How to Help People Find Your Church by Language

A Spanish engineer has just moved to Brussels. A Brazilian family has arrived in Antwerp. A Nigerian master's student starts in Leuven next week. None of them types "church near me". They type "English-speaking church Brussels", "igreja brasileira Antuérpia" or "Portuguese church Belgium". The language comes first, because a service they can't follow won't feel like home.

Most churches never say clearly online which language they worship in. The website is in French, so people assume the service is French only. The Google listing says nothing at all. Visitors guess, guess wrong, and go somewhere else. Or they stay home.

On ChurchedIn, 340 churches say they hold services in English, 35 in Portuguese and 28 in Lingala. But 617 of the 2,060 churches listed today have no service language saved at all. Those churches don't show up when someone filters by language, however welcoming they are.

This guide shows you how to state your service languages clearly and the same way everywhere: on Google, on Apple Maps, on your website, in the code search engines read, and on ChurchedIn. Most of it takes a volunteer one evening.

Step 1: Write down which languages you really use

Before you change anything online, agree as a team on one honest sentence. "We're international" doesn't help a visitor. They want to know what they will hear on Sunday. Pick the case that matches your church:

• One language: "Our Sunday service is in English."
• Two languages in one service: "Our 10:30 service is bilingual, French and English: songs in both languages, the sermon in French with English translation on screen."
• Separate services: "9:30 in Dutch, 11:30 in English."
• Translation only: "The service is in French. Live English translation through headsets is available; ask at the welcome desk."
• Language groups: "Main service in French. A Portuguese-speaking home group meets on Wednesdays."

Be precise about translation. "Service in English" and "English translation available" are different promises. If a visitor expects a full English service and gets ten minutes of whispered summary, they won't come back.

Also write down languages for children and youth. Parents ask about this a lot: "Kids' church in English and Dutch" can decide a family's choice.

Keep this sentence in a shared document. You'll paste it, or a short version of it, into every place below.

Step 2: Put the languages in your Google Business Profile

Google is the first place most people look. Google Business Profile has no "service language" field for churches, so you use the fields you do have. (New to Google Business Profile? Read our step-by-step guide first.)

The description

Go to Google Search or Maps → your church → Edit profile → Business information → Description (up to 750 characters). Put the language in the first sentence, because that is the part people see before they tap "more":

International evangelical church in Ixelles with Sunday services in English at 10:30 and in French at 12:30. Children's programme in both languages. Five minutes' walk from Flagey.

The name: don't add the language

It's tempting to rename your listing "Grace Church – English Speaking Church Brussels". Don't. Google's guidelines don't allow extra keywords in the business name, and a listing can be suspended for it. Use your real name, the one on your sign or your official registration. If the language really is part of your official name, that is fine.

Hours and posts

• Under Hours, enter only your regular gathering times. Google has no field for "English at 10:30, French at 12:30", so put that detail in the description.
• Use Add update for one-off things: "This Sunday: bilingual baptism service, English and Portuguese."

Apple Business Connect

iPhone users see Apple Maps, not Google. Claim your church at businessconnect.apple.com, go to Locations → your church → Details, and paste the same first sentence into the description. Use the same name, address and phone number as on Google, character for character.

Step 3: Make the language visible on your website

Your website must answer "Which language is the service in?" without anyone having to scroll.

On the home page

Put one line in the top part of the home page, near your service time:

Sundays 10:30 · English · 12:30 · Français

A visitor scanning on a phone at a tram stop should see it in two seconds. Repeat it on your "Visit us" or "New here?" page, with the details from Step 1 (translation, children, where to sit if you need headsets).

If your website has several languages

Many European churches have their site in two or three languages. Two simple rules:

1. The language of a page is not the language of the service. An English version of the website for a French-speaking church must still say "The service is in French, with English translation." Otherwise visitors will assume the service is in English.
2. Tell the browser which language each page is in. Each page's HTML should start with the right language code, for example <html lang="fr"> for French and <html lang="nl"> for Dutch. Multilingual tools do this for you:
   • WordPress: Polylang (free) or WPML (paid) set the language code and the links between the language versions (called "hreflang") automatically.
   • Wix: Wix Multilingual is built in (Settings → Multilingual).
   • Squarespace: there is no built-in multilingual mode. Most churches either build a second set of pages per language or use a paid add-on such as Weglot. If you build separate pages, give each language its own address, such as /fr/ and /en/.

Avoid automatic "translate this page" widgets as your only option. Machine translation is fine for a summary, but service times, addresses and what to expect should be checked by someone who speaks the language well.

Shared or rented buildings

If you rent a hall from another church or a community centre, visitors often find the other congregation's sign and assume they are in the wrong place. Write it out: "We meet in the hall of the Protestant church on Rue X. Our English service starts at 14:00, after their French service. Look for the white banner by the side door." Put the same words in your Google description and on ChurchedIn.

Step 4: Add the languages to your structured data

Structured data is a small block of code that tells search engines and AI assistants what a page is about. In schema.org, the shared vocabulary used by Google, Bing and others, a church is the type Church (a kind of PlaceOfWorship). A recurring service can be described as an Event with the property inLanguage.

Paste this into the <head> of your home page or "Visit us" page, and change the details:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Church",
  "name": "Your Church Name",
  "description": "Evangelical church in Ixelles with Sunday services in English (10:30) and French (12:30).",
  "url": "https://www.example-church.be",
  "telephone": "+32 2 123 45 67",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "Rue Example 12",
    "postalCode": "1050",
    "addressLocality": "Ixelles",
    "addressCountry": "BE"
  },
  "event": [
    {
      "@type": "Event",
      "name": "Sunday service in English",
      "inLanguage": "en",
      "eventSchedule": {
        "@type": "Schedule",
        "byDay": "https://schema.org/Sunday",
        "startTime": "10:30",
        "repeatFrequency": "P1W",
        "scheduleTimezone": "Europe/Brussels"
      },
      "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Your Church Name" }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Event",
      "name": "Culte du dimanche en français",
      "inLanguage": "fr",
      "eventSchedule": {
        "@type": "Schedule",
        "byDay": "https://schema.org/Sunday",
        "startTime": "12:30",
        "repeatFrequency": "P1W",
        "scheduleTimezone": "Europe/Brussels"
      },
      "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Your Church Name" }
    }
  ]
}
</script>

Where to paste it:

• WordPress: a free plugin such as "WPCode" (Code Snippets → Add snippet → HTML, location "Site-wide header" or a single page).
• Squarespace: Pages → your page → ⚙ → Advanced → Page header code injection (needs a Business plan or higher).
• Wix: Settings → Custom code → Add custom code, placed in the head of the chosen page.

Then test it with Google's Rich Results Test (search for it) or the Schema Markup Validator at validator.schema.org. Be realistic: Google doesn't promise to show anything special for this markup. Its job is to help search engines and AI answer tools understand, in plain facts, that your church holds an English service on Sunday at 10:30. That's what someone asking "Is there an English service in Ixelles on Sunday morning?" needs answered.

Use the two-letter language codes: en, fr, nl, de, es, pt, it, ro, pl. Lingala is ln, Kinyarwanda rw, Swahili sw, Arabic ar, Korean ko.

Step 5: Fill in your languages on ChurchedIn

Directories matter for people searching by language. Someone looking for "English-speaking church Brussels" may never reach your website, but they may reach a page that lists every English-speaking church in Brussels.

ChurchedIn builds those pages from the languages churches enter, in English, French and Dutch:

• every church holding services in English: /languages/english
• English-speaking churches in one town: /cities/brussels/english
• the same for every other language, such as Portuguese or Dutch

Visitors can also filter the main directory and the map by language. A church with no language saved is left out of all of these.

To fill it in:

1. Find your church on ChurchedIn and open its page. Click Manage this page (it's free). If your login email uses your church website's domain, approval is automatic; otherwise our team checks it with your church.
2. In My church → Church page, add every language your services are held in under Languages your services are held in. Add only languages people can actually follow during a service.
3. Write your service times with the language next to each one, for example "Sunday 10:30 (English), 12:30 (French)".
4. In the short description, use the same first sentence as on Google.
5. If your church writes its own texts, set Language of the original text to the language you wrote them in, and add a version in another language if you can. Visitors then read your words in their language.

Not listed yet? Use Add a church. It takes a few minutes, and our team checks every submission.

Being listed this way also gives search engines one more trusted source that repeats your name, address and phone number exactly as on Google. That consistency (often called "NAP": name, address, phone) helps local search.

European and multilingual points to watch

• Spell your town the way searchers do. In Brussels, Belgium and border regions, people search for "Bruxelles", "Brussel" and "Brussels". Use your main local name in your address, and the other names in your description ("Ixelles / Elsene"). ChurchedIn's search knows the names in English, French and Dutch.
• Write each language yourself, or have it checked. A Dutch description full of machine-translation mistakes tells Dutch speakers they are not your main audience. A short, correct text is better than a long, clumsy one.
• Translation headsets and GDPR. Saying "translation available" doesn't touch personal data. But if you livestream a bilingual service, interpreters and people in the front rows can appear on camera. Tell people with a sign at the entrance and a line in your privacy notice, and offer seats out of shot. Under the GDPR, being filmed at a church can reveal someone's religious beliefs, which is especially sensitive data.
• Don't collect languages from visitors unless you need to. A welcome card asking "Which language do you prefer?" is fine if you use the answer (for example to send them the English newsletter) and delete it when you no longer need it.

The 30-minute volunteer action plan

Do these in order. Together they get you most of the benefit.

1. 5 minutes: write your one-sentence language statement (Step 1) and agree on it with your pastor.
2. 5 minutes: paste it as the first sentence of your Google Business Profile description.
3. 5 minutes: do the same in Apple Business Connect.
4. 5 minutes: add a language line next to the service times on your website's home page.
5. 10 minutes: claim or update your church on ChurchedIn: languages, service times with languages, short description.

Next week, if you have one more hour: add the structured data from Step 4 and test it.

Common mistakes to avoid

"International church" without a language. "International" can mean a French service with flags on the wall. Fix: always name the languages: "International church, services in English."

The website language standing in for the service language. An English website for a Dutch-language service sends English speakers on a confusing trip. Fix: state the service language on every language version of the site.

Different information in different places. Google says 10:00, your website 10:30, a directory "English" while the English service stopped two years ago. Fix: keep the Step 1 sentence in one shared document and update every place on the same day, twice a year at least (for example when the clocks change).

Keyword stuffing. "Best English church Brussels Ixelles expat Christian church" in a name or description looks like spam to visitors and to Google. Fix: write one natural sentence a person would say out loud.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find an English-speaking church in Belgium?

Search for a directory that lets you filter by service language, not just by town. On ChurchedIn you can open the English-speaking churches page or filter the map by language, then check service times on the church's own page or website.

Should my church name include "English-speaking" for SEO?

No, unless it is really part of your official name. Google doesn't allow extra keywords in business names and may suspend the listing. Put the language in the first sentence of your description instead.

What's the difference between a bilingual service and a service with translation?

In a bilingual service both languages are part of the service itself, for example songs and readings in both. In a service with translation the service runs in one language and translation is offered through headsets, subtitles on a screen or an interpreter. Say which one you offer, because visitors plan around it.

Does Google use structured data to show service languages?

Google doesn't promise a special display for service times or languages. But structured data such as Event with inLanguage states the facts in a form that search engines and AI answer tools can read reliably, which helps them answer specific questions like "English service in Ixelles on Sunday".

Do I need a separate website for each language?

No. One website with a page per language, made with a multilingual plugin or built-in feature, is easier to keep up to date. What matters is that each language version states the service language and the times clearly.

Next steps

Language is one of the most practical forms of welcome. When a newcomer can see before Sunday that they'll understand the songs, the sermon and the person at the door, walking in feels possible.

Start with the one-sentence statement, put it on Google and on your website, and then find your church on ChurchedIn and add your service languages, or add your church if it isn't listed yet. It's free, it takes a few minutes, and it puts your church on the pages people use when they search by language.