At the church where I serve as Lead Pastor, West Park Church in London, Ontario, we held a bilingual service last Sunday. About three years ago the church embraced a Mandarin speaking congregation looking for a home. Our Chinese church, now over 100 strong, is an integral part of our faith community with their own Mandarin service each Sunday and a full-time pastor. Not only do Chinese make up a significant part of our church, we recently counted over 15 nationalities represented at West Park. We’re becoming a home to a growing number of non-caucasions. Here’s what we did during that service, the impact the service made on us, and some guidelines to consider if you do one.

WHAT WE DID:

• We translated every part of the service: the welcome time, the announcements, the message, and the offering set up.
• We sung four songs in English with Mandarin sub-titles. A Mandarin speaking worship leader led the fifth in Mandarin with both English and Mandarin subtitles.
• Two bi-lingual leaders translated the announcements and the welcome, and our Chinese Pastor, Joe Chou, translated my message on how to resolve conflict.
• I used a simple Gospel passage, Matthew 18.15-19, as the primary Scripture passage. I also used a flip chart to illustrate each point by drawing a simple diagram to explain each step to resolve conflict that Jesus taught in the passage.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The experience was absolutely incredible and added a fresh touch to our service. I’ve been at West Park eight months and this was my favorite service. The sense of God’s presence was palpable. The feeling of unity was powerfully present. I’ve never heard better corporate singing since coming here. The interaction between Joe and me kept the interest of both the English and Mandarin speakers. The song led by the Mandarin speaker was amazing, a taste of what heaven might be like. And, we received many positive comments about the service.

GUIDELINES FOR HOLDING ONE:

With North America becoming more multi-cultural, should you try a bilingual service, even if you don’t have a different language group meeting at your church? Absolutely. If a different language group does not meet at your church, invite a local church that speaks a different language to join you. Here are some guidelines to consider if you decide to hold such a service.

1. Get buy-in from your leadership before you begin.
2. Promote the service in advance.
3. Provide bulletins in both languages.
4. Choose simple, easy-to-sing songs, familiar to both language groups.
5. Translate every part of the service.
6. Schedule extra time for your combined worship team. I recommend combining both language groups in your worship team.
7. As you begin the service, explain that the service will be held in two languages.
8. Use a good translator. Joe’s excellent translation abilities made a huge difference.
9. If you are the lead pastor, affirm the value of the experience and thank the language group for being a part.

If you’ve held bi-lingual services at your church, what other pointers would you suggest?

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• A Former Pastor’s Perspective on what Makes a Compelling Worship Service
• Neurodiversity in your Church: Why it Matters