One computer or tablet
A laptop, desktop or tablet with Chrome, Edge or Safari. It stays at the sound desk, or anywhere it can hear the pastor. It needs internet for the whole service.
How it works
Set up on Saturday. Welcome everyone on Sunday.
There is nothing to install and nothing to hand out. Here is everything your tech team needs to know, start to finish.
Before you start
What you need
A way to hear the pastor
Best: a cable from your sound board. Good: the computer’s own microphone, placed near a speaker. Either works.
Your listeners’ phones
Any smartphone with a web browser and internet, over church Wi-Fi or their own data. Earbuds if they want to listen instead of read.
Step 1
Connecting the sound
The translation can only be as good as what it hears. Clean sound is the single biggest thing you can do for accuracy.
Recommended
From your sound board
Send a feed from an aux, matrix or spare output on your mixer into a small USB audio interface, and plug that into the computer. Any basic one- or two-input interface works.
Mix it so the pastor’s mic is clear and loud. Keep the band and the room out of it if you can. Then choose that interface as the input in the live console.
Simplest
From the computer’s microphone
No cables at all. Set the laptop or tablet near a speaker that carries the pastor’s voice clearly, and choose its built-in microphone in the live console.
This works well in smaller rooms. Echo, a loud air conditioner or a nearby conversation will lower accuracy, so give it the quietest spot with a clear line to the speaker.
Step 2
Starting a service in the live console
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Sign in and open the live console
Sign in from the sound-desk computer and open the live console. Allow microphone access when the browser asks.
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Pick the preaching language and your translations
Choose the language your pastor preaches in, then the languages to translate into. The Free plan offers one at a time. The Church plan offers up to five at once.
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Check the level, then go live
Speak into the pastor’s mic and watch the level meter and the captions. When it looks right, start the service. Listeners who already have the page open will see captions begin.
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End the service when the sermon is done
Stop the service when you’re finished. Hours only count while you’re live, so you can start at the sermon and end at the benediction if you like.
Step 3
Sharing it with your congregation
Every church gets its own QR code and a short web address. Share them wherever people look.
In the bulletin
Print the QR code with a line in the languages you offer: “Scan for live translation.”
On a slide
Show the code during announcements and again right before the sermon. Leave it up long enough for phones to focus.
On table tents and posters
We generate a printable poster with your QR code. Put one at the welcome desk and small cards at the end of each pew.
Your ushers and greeters are your best QR code. A warm “We have the sermon in Spanish today, would you like it?” goes a long way.
Step 4
What listeners see
- A simple web page opens. No app, no account, nothing to type.
- They choose their language with one tap.
- Captions appear a few seconds after the pastor speaks, in large, easy-to-read text.
- They can tap Listen to hear it spoken through their own earbuds.
- Natural AI voices speak English and Spanish on the Church plan. Other languages are read aloud by the phone’s own built-in voice.
- Right-to-left languages like Arabic, Farsi and Urdu display the way they should.
Church plan
Captions on your screens and livestream
Show translated captions, or captions in the preacher’s own language, on the screens in the room or on your online service.
ProPresenter
Add the caption overlay web address as a Web View on a layer above your slides.
OBS Studio
Add a Browser Source with the overlay web address and place it over your camera or slides.
vMix
Add a Web Browser input with the overlay address and place it as an overlay on your program output.
You’ll find your overlay address in your church settings once you’re on the Church plan.
Before your first service
A first-Sunday checklist
Do a practice run midweek, then use this list on Sunday morning.
- Add your pastors’ names, ministries and favorite Bible terms to the custom word list.
- Run a ten-minute test during rehearsal with the real sound feed.
- Ask one bilingual member per language to follow along and take notes.
- Plug the computer into power and turn off sleep mode.
- Print the QR poster and bulletin inserts. Put the code on a slide.
- Tell greeters and ushers how to explain it, in a sentence.
- Let listeners know it’s machine translation, and invite their feedback.
- After the service, ask your bilingual helpers what to add to the word list.
If something goes wrong
Troubleshooting tips
Captions stop or lag behind
Check the sound-desk computer’s internet connection first. A wired connection or a strong Wi-Fi signal at the sound desk makes a real difference. Make sure the computer hasn’t gone to sleep and the live console tab is still open.
The translation is getting a lot wrong
Usually it’s the sound. Listen to what the computer is hearing: is it muddy, echoing, or full of music? Send a cleaner feed from the sound board, and turn the pastor’s mic up in that mix. Then check the word list for names it keeps missing.
Listeners can’t open the page
Make sure your church Wi-Fi allows guests, or let people use their own data. If the QR code won’t scan from a slide, show it larger and longer, or share the short web address.
Nobody can hear the Listen audio
Listeners need to tap Listen once to allow sound, and their phone can’t be on silent. On some phones, silent mode also mutes sound from web pages. Earbuds are kindest to neighbors.
The browser doesn’t hear the microphone
Check that you allowed microphone access, and that the right input is selected in the live console. If you use a USB interface, plug it in before opening the console, then reload.
Still stuck? Write to hello@samesermon.com and a real person will help.
See it for yourself in ninety seconds.
Try it right now in your browser. Speak into your mic and watch it translate. No sign-up needed.