A friend posted this video about how algorithms are changing the way we get information over the internet and the quote from Eric Schmidt really stood out to me:

"It will be very hard for people to watch or consume something that has not in some sense been tailored for them."

I liked this because a consumeristic mindset in our church played a big role in why we ended The Journey a year ago.   We were hearing complaints about various details of the service and realized that many were just showing up to this gathering for a show and if it wasn't just exactly how they wanted it, they would either complain to us, gripe to other church people or leave.  It was a funky culture.

So then The Journey ended and we blended the best elements of the two services together and it's funny, because the problem didn't go away.  The service elements were different so the complaints were different but they didn't go away. In fact, for a while it seems like more people were complaining.  There were a few elements that we purposefully brought a couple times even though we knew there were a few people who didn't appreciate them. Maybe just to confirm the problem?

The responses were different throughout the generations.  It seems like if the younger people were dissatisfied they would usually just not bother showing up rather than complain.  Several of the older people would still attend regularly but send nasty emails or complain to other church people and try to rally everyone against change.  oh, and another interesting detail:  the ones who complained the loudest were never the ones who worked to create the services or service elements. They were, for the most part, the onlookers.

After creative preaching and conversations and time for everyone to get used to how things are, it seems like complaints are becoming less and less. 

But I still wonder if even in a non tech savvy church culture people will not buy into something that hasn't been specifically designed for them. 

I would love to be part of a church that realizes that God is interested in all people. Not just the ones with the specific tastes that we may have.   I wonder if we could lay down our preferences and differences long enough to see God's anointing in diverse traditions and practices.

This is what I dream of.