In a world where the digital domain continues to expand its reach, religious organizations are seeking innovative ways to share the Word of God. Easy Cloud AI, an AI company, has emerged to fill this void. Its first product, Beluga, is reshaping how the sacred words of sermons are shared and preserved for future generations.
Founded by Ray Choi, a pastor at Hill Community Church, Easy Cloud AI embarked on a mission to provide accurate transcripts of sermons, aiding religious congregations in navigating the digital landscape. The journey commenced amidst the pandemic, as Hill Community Church transitioned to streaming their weekly service on YouTube since August 2020 and subsequently began posting sermon transcripts online in early 2023.
The graphical representation below elucidates the significant uptick in unique visitors the church has garnered.
For a small church plant, it is unusual to see 12,000 unique visitors per month when the videos were getting a comparatively low number of people watching them. This meant that Hill Community Church was being found via search engines.
You may be asking, what do search engines have to do with my church?
Imagine you have a really cool collection of stickers that you want to show off to your friends. You decide to organize them in a binder, with each page dedicated to a different type of sticker – like animals, stars, or superheroes. Now, when your friends come over, you can easily find and show them your favorite stickers. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is kind of like organizing your stickers, but for the internet. When someone searches for something online, like “cute cat stickers,” SEO helps your website show up in the top results if you have content related to cute cat stickers. It’s a way of organizing and presenting your website’s content so that search engines, like Google, can understand what’s on your pages. This way, more people can find, visit your website, and enjoy your cool collection of stickers or, in Easy Cloud AI’s case, discover the enriching sermon transcripts and religious resources they offer.
The essence of sermon transcripts isn’t merely about records of sermons; it’s about extending the reach of God’s word to a wider audience, transcending language barriers and hearing disabilities. The unique initiative by Easy Cloud AI is making a greater impact by offering a solution to the age-old challenge of preserving critical religious concepts and aiding spiritual growth.
Search engines rely on text. While video formats are engaging to those who already know about your church, it doesn’t help you reach a new audience. Church sermons are stuck in video files on platforms such as YouTube, which offers zero benefits to the preacher when it comes to prospective church attendees or seekers on the other side of the world to find truth. Having transcripts of your sermons in a text format allows everyone to find your sermons in ways that they never could’ve previously.
Google, the gateway to digital visibility, rewards unique content with higher rankings. The transcripts of sermons, being a trove of unique content, have proven to be a boon for the church’s search engine optimization (SEO) endeavors. This led to the creation of Beluga, which harnesses OpenAI to provide accurate sermon transcriptions with impeccable formatting, especially when handling Bible verses – a cornerstone for ensuring the authenticity and reverence of the religious content.
A general transcription service such as Rev may have decent accuracy, but it fails to pay attention to things that a pastor or a member of his congregation would value, such as having the verses listed separated and formatted a certain way. Furthermore, the team at Easy Cloud AI were concerned with separating a preacher’s paraphrasing of a verse with the actual inerrant Word of God. Of course, these are concerns that a secular transcription service that charges by the audio minute would overlook. Easy Cloud AI with its first product, Beluga, has differentiated itself from the rest of the field by becoming the first Christian sermon transcription company. And we are adding new features such as video captions and translations.
Drawing inspiration from Desiring God, which has been posting full sermon transcripts for decades and now garners a global readership (over 8 million unique visitors per month), Easy Cloud AI is on a mission to democratize access to accurate transcription services. Unlike traditional methods that rely on professional transcriptionists, Beluga significantly reduces the time and cost involved, without compromising the quality of the transcription.
Here’s a sneak peek into a transcript of a recent sermon from Hill Community Church, crafted by Beluga – link.
Easy Cloud AI envisions a future where professional sermon transcription services are accessible to many more pastors and Christian organizations. Their About page and FAQs offer deeper insights into their mission and the technology underpinning Beluga.
For those intrigued, a complimentary transcript of your sermon is just a contact away. Just send a video link of your sermon or Bible study, and experience the prowess of Beluga. Their subscription model is designed to cater to varying needs, ensuring that smaller congregations, especially those under financial constraints, are not left behind.
With the advent of Beluga, the process of transforming audio files of your sermons or sermon recordings into text, and further into different languages through translation services, has never been easier. This initiative not only aids in breaking down language barriers but also in creating an inclusive space for individuals with hearing disabilities.
As the world pivots towards a more digitized narrative, ventures like Easy Cloud AI’s Beluga are emblematic of the boundless possibilities lying at the confluence of religious transcription, technology, and spiritual enlightenment.