Translate your church service into Afaan Oromo
Afaan Oromoo
Afaan Oromo is one of Ethiopia's most widely spoken languages and carries its own Christian preaching, hymn and Bible tradition. Voco can make an English-language sermon available as live Oromo text on each attendee's phone without forcing the congregation into Amharic.
Latency
Live
from spoken word to text
Attendee setup
Scan QR
no app download
Starting from
£6/week
unlimited attendees
The Oromo-speaking diaspora
Oromo families are present across North and East London and in cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester, with larger communities in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Washington DC, Seattle and Denver. The Oromo Evangelical Church of London began as a home prayer group in the early 1990s and now worships in Afaan Oromo in Tottenham, showing that the language is an active church language rather than merely a home-language preference.
Bible availability in Oromo
Biblica publishes the Open New Oromo Contemporary Version, and older Oromo Scripture traditions are also in use. Because Ethiopian Orthodox, evangelical and Protestant communities may prefer different terminology, ask which Bible your reviewers use rather than assuming one vocabulary fits every congregation.
Using Voco for Oromo church translation
Oromo Christians include Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo believers, evangelical Lutherans and Pentecostal or independent evangelical congregations. Language has also been bound up with identity and church governance in Ethiopia, so offering Oromo rather than defaulting to Amharic can carry pastoral significance. Translation quality remains lower-resource and should be reviewed locally.
Frequently asked questions
Why offer Oromo if we already provide Amharic?
They are different languages. Many Oromo speakers understand some Amharic, but worship and sustained teaching in Afaan Oromo can be materially easier and can signal that Oromo identity is respected.
Which Oromo Bible can we use for checking terms?
Biblica's Open New Oromo Contemporary Version is one current reference. Ask your church reviewer whether their tradition uses that wording or another edition before building the glossary.
How should we test Oromo translation?
Use a complete recorded sermon, not a few sentences. Ask a fluent reader from the same church background to mark unclear theology, names and idioms, then add repeated corrections to Voco's glossary.
Helpful guides
Start today
Oromo translation — live this Sunday
7-day free trial. No credit card. Guided setup and rehearsal.
Start free trial