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Guide · Churches and schools

Spanish translation for church services: how to give Spanish speakers the sermon live, on a screen or on their phones (2026)

By Blink Brief · Updated  · How pages are made

There are three ways. A bilingual volunteer interprets into FM or infrared headsets, which costs equipment rather than software. A translation service takes the pastor's microphone and shows the sermon in Spanish on each listener's phone through a QR code, from $5 an hour on Glossa's or LiveSunday's pay-as-you-go plans. Several of those services can also put the Spanish on the main screen, through ProPresenter or OBS, for everyone at once.

Short answer

  • A few Spanish speakers and a bilingual member: interpretation, whispered or into headsets.
  • Spanish speakers spread through an English service: a QR-code translation service, $5 an hour (Glossa, LiveSunday) or $20 a month for up to 4 hours in 2 languages (CaptionKit).
  • Most of the room needs Spanish: the same service's caption page on the main screen.
  • The pastor preaches in Spanish: free Spanish captions on the screen for members who are hard of hearing.

Three ways: interpreter and headsets, Spanish on the main screen, Spanish on each phone

Way What Spanish speakers get Cost Trade-off
Interpreter, whispering or into FM or infrared headsets A person's voice in Spanish A volunteer's time; receivers and headphones for a headset system Needs a fluent volunteer every week, and gear to hand out and collect
Spanish on the main screen, a translation service's caption page in ProPresenter or OBS Spanish text over the slides or the livestream The service's hourly price One language for the whole room; reaches people without phones
Spanish on each phone, a QR-code translation service The sermon in Spanish on their own phone; on some plans, a synthetic voice From $5 an hour per language Machine translation trips on names, verses, and unclear audio

Interpreters, headset systems, and the wiring from the sound desk are covered in the church translation guide. This page is about what changes when the language is Spanish.

What Spanish-speaking members need

The National Congregations Study found that in 2018–19, 10.0% of US congregations had Spanish or bilingual services, up from 6.3% in 2006–07, and 20.5% of churchgoers attended one of those congregations. It was most common among Catholics: 44% of Catholic congregations had a Spanish or bilingual service, against 13% of evangelical, 4% of Black Protestant, and 3% of mainline Protestant congregations.

Which way fits depends on where the Spanish speakers sit:

  • A separate Spanish service needs no translation. Spanish captions on the screen can still help members who are hard of hearing.
  • A bilingual service, with both languages in one room, suits phones: each person reads the language the speaker isn't using.
  • Spanish-speaking families or visitors in an English service suit phones, or one Spanish screen if they sit together.
  • Families where parents read Spanish and children read English suit phones, since each person picks a language.

Spanish on the main screen: one language for everyone

A main-screen translation reaches older members without smartphones and visitors who don't scan codes. The cost is that English speakers read Spanish too, so it fits best when most of the room needs Spanish, or on a second screen beside the Spanish-speaking seats.

You don't need a separate product for it. Most QR-code services also give you a caption page that your presentation software shows over the slides. Glossa, for example, says "A browser source or embed page drops translated text into ProPresenter, OBS, vMix and more". The "On the main screen" column of church translation apps compared says what each service offers, and the ProPresenter section of the church translation guide shows how the page sits over your slides.

Translated captions on a big screen show every mistake to the whole room at once, so test with last week's sermon before you put them up.

Spanish on each phone: how the QR-code apps work, and their prices

The pastor's microphone goes from the sound desk into a computer running the service, which transcribes the English and translates it. Listeners scan a QR code on the screen and read Spanish in their phone's browser. The wiring and a first Sunday are in the church translation guide.

Service Entry price To try it Hours counted
GlossaPay As You Go: $5 per hour per language4 hours freePer language; "Silence, songs & music don't count"
CaptionKit$20 a month for up to 4 speaking hours in 2 text languages ($12 campus license, $4 for the hours, $2 per language)4 hours free, up to 2 text languages, no credit cardSpeaking hours
LiveSundayPay as you go: $5 an hour with 1 translation language; Pro $59 a month, or $50 billed annually, for 12 hoursFirst 2 hours freeNot stated
Wordly"About $1,500 for a 10-hour package", used within 12 monthsA 30-minute demo callHours from a package, "in any increment"

Prices in US dollars, read on each vendor's own page on 3 November 2026. All 10 services are in church translation apps compared.

Example: a 45-minute sermon every Sunday, into Spanish only, is 3 hours in a four-Sunday month. At $5 an hour that is $15 a month, if only the sermon is counted. Glossa doesn't count songs or silence; LiveSunday's pricing page doesn't say how it counts.

Our product · in development

Blink Captions: listeners scan one QR code and read the sermon in Spanish, or any language they pick, on their own phone. Planned price $5 per hour per language, or $99 a month.

Join the early list

Which Spanish: Latin American or Spain, Bible names and terms

Speech recognition comes in regional versions, so when the sermon is in Spanish, pick the one closest to the preacher's Spanish:

  • The free Live Captions tool: Spanish (United States), Spanish (México), and Spanish (España).
  • Mac Live Captions: Spanish (Mexico, Spain, United States).
  • Windows 11 Live Captions: Spanish (Mexico) and Spanish (Spain).

For the translated text, ask a Spanish-speaking member to read a test session and mark words that sound foreign to your congregation, and names of people and places that come out wrong.

Bible verses need the most care. We played John 3:16 from the Reina-Valera 1960 ("para que todo aquel que en él cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna") into Chrome's Spanish speech recognition. It came back as "más tenga vida eterna": the old "mas" (but) became "más" (more). A machine translation of an English verse also won't match the wording of the Spanish Bible your members carry. Put key verses on the slides in your Spanish version.

When the preacher speaks Spanish: Spanish captions on the screen, free

In a Spanish service, members who are hard of hearing can read the sermon as it is preached. The free Live Captions tool shows Spanish captions in full screen on the projector, in Chrome or Edge, with no sign-up. It doesn't translate English into Spanish.

We tested it on 3 November 2026 in Chrome 156 on a Mac, choosing Spanish (United States) and feeding a recorded Spanish reading (a synthetic voice) in as the microphone. "Buenos días, hermanos. El sermón de hoy está en el Evangelio de Juan, capítulo tres, versículo dieciséis" appeared as "buenos días hermanos el sermón de hoy está en el Evangelio de Juan capítulo tres versículo dieciséis": every word right, with no punctuation. That was a clean recording fed straight in; a microphone in a sanctuary with echo loses more words, so rehearse with last week's sermon through the sound desk.

The browser may send the audio to Google (Chrome) or Microsoft (Edge) to turn it into text, so the laptop needs the internet. Blink Brief never receives the audio or the captions, and the captions disappear when you close the page.

A first-Sunday checklist

  1. Ask the Spanish speakers what they would use: their phone, a Spanish screen, or a headset. Put the question on the connect card in Spanish.
  2. Test with last week's sermon. A bilingual member reads the Spanish on two phones and notes the names and verses that come out wrong.
  3. Show the QR code on the screen before the sermon and on cards at the welcome desk, with one line in Spanish: "Escanee este código para leer el sermón en español."
  4. Post the Wi-Fi name and password beside the code.
  5. After the service, ask two or three Spanish speakers what they couldn't follow.

The full timeline, from two weeks before to the Sunday after, is in the church translation guide. For Korean and English, see Korean–English sermon translation; for captions in the same language on a projector or in OBS, see the Web Captioner replacement guide.

Questions

How can I translate my sermon into Spanish live?

Three ways: a bilingual volunteer interprets into headsets; a translation service shows the sermon in Spanish on each listener's phone through a QR code; or the same service's caption page puts the Spanish on the main screen for everyone, through ProPresenter or OBS.

How much does church translation into Spanish cost?

From $5 an hour on Glossa's and LiveSunday's pay-as-you-go plans, or $20 a month for up to 4 hours in 2 languages at CaptionKit (prices checked on 3 November 2026). A 45-minute sermon every Sunday is 3 hours in a four-Sunday month. A volunteer interpreter costs nothing, but a headset system means buying receivers.

Do listeners need an app to read the Spanish translation?

Usually not. Glossa says "No app download required!", and CaptionKit says your congregation reads "from your church link or QR code". Church translation apps compared lists what listeners use for each of 10 services.

Can we show the Spanish translation on the main screen?

Yes, with a service that gives you a caption page for your presentation software. Glossa, for example, says "A browser source or embed page drops translated text into ProPresenter, OBS, vMix and more". Everyone then reads the same language, so it suits a room where most people need Spanish.

Can AI translate Bible verses correctly into Spanish?

Not reliably word for word. In our test, Chrome's speech recognition wrote the Reina-Valera 1960's "mas tenga vida eterna" as "más tenga vida eterna", and a machine translation of an English verse need not match the Spanish Bible your members carry. Put key verses on the slides in your Spanish version.

Sources

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