To most of the church congregation, Sunday service is one coherent experience that hopefully is one of the highlights of their weeks. Interpreters see it quite differently, though. To us, this single event is conjoined by multiple procedures, each following a distinct format and instilling a different flavor to our task. Most contemporary Protestant churches largely follow similar procedures. I will use our church as an example to illustrate the characteristics of each segment and the unique challenges they present.
Sermon
Let’s talk about the simplest segment first, if the word “simple” can ever be used for interpretation. Sermon is the most standard setting for consecutive interpretation. The Pastor stands in the pulpit, with the interpreter on the side. Everyone else is quiet with their phones silent (please). All attention is hopefully on the stage. The Pastor speaks, followed by the interpreter. On and on it goes. How nice.
With the golden standard settled, let’s start from the beginning.
Prayer Meeting
Okay, this one is unique to our church. Our Prayer Meeting, which immediately precedes our formal Sunday service, is an uncommon environment for interpretation. Rather than a quiet setting where we can focus on the speaker and command the focus of the audience, multiple things are taking place simultaneously.
The worship leader is singing, and so are the vocalists. All the instruments are on full blast. Then the speaker picks up the mic and says a prayer. Aside from the regular duties during the Sermon, we now need to hear the speaker properly and speak over all other voices.
This is not trivial. The voice of the speaker and our own could often be drowned out by the instruments that share the same frequency range. It becomes impossible to interpret if we can’t hear the speaker. Our vocal cords could easily wear out if we can’t hear ourselves. That is the time to communicate and coordinate with the sound crew. They are aware of our predicaments and will adjust the sound mixing to ensure this problem doesn’t occur, or at least doesn’t last.
On another note, not all speakers or worship leaders have the innate ability to work with interpreters. During their deep immersion in their thoughts, prayers, and songs, it’s easy to lose track of how much time they need to pause for interpretation. That’s very understandable, though difficult to work with.
The antidote is “trimming the fat”. Unlike Sermons, prayers are usually not rehearsed or planned. People who pray usually speak and think on the fly, making their messages less efficient, and affording us the opportunity to cut down redundancies and repetitions. Additionally, we can opt for shorter words and speak slightly faster to further reduce the length of our interpreted messages.
Worship
Worship largely follows a similar format as the Prayer Meeting with the addition of Offering. Aside from a short prayer, the offering instruction is largely the same from week to week, which is easy to prepare and memorize for interpretation.
The first Sunday of each month is communion Sunday. Its procedure resembles that of the Sermon, and the content is normally identical every month. We have a post dedicated to it here.
Treasure Hunt
In recent years, we have a new segment called “Treasure Hunt” sandwiched between Worship and Announcement. The detailed message and Bible verses are released before the Sunday service every week, which are then made available for interpreters to prepare in advance. Cakewalk.
We later found that doing consecutive interpretation one sentence at a time was too inefficient for this segment. As a solution, the announcer now finishes an entire description for one “treasure” before the interpreter jumps in for the interpretation. Much better.
Announcement
The announcement segment begins with a short welcome of the newcomers. Afterward, it launches into a series of events and notices that are practically verbatim from the weekly church newsletter. The pace here is usually a bit brisker, so it’s a good idea to stay focused and efficient. For additional peace of mind, it’s simple to subscribe to the church newsletter and receive a copy just before the service begins.
Altar Call
The Sermon always ends with the altar call. While the music is playing, the pastor typically issues a call for repentance, a call to respond, and a call for prayer. The call for repentance is especially important. It’s an invitation for the nonbelievers to receive Christ, during which the pastor invites everyone to close their eyes while the new believers raise their hands on a count of 3. Afterward, everyone joins them in the “Salvation Prayer”, a.k.a. the “Sinner’s Prayer”. Since this is how many people’s salvation begins, it’s important to get this right.
Baptism
Occasionally, we conduct baptism in the recess between the Prayer Meeting and the Sunday service. Due to time constraints, this segment is not interpreted unless the person getting baptized only speaks English. It warrants a post of its own, so stay tuned.
That’s it, the whole 9 (or 1, 2, 3… 7) yards. It may look like a lot at first glance, but the interpretation task itself is essentially the same, with only slight twists. After a couple of practices, it’s easy to grasp the nuances and develop strategies to tame their challenges. Hey, never a dull moment 😊.
Photo by Stefan Kunze on Unsplash