Reclaim Time for Ministry in the New Year

So much ministry, so little time

At the dawn of a new year, you may find yourself setting new goals and resolutions for your ministry. Maybe you’re trying to reach a new fundraising goal, launch a parish community event, increase religious education registration, or track higher engagement in parish activities beyond Sunday Masses. Whatever’s on your mind, anything that will become a priority in the new year will come at a cost: your time.  

Time is the one non-renewable resource at your disposal. Use it well, and amazing things can happen. When used well, it can lead to remarkable outcomes; when wasted, it’s gone for good.

Assuming you have about 40 hours each week spent in ministry, how many of those hours are actually spent in ministry versus managing ministry? Emails, bulletins, meeting notes, data analysis, hunting down parishioner info, crafting social posts, rewriting the same announcement for the fourth time… none of these are bad or unimportant. But they quietly eat up your most limited resource: time.

ParishStaq

Fully integrated software to empower leaders, engage your parish, and increase stewardship.

Learn More

Tools should serve your ministry  

The tools you use in your day-to-day—whether it’s as simple as the stapler used to create religious ed parent packets or as complex as the computer (phone or tablet) you’re reading this on—exist to serve the ministry you carry out, not the other way around. 

The Church has always adopted tools that further ministry impact. Consider the printing press, radio, even YouTube and social media. When used well, your ministry should be more effective, not weighed down by the tools you use. Of course, we should lean on guidance from Pope Leo and Church leadership and explore ethically when it comes to AI, but at the end of the day, the Catholic Church is not afraid of new technology; she’s committed to stewarding the gifts of creation and human ingenuity for the sake of the Gospel.

When leveraged properly, AI can unlock new possibilities and, perhaps most importantly, more time for you to focus on the people, connections, and relationships in the ministry moments that matter most. 

Where AI can actually save your time 

Let’s break down the numbers. If AI helped you save just 30 minutes a day, that earns you back 2.5 hours per week, 10 hours per month, and 120 hours per year. 

That’s three full workweeks handed back to you to do more with your ministry. What would you do with that time? Run an extra week of VBS? Launch a men’s or women’s retreat? Personally check in on your parish’s small groups? Or start parish small groups?! Spend an extra hour each week praying for your parishioners? Take a personal retreat? The possibilities are almost endless. 

Sounds nice, right? So how can you get started? Here are a few ways you can start using AI in the new year and get yourself those three extra weeks: 

Administrative tasks 

It’s unlikely that you got into parish or diocesan work because you get fired up about building spreadsheets or organizing team schedules. Sure, you might have a knack for it, but it’s more likely that that’s the “necessary work” that makes meaningful ministry moments possible. 

Instead of getting bogged down in that work, you could leverage a tool like Chat GPT to do things like create a spreadsheet of names for nametags, create a volunteer schedule for a parish event, or give you pros and cons of different religious education resources. You could also leverage Otter.ai or other note taking apps to take meeting notes, as long as you notify all meeting attendees. 

Drafting copy 

Have you ever stared at a blinking cursor for more than 5 minutes wondering how to get the word out about an upcoming event? Whether it’s an announcement for your bulletin or website, a social media caption, or a weekly e-newsletter blurb, a tool like Chat GPT can quickly help you get the ball rolling on short copy drafts. 

This doesn’t mean AI does all the work for you. It means that you thoughtfully prompt the tool to help you draft a few sentences and carefully review, edit, revise, and publish. It saves you those 5 minutes of wondering what to write and, over time, that adds up to a lot of minutes back in your life! 

Catholic Resources for Parish Leaders

Tools designed to help you guide your parishioners with grace and conviction.

VIEW THE GUIDE

Video editing

If you’re live streaming or recording Masses, you also better be sharing clips from your pastor’s homily each week! This is one of the best ways to stand out and make your parish seem approachable to newcomers. 

With Studio AI from Resi, you can take each Sunday’s homily and allow AI to transform it into short, vertical videos with captions, ready for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. If you have a goal of higher engagement from your social media, look no further than this tool, which allows you to quickly bring your parish’s voice to the digital space. 

Finding people  

Tracking down groups of people or even specific parishioners based on a set of criteria can eat up more time than you realize. Whether you’re building filters in your ChMS, digging through old email threads or sign up sheets, or asking fellow staff members or volunteers, it shouldn’t be this hard to find who you’re looking for. 

With Pushpay’s AI for People Search, you can easily keep up with every member of your parish and find who you’re looking for in a snap. Use natural language like, “parents of children two or younger,” or “couples with an anniversary next month” to find your people quickly and help you accomplish a variety of tasks. 

Donor management 

What if instead of running reports and exporting data, you could just talk to someone about what’s on your mind when it comes to giving information at your parish? That’s almost what Pushpay’s AI for Giving Data. Sure, you’re not talking to a person, but you’re prompting AI with questions that make sense to you to gain meaningful insights about the generosity among your parishioners. Find answers to simple questions quickly and use the time previously spent on data analysis on meaningful ministry moments.

The new year is a perfect opportunity to resolve to be incredibly intentional with how you spend your time. AI isn’t a replacement for the heart of ministry. It’s a tool to help you reclaim hours currently spent on repetitive tasks, data wrangling, or drafting communications. 

By thoughtfully integrating AI into your workflow you’re not just working smarter, you’re powerfully stewarding your gifts of creativity, energy, and time in service of the Gospel. This year, give yourself the gift of presence. Let technology handle the busywork, and let your heart, your creativity, and your pastoral care take center stage.

Tour our Parish Giving Product

A comprehensive solution for secure, cheerful giving & donor development.

TAKE A TOUR