For 40 years, Barna has been dedicated to serving the Church through our research and by sharing insights from pastors and ministry leaders. We believe in the power of learning from those on the frontlines, offering ideas that help you navigate a changing world and apply practical wisdom to your ministry.

We’ve partnered with a broad range of ministries, nonprofits and businesses—both faith-based and secular—to explore how they view and serve the Church. These leaders bring fresh perspectives and solutions that can inspire and equip church leaders in unique ways.

In this feature, we spotlight Subsplash, a company with whom we’ve been exploring the topic of innovation. Subsplash is at the forefront of developing digital tools to help churches share the gospel more effectively and operate more efficiently, and we wanted to share their story with you. At a time when Barna’s research highlights skepticism surrounding new technologies—particularly AI—our hope is to spark curiosity as you read about Subsplash’s journey. Their story offers valuable insights for cultivating an innovator’s mindset, equipping the Church to embrace technology as a tool for ministry in today’s world.

Churches aren’t often known for being early adopters, especially when it comes to technology. Recent Barna data, however, shows a willingness among church leaders to use AI–at least for help with administrative and marketing tasks. Nearly nine in 10 pastors (88%) say they’d be comfortable utilizing AI within the realm of “assisting in graphic design,” and over three-quarters (78%) are okay using the technology to “assist with marketing and marketing materials.” In the marketing-adjacent realm of church communication, nearly three in five pastors (58%) tell Barna they’re comfortable using AI to assist in communication.

When it comes to using AI for theological tasks, pastors are far more cautious. Only one in 10 pastors (12%) are comfortable using AI to write sermons—though two in five (43%) see its merits in sermon preparation and research, possibly due to the rise in generative AI tools that compile multiple sources of information into succinct lists. 

The technology company Subsplash sees another way for pastors to streamline sermon-related tasks: Pulpit AI. Powered by artificial intelligence, the tool generates sermon transcripts, devotionals, study guides and short, engaging clips for social media. “Pulpit AI isn’t a tool to consult to find out ‘what does AI think of the sermon.’ It’s taking what the pastor thinks and scaling it for use on other platforms and in other content forms,” says Tim Turner, CEO of Subsplash.

While cautious about AIs’ limitations, Turner says he’s optimistic about its ability to save pastors time and build stronger engagement within their congregation. “Pastors will be able to quickly leverage their sermons in multiple ways. They’ll be able to do things most pastors aren’t doing–create study guides, follow-up questions, social media posts with video clips and even custom sermon content and key takeaways for kids too.”

This kind of thinking—seeing a need within the church and finding a way to solve it with available and emerging tools—has made Subsplash a pioneer in church innovations, even though they didn’t initially set out to serve the Church with their business. 

Vision & Values

When Turner and his wife, Kristy, founded Subsplash in 2005, they weren’t exactly sure what products they were going to make, but they had one ambitious mission: build a great and lasting organization where passionate people would create, collaborate and innovate, all for the glory of God.

The inspiration for Subsplash was rooted in a desire to live out core values of humility, innovation and excellence. “We started with the goal of building a company that lived out these values,” Turner says. The company’s name itself reflects these principles: “Sub” signifies humility, while “Splash” represents innovation.

At first, the Subsplash team used its collective experience as software developers to work on products for tech giants like Microsoft, Expedia, T-Mobile and Cisco and developed their own software on the side. In 2007, when the first iPhone was launched, Turner sensed the future had arrived. “The iPhone was a novelty and not a lot of people had one at first. Most people had phones with buttons all over them and very small screens, and you could do T9 texting. So to have a device that was all screen with one button was kind of a weird idea, but it was enticing. My intuition told me this was what the future was going to be like.”

At that same time, the Turners’ church had been producing video content, audio sermons, music and blog posts, but these were only available on computers. “With the iPhone, there was a way to make the gospel and Bible content available everywhere,” he says. “But no church app had been developed yet to allow for on-demand video and audio streaming. With the iPhone we saw a way to fill this need for our church.”

The Turners got to work and spent many months outside of normal business hours developing an iPhone app for their church. Their pro bono service would enable on-demand access to church media for their congregation. “We didn’t expect the response to be so huge,” says Turner. “We just thought this is something that somebody needs to solve for our church. But it turned out there were a lot of people that wanted it.” Their unexpected success marked the pivot point in Subsplash’s journey to serve churches worldwide.

Expanding Horizons: From Apps to Integrated Platforms

Since developing its first church app, Subsplash has grown to serve more than 15,000 churches and 20,000 organizations globally. Today, they offer a comprehensive suite of tools to meet the diverse needs of churches, from media streaming and online giving to child check-in and group coordination. The platform is designed so that users can access all services with a single login.

This user-centric approach aligns with Turner’s vision of creating “quiet spaces”—distraction-free online environments where church members can focus on community and scripture without competing digital noise. “Out of all the activities that go on inside of a church, if you’re not connecting with scripture, then it’s just a social club,” he says. At the same time, Subsplash is striving to address the epidemic of loneliness with tools to foster meaningful engagement in both physical and digital spaces.

“Loneliness and anxiety are on the rise, and many are turning to church to find community and connection,” says Turner. “We’re striving to address this trend with tools to foster meaningful engagement in both physical and digital spaces.”

Turner is particularly passionate about making these tools accessible to churches of all sizes, including those with limited budgets. “We’re committed to scalability,” he says. “Even small churches of 15 or 50 people can use our platform effectively.”

Leading with Vision

Turner’s advice for church leaders seeking to innovate: Cultivate a curious, action-oriented team and keep a sharp focus on mission and outcomes. He encourages leaders to creatively leverage existing content to maximize impact, balancing day-to-day execution with a vision for long-term growth.

As Turner reflects on the past two decades, he says one thing is certain: “God has been faithful in opening doors and providing in remarkable ways.”