The SCBaptist Creative Team is making a short film series about June Estes* using AI-assisted animation. Estes* is a missionary on a journey to share the gospel with lost people. She was sent out as a missionary explorer to research and engage unreached people groups.
The AI-assisted short-film series, “When God Says Go,” tells real stories from Estes’ experiences. There will be six one-minute episodes released once a month. The first episode premiered at IMPACT.
“If you want to see a South Carolina Baptist ‘sent one’ on the forefront of advancing the kingdom in unreached people groups around the world, told in a way using storytelling methods that have never been used before, then you want to make sure you follow ‘When God Says Go’ on our SCBaptist social platforms,” said Alex Lyons, creative director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
He said, “We hope you will be encouraged, and hopefully challenged to either give toward the Cooperative Program that makes sure the ‘Junes’ of the world continue in the field — or challenged to go yourself on either a short-term, long-term or maybe a lifetime adventure like June.”
Lyons said his team’s job is to tell stories about SCBaptists advancing the gospel, including those who need to remain anonymous. He said he wanted to tell June Estes’ story visually, even though she cannot actually be seen or heard because of security concerns.
That’s when AI became helpful for the task.
The SCBaptist Creative Team is utilizing AI to create an animated film with a generated character representing Estes, and they are writing the script using organic information received from Estes.
Lyons said, “We call it AI-assisted animation because we want to let our audiences know that these are of real South Carolina ‘sent ones’ with real stories taken from blogs, emails, writings, and communication that we received from these individuals that we’ve turned into a narrative piece.”
AI-assisted animation allows the SCBaptist Creative Team to tell Estes’ story visually while protecting her identity. Although this story follows Estes, he said there’s potential for other stories to be told using this method.
Lyons expressed excitement over the church using AI. He recalled the printing press, Billy Graham using radio and television, and even the Bible app.
“The church has always advanced at these watershed moments when technology was used to contextualize the gospel to the culture that it was in.”
But what about the ethical concerns of using AI?
Lyons said, “I think any digital tool can be utilized for good or for bad.”
“Whenever we encounter something that we don’t understand or something that is weird, off-putting or different, we get fearful. And I think that’s a very human experience,” said Lyons.
He continued, “If we trust in the Lord that He is with us and He’s going to guide us (in) how to use this tool, then I think we don’t have anything to be afraid of.”
Although AI is helpful, there’s still creative work to be done.
“This is just not something we ripped off the internet and edited together. This is a collaborative project our team creates from concept to completion,” said Lyons.
He said many typical film production steps are still taken. “It’s not a ‘press button, get video,’” he said.
Using up-to-date technology isn’t new for Southern Baptists, Lyons said the Southern Baptist Convention as a whole was the first Christian group to write a unified resolution about AI.
Speaking of the film, Lyons said, “It’s next generation mission mobilization, while it’s in a next generation format, when it’s in a next generation platform like TikTok.”
And SCBaptists being a “sending-heavy” state isn’t new. In 2023, SCBaptists were “named the top sending state convention of GenSend students in the country.” June is just one of many who’s been sent.
And when both missions and AI are paired together, out comes an AI-assisted animation about the journeys of missionary explorers.
Lyons said, “When God says go, you go. That’s exactly what June did, and that’s exactly what all of us should do.”
* Name changed for security reasons.