Pastor Ron Carpenter has introduced a new AI-driven app that allows users to have "1-on-1 personalised interactions" with an AI version of him at any time of the day or night.

The app, called the Ron Carpenter Ministries Advanced Archive, offers a unique approach to ministry by answering questions and even “praying” for users’ specific needs.

While the $49-a-month (£38) service is generating buzz, it is also drawing mixed reactions from the Christian community, with some followers praising it as "epic" and "next level," while others criticise it as depersonalising and even heretical.

The app promises to transcend traditional barriers of time and access, with a description on the Google Play store claiming it “grows along with you, referencing past conversations, and personalising responses.” In a demonstration video posted in Novemeber, Pastor Carpenter interacts with the app, asking it about prayer. After a brief pause, the AI responds with a message about the importance of prayer, delivered in Carpenter’s own voice: “Prayer is that intimate conversation with God where you can pour out your heart…”

Critics on social media have voiced concerns about the depersonalisation of ministry, with one user saying: “The one thing the world will not be able to replicate in the AI age is the Holy Spirit.” Others went further, calling it “heresy,” arguing that “AI can’t talk to God” and criticising Carpenter for turning prayer into a “superficial self-help psycho babble farce”.

Many also expressed discomfort with the app’s impersonal nature. One user wrote: “Or, and hear me out, know your church and just let them call you or come by and visit you in person.” Others questioned the size of Carpenter’s congregation, suggesting that if a pastor or elder cannot personally attend to the needs of their flock, “it’s either: 1. Your local congregation is too big, or 2. You and the elders are not using your time correctly.”