It's beginning to look a lot like (AI) Christmas

Churches across the U.S. and abroad are quietly experimenting with AI-generated Christmas content, from Nativity visuals and kids' lessons to full Christmas Eve sermons.Why it matters: Christmas services draw some of the year's largest crowds, and churches' growing reliance on AI raises questions about authenticity, reverence, and whether algorithms can handle the faith's deepest themes.The big picture: With limited staff, pastors and volunteers are turning to AI tools to speed up tasks as church attendance declines and churches across the country close their doors. Few churches are openly admitting to using AI for Christmas programming, but the abundance of options shows there's a market and that many churches are taking advantage of them. Between the lines: The rise of AI at Christmas is tied to churches trying "to put their best foot forward" during the holiday influx, as more Americans drift away from organized religion, Greg Cootsona, executive director of the nonprofit, AI and Faith, tells Axios.Religious communities have historically been early adopters of communication tools — from radio to livestreams — to "get the word out." AI fits that pattern, Cootsona said."Pastors can use the AI prompt to help them with a children's sermon or a message, or perhaps ways to be creative about telling a story that they've told over and over again each year."Zoom in: Church Communications, a group that helps thousands of churches, published "5 Ways to Use AI for Christmas at Your Church," advising congregations to generate Nativity devotionals, Christmas graphics, Advent calendars and kids' stories with AI.ChurchLeaders, another major ministry outlet, encourages pastors to use AI for planning Christmas services, highlighting its utility for creating sermons, scheduling volunteers and generating social media content.The Gathering Faith Leadership Network sells a pack of 100+ AI-generated Nativity images, including Mary, Joseph and Bethlehem scenes, pitched as ready-made visuals for Christmas Eve services.Mootion's "AI Nativity Video Maker" lets churches auto-generate animated Nativity scenes — from the manger to the shepherds — with customizable prompts.What they're saying: "AI can become a tool for ministry, not the source of ministry," Rev. Chris Hope, founder of the Boston-based Hope Group, a church consulting firm, tells Axios.Hope said AI can help churches with bulletin designs, Christmas lesson plans and even small animations that "lift up the Nativity story," especially for smaller congregations with limited staff.The other side: The dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco tested AI last Christmas Eve, asking ChatGPT to write jokes and a Nativity sermon, but found it "flat" and had "no heart." Todd Brewer, a New Testament scholar, asked ChatGPT to write a 1,000-word Christmas sermon based on the Nativity narrative. He said it was better than some authentic sermons he'd heard, but it still lacked empathy.Friction point: Many AI Christmas images also reinforce stereotypes about Jesus and the Holy Family being white with European features instead of more historically accurate Middle Eastern ones, Hope said.Cootsona agrees, noting that AI systems are trained on centuries of European sacred art, making biased outputs "baked in" unless corrected intentionally.The bottom line: AI may help churches streamline their Christmas season — but clergy warn it must stay a tool, not a substitute for creativity, community or the core message of the Nativity.Cootsona said that the core message of Christmas — God becoming human — means churches must protect the "high-touch, in-person" community that is their strongest asset, and not rely solely on AI.Go deeper: Meet chatbot Jesus: Churches tap AI to save souls — and time