Joe Cook

Selected work

Practical AI for Ministry Leadership

CategoryEducation

StatusComplete

A three-session seminar that teaches discipleship students to use AI for Bible study, ministry documents, and presentation visuals, with verification and privacy built into every step.

Training & advisoryKnowledge architectureBusiness processesAI Operating System v2.0

The challenge

The students in this seminar were discipleship students preparing for ministry, not for careers in technology. They needed to know what AI is good for, what it should never be trusted with, and how to get a useful first draft without handing over their judgment. They also needed to leave with something finished.

The approach

I built the seminar as three 90-minute sessions for 20 to 25 people. Each session follows the same rhythm: a short piece of instruction, a demonstration, guided practice on real work, and a review of what came out. Every session ends with a finished piece the student made.

Workshop structure. Three 90-minute sessions: studying Scripture with the CARE and READ frameworks, creating a ministry document, and creating a visual background. Each session moves through instruction, demonstration, guided practice, and review, and ends with a finished output: reviewed study notes, a one or two-page resource, and an image with a reusable prompt. Three 90-minute sessions for 20 to 25 participantsStudy ScriptureCARE and READInstructionDemonstrationGuided practiceReviewReviewed study notesMinistry documentIdea to finished fileInstructionDemonstrationGuided practiceReviewOne or two-page resourceVisual background16:9 presentation imageInstructionDemonstrationGuided practiceReviewImage and reusable promptEvery session ends with a finished piece, checked by a person before it is used.

The first session sets the boundaries. Generative AI drafts text, images, summaries, and plans. It doesn’t pray, believe, or understand a person the way another person does, and an answer can sound confident and still be wrong. It’s appropriate for drafting and organizing. Facts and interpretation have to be verified. Doctrine, pastoral care, safeguarding, discipline, and final approval stay with people.

Two frameworks

Students learned two short frameworks. CARE gives a request enough direction to produce a useful first draft and then asks the system to name its own assumptions and gaps. READ keeps Scripture study grounded in the text, so the student reads the passage before AI touches it and can tell observation from interpretation.

Two frameworks taught in the seminar. CARE for prompting: Context, Assignment, Requirements, Evaluation. READ for Scripture study: Read, Examine, Ask, Discern. Both end with human review. CARE: asking for a first draftCContextpeople, purpose, settingAAssignmentone clear taskRRequirementsaudience, format, limitsEEvaluationassumptions, gaps, reviewREAD: studying a passageRReadwhat does it say?EExaminewhat shapes the meaning?AAskwhat needs more study?DDiscerntext, interpretation, or suggestion?Both frameworks end the same way: a person checks the work before it is used.

The deliverables

  • A seminar guide with session structure, activities, and a 30-day practice plan
  • CARE and READ framework cards with reusable prompt templates
  • A searchable prompt library for study, documents, and images
  • Checklists for fact checking and privacy before anything is shared

Privacy

Ministry is full of information that should never go into a chatbot. The privacy checklist names it in plain words: private pastoral conversations, counseling, children and vulnerable people, medical needs, discipline, family conflict, passwords, and financial records. Students used fictional, public, or properly anonymized material, and a responsible leader reviews the result before it’s shared.

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