conference keynote, Danielle challenges church production leaders to stop carrying everything alone and start becoming leaders of leaders. She explains what it means to “know enough to be...
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How Not to Build a Church AV Budget
Churchfront Podcast
Follow us! In this episode, Jake Gosselin and Luke Jackson talk through one of the most common ways churches waste money on AV: starting with a budget number before defining the actual ministry needs, space requirements, and system design. They unpack why rough percentages, contractor guesses, cheap local installs, and rushed timelines often lead to underbuilt systems, change orders, poor long-term support, and frustrated teams. Instead of treating AV like a last-minute line item, Jake and Luke explain why churches need a clear plan, informed consulting, and a long-term stewardship...
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Your Church Livestream Probably Isn’t Growing Your Church | Stephen Sheppard
Churchfront Podcast
Follow us! About This Week’s Guest Stephen “Shep” Sheppard is a church production and broadcast leader with experience serving at Elevation Church, launching church campuses, supporting multi-site production teams, and helping churches improve their camera systems, video direction, and sermon capture workflows. In this episode, Shep challenges the assumption that livestreaming is still the main growth strategy for churches. Instead, he explains how production teams can use cameras, lighting, volunteer training, sermon recording, YouTube, and short-form content to steward the...
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Churchfront Podcast — Josh Kelsey | How AI Is Transforming Church Ministry
Guest background: Josh Kelsey is the Lead Pastor of Vineyard Church in California. In this conversation, Josh shares how his church is actively using AI across nearly every department—from sermon preparation and curriculum creation to operations, worship ministry, and discipleship. He offers a practical vision for how church leaders can use AI to reclaim time, reduce burnout, and focus more deeply on shepherding people.
Key Topics
AI in the church: fear vs. opportunity Josh argues that many church leaders are approaching AI with unnecessary fear. While concerns around ethics and implementation are valid, he sees AI primarily as a tool—one that can dramatically increase effectiveness while freeing leaders to focus on ministry. He believes churches that embrace these tools thoughtfully will be able to pastor more effectively, not less.
Why churches are historically slow to adopt technology Churches and nonprofits are often years behind the business world when it comes to adopting new technology. Josh believes AI is creating one of the largest technological shifts of our generation, and many church leaders risk missing opportunities simply because they haven’t taken time to understand what’s actually possible.
Scaling ministry without losing community One of the most intriguing ideas discussed is whether AI can help churches scale without sacrificing the personal connection that often disappears as organizations grow. Instead of hiring more specialists for every operational challenge, churches may soon be able to use AI systems to maintain consistency, communication, and care at a much larger scale.
AI as a team of specialists Rather than thinking of AI as a chatbot, Josh encourages leaders to think of it as an entire team of specialists available on demand. Administrative support, curriculum development, data analysis, planning, project management, and content creation can all be assisted by AI, allowing pastors to spend more time on teaching, discipleship, and relationships.
The future of church software The conversation explores how tools like Planning Center, HubSpot, Notion, Logos, MultiTracks, and other church software platforms will likely become deeply integrated with AI through technologies like APIs and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Instead of manually moving information between platforms, leaders will increasingly interact with a single AI layer that understands and works across their entire ministry ecosystem.
How Josh uses AI for sermon planning Josh shares his personal workflow for annual sermon planning and weekly sermon preparation. What once required multiple staff meetings and days of planning can now be completed in minutes. He uses AI to help organize ideas, structure teaching series, review theological themes, and accelerate sermon preparation while maintaining full ownership over theological convictions and final content.
Using AI without losing your voice One of the biggest concerns among pastors is whether AI will replace authentic preaching. Josh argues that AI works best as a collaborator rather than a creator. By training AI on previous sermons, theological frameworks, and ministry values, leaders can use it to refine and organize their ideas while still maintaining their unique voice and convictions.
Curriculum creation and discipleship workflows Vineyard uses AI extensively to create small group curriculum, discipleship resources, class materials, slide decks, teacher guides, and parent resources. Tools like NotebookLM help transform existing content into multiple formats, dramatically reducing preparation time while increasing consistency across ministries.
AI-powered worship ministry Worship and production teams are also leveraging AI. Josh and his worship pastor discuss using tools like Suno to create custom music, countdown tracks, and ministry-specific content. They also explore future possibilities for creating custom stems, backing tracks, and other resources that could significantly reduce production workload.
The ethics of AI and transparency Throughout the conversation, Josh emphasizes the importance of transparency. Leaders should be honest about where AI is assisting their work while recognizing that many forms of ministry have always involved collaboration, research assistance, editors, and support staff. The key is maintaining integrity while leveraging powerful new tools.
A leveling of the playing field for small churches Perhaps the most exciting implication is what AI means for under-resourced churches. Pastors who lack staff, consultants, formal training, or large budgets can now access tools that help bridge those gaps. Josh believes AI may become one of the most powerful ministry equalizers the Church has ever seen.
Notable tools mentioned
• Claude
• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• NotebookLM
• Planning Center
• HubSpot
• Notion
• Logos Bible Software
• Suno
• Zapier
• MultiTracks
• Google Workspace
Key Quote
“Imagine if you could free up 15 hours of your week to spend more time making sure the people in your church who are most forgotten actually get seen.”
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