KI für Pfarreisekretärinnen
How over 50 participants spent a full day learning ChatGPT for letters, sermon ideas, image generation, and data protection — from 'What is AI?' to hands-on practice, with Mentimeter-driven discovery and values reflection.
The starting point
Parish secretaries keep parishes running — letters, newsletters, meeting minutes, member requests, cemetery appointments, sermon prep. But AI? 'Isn't that something for younger people with IT skills?' was the most common question on the registration form.
Roger Basler de Roca commissioned us to build a full day that dissolves exactly that assumption: super-low-level, slow, privacy-aware — no tech-speak, no pressure, with concrete results for parish daily work.
What we did
Mentimeter-driven calibration
Four anonymous questions to the room — who has typed before, where do you really stand, what do you most want to learn, how's the mood. Blocks 3 and 4 were shrunk or expanded live based on results. No one had to expose themselves.
Three request modes · Letters · Dictation
The three request modes (normal, Web Search, Deep Search) as the core. Letter examples, sermon ideas, dictation instead of typing. Quiet practice on each phone, then pair work for the letter task.
Five rules of thumb instead of an FADP lecture
Live demo of ChatGPT settings. Co-do phase: every participant turns off the 'Train model on my data' switch themselves. Cheat sheet to take home — no theoretical data-protection lecture.
With Florian · Image surprise · GCES method
53 people, same prompt — 53 different images. The aha moment for the GCES method. Iteration demo on the projector, pair exercise for an event visual, Canvas optional.
Sandel-style values reflection + word cloud
Pair-first mechanic: 90 seconds in pairs first, then smart-nominate. Where does AI help end and human responsibility begin? Closing Mentimeter word cloud: 'One word you take home.'
Methodology
Mentimeter-driven discovery
Before the first slide: 4 anonymous questions to the room. Pace and content emphasis are adjusted live. Anonymity protects dignity.
Four-fears model
Replacement, spiritual, quality, and dignity fears — all four addressed explicitly before we show any tools. 'Will I lose my job?' is not taboo.
Pair-first anti-silence
For sensitive questions (values, spirituality): 90 seconds in pairs first, then smart-nominate. No 'who wants to start?' silence, no plenary pressure.
What participants took home
Letters & sermon ideas
Parish letters, newsletters, sermon ideas, meeting minutes — with templates that work for both Catholic and Reformed contexts.
Three request modes
When to use plain ChatGPT, when Web Search, when Deep Search. One rule of thumb per mode, instead of confusion over UI buttons.
Make your own images
Event posters, newsletter visuals, sermon images — directly from ChatGPT, no Photoshop skills required.
Privacy in the parish context
Specific rules for data near the seal of confession, parish members, cemetery appointments — what's allowed and what stays Swiss-only.
Values clarity
Where does AI help end, where does human responsibility begin? Not abstract — with Sandel-style pair reflection on participants' own parish examples.
From the deck
Tools used
The outcome
"We built a day where 53 parish secretaries arrive, calibrate honestly, learn slowly, ask in dignity, and at the end can say: 'I learned something today that I'll need on Monday.' That was the standard."
— Lukas Huber, schnellstart.ai