AI and the Interdependent Web
Tuesdays beginning February 10, 2026 at 3pm ET/ 2pm CT/ 1pm MT/ noon PT
Sessions on 2/10, 2/24, 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, 4/14 (note only one week between sessions 5 and 6)
AI is part of our changing world and part of the daily lives of our people. We need to talk about it. This six-session series invites Unitarian Universalist ministers into a shared, values-centered exploration of artificial intelligence and its implications for ministry, ethics, justice, and pastoral care.
While the series offers foundational information about AI, its primary focus is communal discernment, theological reflection, and relational learning. Participants will explore what AI is and is not, the ethical and justice questions it raises, including bias, labor, power, privacy, creativity, and environmental impact, and how ministers can thoughtfully respond to the wide range of reactions AI evokes. The series is grounded in UU values and draws on Sharon Welch’s feminist ethic of risk, emphasizing faithful experimentation, humility, and shared responsibility in the midst of uncertainty.
Sessions will include informational offerings, guided reflection, shared discussion, and regular breakout groups. Because trust and continuity matter for this work, participants are asked to commit to the full series and to come ready to discern with an open heart.
This initial offering is a beta. Participants will be invited to offer feedback at the end of the series to help shape future UUMA learning opportunities related to AI, ethics, and ministry.
By the end of the series, it is hoped participants will:
- Feel less reactive and more grounded in conversations about AI
- Understand AI well enough to talk with the people in your congregations/community ministry contexts and each other about the ethical implications of AI
- Be able to make better-informed, values-based decisions
- Feel better equipped to serve communities who are excited, fearful, resistant, or conflicted about AI
- Develop clearer personal and professional boundaries around AI use in ministry, trusting themselves to say yes, no, or not yet, and to support others in doing the same
Participants should register only if they are able to:
- Commit to attending the full six-session series
- Engage actively and respectfully from a relational stance
- Approach the material with openness to shared inquiry and mutual discernment rather than persuasion
Duration and Frequency: 6 sessions, 90 minutes each
Cost: Participants will be charged a fee of $100 to take part in the course. Scholarships Available.
Facilitator: Dr. Emma K. Farrell, Ph.D., is a seminarian at Meadville Lombard Theological School and was welcomed into Preliminary Fellowship in December. They currently teach at Arizona State University, where AI is deeply embedded in institutional practice, and bring this lived experience into ministry through values-centered, pastoral workshops on AI, ethics, and discernment. Their ministry weaves together science, ethics, and UU theology, with a focus on relational leadership, shared discernment, and building beloved community in times of rapid change.
