Step 0 · Governance briefing

Before you register

AI innovation is encouraged across The Elevation Church. Some projects, however, require registration and review because they handle member data, carry the church's name, become operational systems, or may be used by others.

Before continuing, please understand these five things:

  1. Every project needs a named human owner.

    Named accountability is one of the seven principles. No solution goes live owned by 'the team' — one person is accountable end to end, endorsed by a Resident Pastor sponsor.

  2. Tier 3 projects must be registered before development begins.

    Applications, databases, member-facing portals and integrations are registered before build starts, and pass a pre-launch check before they go live. Registering early is what lets us help.

  3. Member data must be handled according to the data stewardship standards.

    Member personal data belongs only in approved, access-controlled systems. Sensitive pastoral data must never be entered into any AI tool without explicit written approval from the AI Ministry and the responsible pastor.

  4. AI-generated content requires appropriate human oversight.

    AI output is a draft, never a final word. Anything teaching, pastoral, doctrinal or member-facing is reviewed by a responsible person, and Scripture, quotations and statistics are verified against source.

  5. Registration does not automatically mean approval.

    This form starts a review. The AI Ministry will confirm your tier and respond — acknowledging every submission within three working days, and deciding Tier 3 submissions within ten.

Governance essentials

The seven principles

Every AI project in the network is measured against these, from the first line of a prompt to the last day a system is in service.

1
Ministry First Technology serves the mission; it does not set it. Every solution must answer a real ministry need and be abl…
2
Stewardship of Trust Members entrust the church with information given in confidence. That trust is a pastoral obligation before i…
3
Human Oversight AI output is a draft, never a final word. Anything teaching, counselling, pastoral, doctrinal or member-facin…
4
Truthfulness AI-generated content must be verified for accuracy. Scripture, quotations, statistics and attributed statemen…
5
Named Accountability Every project has a named human owner and a named Resident Pastor sponsor. No solution goes live owned by 'th…
6
Transparency Where members interact with an AI system, they are told so. Automated communication is not passed off as pers…
7
Built to be Shared Solutions are documented and built so that another expression could adopt them. What solves a problem in one …
Read the full Governance Framework Opens in a new tab — you will not lose your place.
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For the record, we store the framework version you acknowledged (v1.0), the date and time, and the IP address the acknowledgement came from. It is attached to your submission.

Not sure whether your project needs registering? Check the three tiers — or submit anyway, and the AI Ministry will confirm.