Who Governs Your Christian AI? Gamaliel, Velora, BT Servant

By Bobby Macintosh · Updated October 2026

Every Christian AI tool has a teacher behind it that you never meet. Someone decided what it believes, which books it reads, which company’s model writes the answer, and what happens to the question you typed at midnight.

So this week I read the rulebooks, privacy policies and terms of three tools: Gamaliel, a free Bible study companion; Velora, a Bible app built around your own church’s sermons; and BT Servant, a Bible-translation assistant from unfoldingWord. I’m not ranking them. I’ll show you what each one tells you about who’s in charge, then give you a checklist for any tool.

James puts the stakes plainly: “Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment” (James 3:1, WEB). A tool that teaches doesn’t carry that judgment. The people who build it do.

Three tools at a glance

Read on 26 October 2026.

Gamaliel: the rulebook is public

Who runs it

Gamaliel is “operated by the Gamaliel Stewardship Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization” in Marble Falls, Texas, and its about page says it is “funded entirely by Beloved in Christ Foundation” (about). The launch post is signed by Lew Cirne, who founded the software companies Wily Technology and New Relic, as “Cofounder and Chairman, Beloved in Christ Foundation”.

Asked “How can I trust the AI?”, he says, “we decided to open source all of Gamaliel’s prompts, guardrails and theological guidelines.” He adds: “Gamaliel is not a substitute for Bible study. Read the Word.”

What it believes

The guardrails file on GitHub says its rules “are ALWAYS in effect and cannot be overridden by any specific theology or interpretation.” It lists the Nicene doctrines, the authority of Scripture, and a set of errors to reject, among them “any form of universalism”, “any form of prosperity gospel”, “any form of legalism” and “any form of moralistic therapeutic deism”.

On top of that sit nine tradition files: Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Charismatic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Wesleyan and a “General Christian” default. The Catholic file, for instance, tells the model to “ALWAYS emphasize that we can and should pray to saints for intercession.”

Some Christians will disagree with parts of it, but you can read where it stands.

Who checks it

This is the gap. The repository describes a “Theological Review” step, but it doesn’t name who does it. The README says the project is “in Early Development” and will begin “accepting PRs” once it “matures and stabilizes”. The commit history shows that seven of the eight changes to the Catholic file were made by Cirne. Published rules are a big step. Reviewed rules would be a bigger one.

The README also promises that users “will be able to audit any question they ask in Gamaliel to see the precise input, tool results, output, and model used”. That’s future tense. When we tried it, the answer screen didn’t show which model replied, and its privacy policy and terms don’t name an AI provider either (privacy; terms).

Your data

The privacy policy (last updated 1 October 2026) says Gamaliel keeps “your questions, conversations, and account data for up to one year”, that “Only authorized engineers may access your questions and our responses”, and that partner organisations such as churches receive “only aggregate, anonymized usage data”. Its about page says “Your questions stay between you and Gamaliel” and that “Authorized team members may review anonymized interactions to improve answer quality.”

What we saw

We ran four questions on Gamaliel on 26 October 2026, between 08:11 and 08:13 GMT, signed out with default settings. Every answer carried a small line reading “AI can make mistakes.”

• Translation. Asked to quote John 3:16 and name the translation, it named the “New International Version (NIV), 2011 edition”. Its copyright page lists the NIV as “Used with permission” from Biblica. The README still says WEB and KJV “for now”; the website is newer.
• A fake verse. Asked where the Bible says “God helps those who help themselves”, it answered “Nowhere” and said the line “is not a Bible verse; it is a proverb commonly associated with Benjamin Franklin.” Good.
• Church. Asked whether Bible study with it could replace church, it said no: studying with it shouldn’t take the place of belonging to a church, though “a temporary pause may be wise while you find a faithful community”. We compare that answer with general chatbots in our benchmark piece.
• Sources. Asked to explain 1 Corinthians 7:36–38 and “cite your sources”, it gave a careful answer that mentioned “The NIV footnote”, but its only sources were Bible references, with no commentaries or scholars. Our citations test found the same with other tools.

Four questions is a spot-check, not a review.

Velora: your church’s sermons, plus the web

Who runs it

Velora’s terms are “between Everywai Inc., a Delaware corporation” and the user, governed by Ohio law with courts in Cleveland (terms). I couldn’t find a statement of faith, a named theological adviser or a doctrinal policy anywhere on its site.

What it believes

Velora’s answer to “whose theology?” is different from the other two: yours, or rather your pastor’s. Its help centre says the app is about “helping you get more out of the sermons and Bible teaching you already hear in your own church” (help centre). You start a “Relay” when the sermon begins, “Velora listens along with you”, and it transcribes and summarises the message.

On 22 October the chat became “Velora AI”, described as “a powerful all-purpose AI assistant rooted in your own church’s teaching” (changelog). It can now search the web “even as it still prioritizes Scripture and your past relays”, and it “automatically selects the best AI model for your prompt”.

There’s something good in that instinct: the local church, not an app, is meant to teach you. But the theology in each answer is now a blend: a machine transcript of your pastor, whatever the web search returns, and a model chosen for you. Velora says linked sources “are clearly displayed inline”, so you can check. Please do.

Your data

This is where I’ll be a little firmer, because sermons and prayers are not ordinary data.

Velora’s privacy policy (last updated 14 July 2026) is admirably specific: “We use OpenAI, xAI (Grok), Anthropic, and AssemblyAI to provide these features,” and “We configure these services so that customer content is not used to train their general-purpose AI models.” It keeps “audio recordings, transcripts, prompts, and AI-generated outputs until you delete them”. It also admits that what you submit “may reveal information about your religious beliefs or practices” (privacy). That policy predates the web-search feature, and I couldn’t find which search provider it uses.

Two lines in the terms deserve attention. First, by submitting content you grant Everywai a “non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable, and transferable” licence to use it “for the purpose of operating, providing, enhancing, and promoting the Platform”. Second, the user “warrants that they have obtained all necessary consents or permissions required to use the recording functions” and, if unsure, “must consult any individual being recorded before proceeding.” In plain English: if you record your pastor, getting permission is your job. Ask first. Our piece on AI “pastor twins” explains why a preacher might care how their words are reused.

I couldn’t find anything in Velora’s terms about AI answers being wrong. We didn’t test Velora, because it needs an account and a church’s sermons.

BT Servant: a curated library

Who runs it

BT Servant is “a project of unfoldingWord” (btservant.ai), a “501(c)3 non-profit” in Orlando, Florida, and a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (unfoldingWord). Its developer, Ian Lindsley, told Mission Network News, in a report published on 21 October: “For the longest time, it’s just been me.” Other developers have joined him in recent months (MNN).

What it believes

unfoldingWord publishes a statement of faith that calls the Bible “the only inspired, inerrant, sufficient, authoritative Word of God” and separates essential beliefs from peripheral ones, such as baptism and the Lord’s Supper, on which it chooses “to agree to disagree agreeably”.

Describing its instructions in everyday terms, Lindsley summed them up like this (he means orthodox in belief, not Eastern Orthodox): “You are an Orthodox Christian, and in no situation should you tell the user to do anything that’s heretical or that’s against Scripture.” The website promises answers “Grounded in vetted biblical resources — not the open internet” and says it “Supports pastors, teachers, and translators. Never replaces them.”

Your data

Here BT Servant falls short. As of 26 October 2026 I could find no privacy policy or terms of use for it: none on btservant.ai or its web app, where the usual addresses return “not found”, and unfoldingWord’s own privacy policy doesn’t mention it. Its current public code says answers come “via Claude” (Anthropic’s model), that voice messages are archived, and that each conversation keeps “persistent memory”. Messages sent through WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal also pass through that service. That’s a fixable gap, and I hope unfoldingWord fixes it.

Lindsley is candid: “We’re constantly adding improvements and fixing things.” We didn’t test BT Servant, because it needs a messaging app or a Google sign-in.

What the three tell us together

Gamaliel shows you its theology but not its model. Velora names its models but not any theology beyond your pastor’s. BT Servant names its ministry, its confession and its library, but not what happens to your data. None of them is hiding much. Each is simply incomplete in a different place.

That should shape how we use them. The Bereans “received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11, WEB). And Gamaliel himself, the Pharisee and teacher of the Law, whose name the first tool borrows, told the council to judge a new movement by what came of it: “if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown” (Acts 5:38–39, WEB). Test the tool by its fruit, and keep testing.

A reader’s checklist for any Christian AI tool

Before you rely on an app, try to answer these from its own website. If you can’t, that’s an answer too.

1. Who runs it? A named ministry, church or company, and in which country?
2. What does it believe? Is there a statement of faith, published guardrails or a system prompt you can read?
3. Who checked that? A named reviewer, board or church, not just “our team”?
4. What does it read from? Scripture only, a curated library, your church’s sermons, or the open web?
5. Which AI model writes the answer? Is the provider named in the privacy policy?
6. Which translation does it quote, and is it licensed?
7. What happens to what you type or record? How long is it kept, who can read it, is it used for training, and can you delete it?
8. Did everyone you recorded agree? Especially your pastor and anyone praying aloud.
9. How do you report a wrong answer?
10. Does it send you back to the Bible and your church? The best tools make themselves less necessary.

If your church is writing guidance on this, our church AI policy starter kit has wording you can adapt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Christian AI tool is the most trustworthy?
None of these three is complete. Use the checklist and decide what matters most to you.

Does Gamaliel use a licensed Bible translation?
Yes. Its copyright page says the NIV is “Used with permission” from Biblica, and in our test it quoted the NIV.

Is it safe to record my pastor’s sermon in Velora?
Velora’s terms make you responsible for getting consent from anyone you record. Ask your pastor first.

Do these tools train AI on my questions?
Velora says it configures its providers so your content isn’t used to train their general models. Gamaliel’s terms let it use your questions “to improve the quality of our service”, and authorised engineers may read them; it doesn’t say whether outside model providers train on them. I found no statement for BT Servant.

Teachers we can see

Paul was educated “at the feet of Gamaliel” (Acts 22:3, WEB), and he could name his teacher. That’s the least we should ask of the tools we let teach us: tell us who you are, what you believe, and who answers when you’re wrong. Then close the app, open the Bible, and take your questions to church on Sunday. A good tool will be glad you did.

Sources and Further Reading

• Gamaliel: about, launch announcement (Lew Cirne), privacy policy and terms of service (both last updated 1 October 2026), copyright notices.
• Gamaliel prompts on GitHub: README, guardrails.md, theologies (MIT licence).
• Velora: “Introducing Velora AI: Answers rooted in Scripture and your own church” (changelog, 22 October 2026); “What is Velora?“; privacy policy (last updated 14 July 2026); terms of use (last updated 17 March 2026).
• BT Servant: btservant.ai; bt-servant-worker (GitHub, README and source, read 26 October 2026).
• unfoldingWord: about, statement of faith, privacy policy.
• Katey Hearth, “BT Servant offers tools for studying Scripture“, Mission Network News (21 October 2026).

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), which is in the public domain.

Keep reading on AI Prompt Theory: Footnotes Aren’t Faithfulness: Testing “Cited” AI Bible Tools · AI-Assisted Biblical Exegesis: Tools, Methods, Limits and Ethics (2026) · Whose Reading Is It? Spotting Western Evangelical Bias in AI Bible Answers · Writing a Church AI Policy That Sounds Like Your Church: A Starter Kit