Sociolinguistic ISSN: 1750-8649 (print) Studies ISSN: 1750-8657 (online) Affiliation New Mexico State University, United States email: ewheeler@nmsu.edu SOLS VOL 10.3 2016 329–355 © 2017, EQUINOX PUBLISHING doi: 10.1558/sols.v10i3.28191 Article Brokering communication in sacred spaces: Bilingual youth interpreters in religious settings Eva Michelle Wheeler Abstract Although research on ‘language brokering’ has grown steadily over the past two decades, the specific characteristics and challenges of this type of interpretation work have yet to be fully explored. The present analysis examines the specific practices involved when bilingual youth interpret in religious services. Although underexplored in the language- brokering scholarship, religious services present a novel and revelatory context for the examination of non-professional interpretation practices. Framed through a discourse- analytic lens, the analysis explores how two youths demonstrate problem-solving skills and linguistic expertise in the interpretation process. I argue that the problem-solving activity in which the youth are participating is multifaceted and collaborative, and that the youth themselves must necessarily exercise great skill to solve each problem. I then position this analysis within the broader scholarship on language brokering and demonstrate how these practices expand our knowledge regarding the linguistic abilities of bilingual youth. KEYWORDS: BILINGUALISM, LANGUAGE BROKERING, INTERPRETATION, INTERACTION, YOUTH, PROBLEM SOLVING, RELIGIOUS SERVICES