Artificial Intelligence and the Ecclesia Disrupta : Liturgical Development in Evangelical Worship

Abstract

The AI boom of the 2020s has prompted a necessary conversation on the liturgical use of generative artificial intelligence. Drawing on insights from ritual studies and liturgical history, this article argues that the incorporation of AI into liturgy represents a continuation, rather than a disruption, of liturgical development natural to evangelical ritual bodies. Three factors—ritual familiarity, pragmatic patterns, and isomorphic pressures—are offered to explain the ritualization of generative artificial intelligence in American evangelical worship. This article situates discourse on AI within an ecclesial context disrupted by technological revision ( ecclesia disrupta ), calling for more careful reflection rather than uncritical bewilderment.