The question that shaped Olive IRL most was not "what features do we build?" but "who exactly are we building for?" Most faith-based dating apps narrow to a single denomination, and the assumptions tend to show.
Olive IRL is built for anyone whose faith in Christ shapes how they love, whatever Christian tradition that comes from. The scope is deliberate: one faith, every denomination.
Why it matters who you build for
Christianity is not a monolith. The body of Christ contains multitudes, and building for one denomination means building in assumptions that don't hold even one pew over.
| Tradition | Some of the breadth within it |
|---|---|
| Catholic | Roman and Eastern Catholic, from charismatic renewal to traditional parishes |
| Protestant | Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, and more, each with its own history and worship |
| Evangelical & Pentecostal | Baptist, Assemblies of God, non-denominational, Born Again, and the wider Charismatic movement |
| Orthodox | Greek, Russian, Coptic, and Antiochian, among the oldest continuous Christian traditions |
“What matters more than the label is the depth. Two believers at the same depth of faith, even across different denominations, often have more in common than two who share a denomination but practice it very differently.”
How Olive IRL handles this in practice
- Welcomes every Christian tradition: Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Orthodox, and more
- Users can specify their denomination within the faith
- Faith importance scale, from 'central to my life' to 'somewhat important'
- Matching on depth of practice and denomination, not just the label
Where the line is
We don't try to match across incompatible values, and we don't tell users what their faith should look like. If someone only wants to date within their own denomination, the app supports that. If someone is open across the whole body of Christ, it supports that too. Our job is the platform, not the theology.
What we do ask of everyone who uses Olive IRL is that faith in Christ is real for them, not just a box they check because it seems like the right thing to say on a profile.