How to set up live sermon translation in your church

Before you start: what you need

Four things, and no new equipment.

• One laptop, tablet or phone that receives your service audio, from the sound desk or from its own microphone.
• An internet connection on that device.
• A Faithly host account: join the beta and our team sets up your church.
• A screen or the bulletin to show the QR code.

Set up, step by step

Do these once, then repeat only the last three each week.

1. Join the beta. Our team will contact you, set up your church, test your sound and stay with you for your first service.
2. Upload your sermon notes beforehand, so names, verses and theological terms come out right.
3. Open Faithly in a web browser on the device that receives the church audio, choose the audio input and start the session.
4. Show the QR code on the screens, or print it for the bulletin, the door sign and your website.
5. Ask a volunteer to join in the main languages a few minutes early and check that the captions appear.
6. Run the service. After it, the host gets a report with attendance, languages used and a summary of the message.

Check before the service

A few minutes of checks avoid most problems.

• The internet works on the device that receives the audio.
• The speaker is clearly heard on the audio input. A direct feed from the sound desk gives the cleanest result.
• Captions appear on a test phone, in at least one language other than the one spoken.
• The QR code opens the right session.

Keep the service running smoothly

A few habits keep everything smooth.

• Unusual names: upload your sermon notes beforehand.
• A noisy room: take the audio from the sound desk instead of a microphone in the room.
• A steady connection: use the best connection you have on the host device, because it keeps the captions quick.
• Old phones may also work: we have customers with old browsers and phones.

Who does what

Three roles, and one person can hold more than one.

• Sound desk volunteer: connects the audio and checks the level.
• Host: starts and ends the session and watches the captions. The host can tune the speed.
• Welcome team: shows the QR code, helps visitors scan it and hands out printed cards.

Captions on the church screen and the live stream

Open the host’s big-screen page on the projector computer to show captions in the church, with the text size, number of lines and colours set for the room. If your service is also on a video stream, online viewers can add a delay to match it, and the desktop app can send captions to OBS for your live stream.

Checklist to print

One line for each check on the day.

• Audio device connected and internet working.
• Session started and QR code on the screen.
• Test phone shows captions.
• Welcome team knows where the QR code is.

Frequently asked questions