ChurchRater is a controversial new website that acts as a Yelp or Zagat for churches.  Here is how ChurchRater describes their purpose.

Every Sunday close to 350,000 churches open their doors to the public. How do you know what you’re walking into? What will the pastor be talking about? What kind of people attend?  ChurchRater lets you read what others say about the church and rate your own experience. ChurchRater lets you talk back after sitting through a sermon. ChurchRater lets you…  find a church that fits.

ChurchRater is paying reviewers who are accepted through their process.  Churches will contact ChurchRater seeking people to come rate their church.  ChurchRater then posts an ad on Craigslist and selects from those who respond to the ad.

Jolie O’Dell at Read/Write Web had this to say:

The site began as a rather natural extension of two of the co-founders’ book, Jim and Casper Go to Church. The premise for the book “could be the pilot script for a sitcom: a pastor hires an atheist to help him critique several Christian churches throughout the United States.” Jim Henderson, the pastor, and Matt Casper, the atheist, traveled to several churches around the U.S. to get a fresh perspective on how people worship.  The website now allows any user to essentially replicate that feedback process.

Is a church service quantifiable?  Is this generally a misguided idea?   Or is this simply an extension of the conversations you would have with people anyway when speaking of different churches?