Translate your church service into the languages of your congregation

How to choose your languages

Start with the people you already know. Who comes on Sunday and struggles to follow the sermon? In many UK and Irish churches that means Polish or Romanian families, Ukrainian guests who arrived after 2022, or Spanish and Portuguese speakers from Latin America and Brazil. In an English-speaking international church in Oslo, Brussels or Rotterdam it may be the opposite: local members who would rather hear the sermon in Norwegian, French or Dutch.

A short, friendly question after the service often tells you more than a survey. Ask your welcome team which languages they hear at the door, and ask newcomers what they speak at home. One family is reason enough to switch on a language.

• Begin with one or two languages. It is easier to explain, and your sound team can get used to the broadcast.
• Switch on languages for visitors you expect, such as a partner church from Germany or a summer group from Norway.
• Keep English available if your church preaches in another language: it is the shared second language of many internationals.
• Remember the limits. Visitors can choose from 11 languages; Russian, Farsi, Tigrinya and Chinese are not among them.

What an extra language costs

Pricing is per minute and per language, not per listener. 1 credit is 1 minute of translation into 1 language, and a language only uses credits while someone is actually listening to it. So a 90-minute service into Polish costs 90 credits, whether two people listen or forty. Add Ukrainian for the same service and it costs another 90 credits, but only if someone chooses Ukrainian that morning.

Monthly credits expire at the next month. Extra credit packs never expire, which suits a church that only needs a third language at Easter or for a visiting choir. Full details are on the pricing page and in the guide to church translation costs.