How to caption a sermon for YouTube
YouTube’s automatic captions were trained on everyday speech. They write “Romans eight thirty one” as words, turn Philippians into the Philippines, and mangle Mephibosheth every time. Churches report 15 to 30 minutes of hand-editing per sermon. Uploading your own subtitle file removes almost all of it.
1. Export the audio
Drop the finished mp4 straight in, or export an m4a/mp3 from your editor for a faster upload. Anything under 45 minutes runs in the browser; split a longer service into the sermon and the rest.
2. Set your house style once
- References: “Romans 8:31” for most channels; abbreviated “Rom. 8:31” for dense study content; spoken “Romans chapter 8, verse 31” for accessibility-first captions.
- Translation tag: add (ESV), (NIV) or (KJV) to every citation if your church reads from one translation.
- Greek and Hebrew: plain (agape, hesed) for congregations, scholarly (agapē, ḥesed) for notes and seminaries.
- Pronouns for God: capitalised He, Him, His if that is your tradition; otherwise leave as written.
3. Transcribe and review the corrections panel
Every change is listed with a timestamp; click one to hear the moment. Pulpitscribe formats the reference the preacher spoke and does not check it against the text, so this is where your media volunteer verifies a slip of the tongue.
4. Download .srt and upload
In YouTube Studio open the video, choose Subtitles, then Add under your language and Upload file with timing. The same .srt works in Vimeo, Subsplash, Church Online Platform and most church apps. YouTube indexes caption text for search, so “Habakkuk 2:4” spelled right is how people find the sermon.