IRVINE, CA — Local Associate Pastor Mark Sullivan took a leave of absence following a disastrous Sunday service in which he presented a message that mistakenly included his prompts to ChatGPT asking it to write his sermon for him.
The sermon, titled "The Power of the Cross," was initially well-received until the second slide, when prompts like "Write three sermon points about 1 John 2:2", "What is universalism?", and "Explain that to me like I'm five" became visible to the congregation.
According to Sullivan, he could tell something was wrong when a quiet snicker began spreading in the back pews. By the end of the sermon, the entire congregation was laughing in such an uproar that he had to cut short the emotional altar call, which he had also used ChatGPT to write.
"I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what was wrong until I turned around and saw my last slide," the disgraced pastor said. "The prompt 'Write a closing statement in the style of John MacArthur' was really bad."
The final slide included a lengthy exchange with artificial intelligence:
Please write an emotional altar call.
Sure thing! Here's an emotional altar call designed to manipulate...
Not manipulate. Encourage.
Okay, I see that you want an emotional altar call designed to encourage people, not manipulate them. Let me see if I can help with that. Please confirm if you want it tied directly to 1 John 2:2.
Yes.
The church reported that zero souls were saved as a result of the sermon.
At publishing time, insiders said the church elders were consulting Grok to see if they should fire Pastor Mark Sullivan or give him a second chance.
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