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The former British Labour Government acknowledged that religious practices play an important role in the development of children's identities [DCFS. (2009). Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system. London: HMSO; DfES (2007). Curriculum review: Diversity and citizenship. London: HMSO]. However, little is known about the ways in which these identities develop in faith settings. This article aims to address language planning in faith lessons of ethnic churches and to reflect on how their language planning dynamics create (or not) opportunities for the children to develop their cultural, linguistic and religious identities. With this purpose, the article reports on part of two investigations of religious settings in the development of children's literacy and identity. The specific language ideologies of these migrant churches are explored mainly through an examination of the qualitative semi-structured interviews with their faith leaders, and comparisons are made to Pentecostal and Catholic leaders of Brazilian migrant groups; newcomers to the UK and with numbers on the rise. It is argued that, although a group's theological orientation is linked to the language ideologies of faith leaders, linguistic and cultural identities play an important role in the (unplanned) language planning of ethnic churches.
