Tech innovators and industry leaders collaborate on ai solutions for human flourishing and organizational thriving
BOULDER, Colo. — Gloo, the leading technology platform dedicated to connecting the faith ecosystem and releasing its collective might, successfully concluded its second annual AI & the Church Hackathon this past weekend in Boulder, Colorado. The event, designed to accelerate AI-driven solutions that promote human flourishing and organizational thriving for the “big C” Church, awarded the top-performing teams over $275,000 in cash prizes.
The Hackathon drew over 200 people from around the world, who spent the weekend building AI-based technologies to help tackle challenges in the faith community. A panel of judges reviewed submissions, including Gloo CEO Scott Beck, YouVersion CTO James Chung, CEO of France-based HelloBible, Eric Célérier, Scott Mosley, VP of Software for Right Now Media and Yvonne Carlson, CTO of Global Media Outreach.
“The AI & The Church Hackathon highlights the incredible potential of AI by transforming how organizations and communities thrive,” said Steele Billings, managing partner for Gloo Ventures & Gloo AI. “While many in the faith community may hesitate when it comes to adopting emerging technologies, this weekend showcased a bold vision for how AI can be harnessed to create meaningful change. The solutions developed here demonstrate that AI isn’t something to fear — it’s an opportunity to build tools that align with our values and positively impact the world.”
New AI Tools Announced
During the event, Gloo announced a new suite of AI tools starting with AI Data Engine for faith-based publishers and churches along with two new AI platforms currently in beta — Aspen AI and the Christian Aligned Large Language Model (CALLM). The tools are designed as invaluable resources for Christians and church leaders, offering tailored AI solutions to support ministry work and organizational needs.
Prizes ranging from $5,000-$100,000 were awarded to projects including:
- The Best Overall, Grand Prize Winner: Pastors.AI – Joe Suh, Tyler Weaver, Saeed Hassan, and Akbar Ali created a tool that harnesses AI to quickly translate and lip-sync video-based sermons into multiple languages, allowing churches to reach more people and offer services to additional communities.
- Best Tech: Servant – Ben Elmore, Nathanael Coffing, Patrick Taylor, Hyzer Taylor, Ian Ludwig, Jake Oswald, Ethan Woo, Joe Nicolette, Patrick Creehan, and Brad Linard from Servant, created InSight, an AI-powered data platform that creates hyper-rich felt-need profiles, helping champions shepherd their community with precision and care.
- Best Design: LifeGroup.AI – Ryan Laughlin, Eric Laughlin, Keaton Helm, and Noah Liska created a tool to defeat isolation and help users thrive socially; LifeGroup.ai helps you connect with people around you through friendship matching and personalized AI connection coaching for Biblical growth.
- Best Concept: Generosity – College students Ernesto Rivera and Yanni Kouloumbis created Generosity, a tool to help churches increase donations through initiative visibility, transparency, and donor alignment, using AI to provide insights into congregational needs.
- Best Storytelling: Team Waha – Josh Muller, Trent Cowden, and Jeff Peterson created TimeStampAudio.com, which generates timing data from any text and its corresponding audio in over 1,100 languages using AI.
- Challenge Category, First Place: SermonShots – Corey Alderon, Richard Abear, and Marvin Bentinganan created an AI tool for live translation of sermons, providing a simultaneous translation capability for audience members who prefer a different language from the live speaker.
- Challenge Category, Second Place – The Apologist Project. Jake Carlson, Christine Abernathy, Dylan Starnes, Joshua (Ramakrishna) Dhulipalla, Kari Murphy, Troy Michels, Sara Carlile, Dayna-Marie Pemberton, Garrett Grimmett, and Christopher Russo created a conversational AI that ministers to the Muslim community, in partnership with prominent Muslim-serving ministries and major Christian apologists that specialize in that area.
- Challenge Category, Third Place – AO Labs. Craig Bradley, Holly Bradley, Sujan Barman, Gabriel Souki, and Mazen Emad created The Church Bible, which is “A City-Wide Bible For Community Connection.”
- Challenge Category, Fourth Place: Atrium AI – Todd “TJ” Person and Ryan Fontenot created Atrium, an AI-powered platform that automates security and attendance tracking as well as enhancing church security with real-time insights, facial recognition, and proactive alerts for a safer, more engaged community.
- Challenge Category, Fifth Place: Biblica – Mike Brinker, Robertson Brinker, and Sean Boisen created ScriptureRecall, an app that helps users memorize scripture using AI.
- Challenge Category, Sixth Place: ACS Technologies – Chris Kehayias, Patrick Abernathy, Jason Wenell, and Trace Jackson created a web-based app designed to provide people who work with kids an easy-to-use tool for generating copyright-free, thematically relevant children’s coloring pages.
- Hacker’s Choice – Additional prizes were awarded to projects ranging from scripture apps for college student, using AI to aid in suicide prevention to an app designed to rehabilitate sexual addiction.
- Most Servant-Hearted Attendees – Allen Prell and Joshua Price
- Best Shoes – Kari Murphy, Clear Creek Community Church
“This weekend has cast a vision for the future. We believe that God is not surprised by AI, and He wants to use it for His purposes,” said Scott Beck, CEO and co-founder of Gloo. “We couldn’t be more grateful for the creative solutions and community shared across all of the teams this year. Gloo is at its best when we connect the faith community and help release its collective might.”
Leaders from both the tech and faith communities also gathered as part of a working group to explore responsible AI use and to discuss current challenges facing faith leaders. Participants included Yvonne Carlson, CTO of Global Media Outreach, VP of Software and Experience at RightNow Media Scott Mosley; and Nicole Martin, CIO of Christianity Today, among others.
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Gloo is the trusted platform that releases the collective might of the faith ecosystem. As a leading technology innovator, Gloo is a tech platform that connects ministry leaders to resources, people, data insights and funding so their people and communities flourish and their organizations thrive. Gloo is based in Boulder, Colorado.
Contact:
Cyrus Giddens
Gloo
703-424-0762
[email protected]
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Religion News Service or Religion News Foundation.
