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\u201cI don\u2019t translate word for word,\u201d she explained. \u201cI listen to the pastor and review the notes he shares, and then I interpret what he has said. Sometimes that can sound like a literal translation and other times it\u2019s not literal, but the words carry the same meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often, she translates with her eyes closed, concentrating fully on the pastor\u2019s voice and the message he\u2019s delivering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn that little room, my goal is to take Sunday\u2019s message to everyone who came to hear it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doimeadios is one of three volunteers who provide simultaneous Spanish translation during Reality\u2019s English service, a ministry that emerged as multigenerational Hispanic families began attending together. Children and grandchildren were fluent in English; parents and grandparents were not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Translation became the bridge that allowed the entire family to sit under the same sermon while hearing it in the language of their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbuelita Sitting There, Not Understanding Anything\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Elevate Church in Miami Lakes, the story started in a similar way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Dan Rodr\u00edguez, executive pastor at Elevate, remembers sitting in the chapel years ago and watching families arrive together\u2014parents, children, and abuelita in tow. The services were in English, the worship vibrant, the room full. But something didn\u2019t sit right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe started noticing that a family would come to church, and they would have abuelita with them,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez recalled. \u201cWe saw people who were not singing or not worshiping. They had that lost look. When we asked, we\u2019d hear, \u2018Oh, I brought my aunt, my grandmother, but they don\u2019t speak English.\u2019 And we thought, \u2018You\u2019re willing to sit here for an hour and not understand anything?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That burden led to action. Around 2015\u20132016, Elevate ordered translation equipment and began offering live Spanish translation during the English service, even before launching a Spanish-language service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What began as a simple solution to serve a handful of families soon became the seed of something bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat translation ministry grew organically,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said. \u201cIt was really the heart behind launching the Spanish service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Elevate holds a full Spanish service at 8:30 a.m. that now averages around 300 people in attendance, alongside larger English services later in the morning and early afternoon. Many who use the translation in the English services also know they have the option of worshiping entirely in Spanish at 8:30 if their schedule allows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodr\u00edguez says the goal has always been clear: one church, one message, multiple languages, so that families can share the same spiritual conversation after church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur vision is for the entire family to be able to worship together and then go to lunch and talk about what they heard,\u201d he said. \u201cKids, adults, abuelitos; everyone on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translation as Teaching, Not Just Words<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Elevate, the translation team is intentionally small and selective. Right now, only two people regularly translate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s not accidental,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez explained. \u201cWe\u2019re very selective. You\u2019re not just translating, you\u2019re teaching. You\u2019re basically preaching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translators are often identified from within the church\u2019s existing leaders. They are typically life group leaders or seasoned believers whose spiritual maturity and teaching gifts are already evident.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cWe choose people who are already walking with the Lord and bearing fruit,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not brand-new believers. We\u2019ve seen them teaching. We\u2019ve seen their faithfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Preparation is also key. Elevate\u2019s internal goal is to have the sermon manuscript complete by Thursday each week. That allows the worship and tech teams to load slides and Scriptures and run full rehearsals, and the translation team to receive the message in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey get to read it, digest it, internalize it,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said. \u201cIf it\u2019s a more complicated message, we\u2019ll even schedule a one-on-one call to walk through it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodr\u00edguez and other leaders will occasionally sit in and listen to the translation live to offer coaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell them, \u2018You did a phenomenal job. Make sure to use inflection, make it your own content,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want them to continue growing as teachers, not just translators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The church is also careful to care for the translators themselves. For now, Elevate offers translation only at specific services, ensuring translators serve one service and sit in another so they can also be fed spiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe Have to Reach Them Where They Are\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Rodr\u00edguez, the translation ministry is deeply personal and profoundly missional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He grew up bilingual, worked nearly 20 years in the corporate world (most of that with Apple), and learned early the importance of knowing the people you serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the things ingrained in us was that you have to know your customer,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are not customers. These are our people. You have to know where God has placed you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And God has placed Elevate in Miami, a city he calls a \u201cmelting pot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ll always have a migrant community here,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople coming from other countries who are learning English but don\u2019t fully understand it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That reality has shaped how Elevate thinks about ministry and how they\u2019ll respond if future language needs arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve even thought, what if we started getting more Haitian families who need Creole?\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not here to entertain. We\u2019re not charging people at the door. The whole purpose is to share the gospel and show people who Jesus is. If that means we have to show it to them in their language, then yes; translation is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur vision is to see Christ elevated, to connect people to Christ, help them grow in Christ, and serve Christ,\u201d he added. \u201cTo do that, they must understand. We must reach them where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Statewide Step: Simultaneous Spanish at the Florida Baptist Convention<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This growing commitment to translation ministry isn\u2019t limited to local churches. At this year\u2019s Florida Baptist State Convention gathering, a new simultaneous transcription service of preachers and speakers was offered for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a convention staff we are continually trying to think of new ways to be \u2018right beside you\u2019 in your context of ministry life,\u201d said Tanner Cade, communications and events manager for the Florida Baptist Convention. \u201cThe opportunity of expanding our translation services for gatherings reflects the wonderful multicultural family we have here in Florida, and we want to make sure as many as possible can actively participate in our meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attendees were able to follow along by choosing from 10 different languages in real time as sermons, reports, and business sessions unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as Reality Church, Elevate Church, and others are making sure abuelita can understand the sermon on Sunday, the Convention is taking steps to ensure that language is no barrier to participation and partnership across the statewide family of churches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Sunday mornings at Reality Church in Miami, the sermon is preached once but heard in more than one language.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":69947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,10,2617,18,22,158,23,24],"tags":[128,2996,2997,997,2995,2994],"class_list":["post-69945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","category-espanol","category-featured","category-multicultural","category-providing","category-resources","category-sharing","category-region-southeast","tag-elevate-church","tag-interpreting","tag-multicultural-church","tag-reality-church","tag-translating","tag-translation-ministry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69945"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69952,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69945\/revisions\/69952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-12-01-at-2.35.16-PM-1024x788.png\")