Public Trust

“Americans’ average confidence in institutions has been trending downward since 1979…. Confidence finally showed significant improvement in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic…. However, average confidence quickly reverted and sunk further to 27% in 2022.” - Gallup

“The public perception of the honesty and ethical standards of clergy reached a record low over the last 50 years, according to Gallup’s annual honesty and ethics survey. Just 27% of the American public ranked clergy as high or very high on the scale. Six other professions reached record lows in their honesty and ethical standards rankings over the period” - CPost

“According to the State of the Bible, more than 1 in 3 (36%) Americans agree the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it presents, while 39% disagree.” - Lifeway

“In 2022, trust fell to 31% of Americans and has been at 32% the previous two years. For the first time since 2020, however, the church has experienced a significant jump in trust.” - Lifeway

“Americans who say most people can be trusted are twice as likely to say the federal government can be trusted most of the time (22% vs. 11%). However, there is no consensus on whether declines in institutional trust lead to declines in social trust, or vice versa.” - Pew

“Public trust in pastors has dropped to a new low, according to the latest Gallup poll. The survey finds that only 30% of Americans rate clergy as highly honest and ethical, continuing a downward trend.” - CPost

Related post at Lifeway

“While biblical doctrine will always offend some, the bulk of church perception problems are self-imposed, self-inflicted, and largely fixable.” - ChurchAnswers

“Trust in pastors fell for the third straight year and reached an all-time low. Around 1 in 3 Americans (34%) rate the honesty and ethical standards of clergy as high or very high, according to the latest Gallup survey.” - Lifeway

“In the struggle to reduce problems of over-policing and over-criminalization and improve public trust in law enforcement, what is the role of local community organizations and institutions?” - Acton

“The latest Gallup survey of Americans’ opinions and trust of specific occupations found clergy improving from 37% last year to 40% in 2020, marking the first increase in a decade. Overall, medical practitioners dominate the top of the list, with nurses ranked highest (85%) for the 18th straight year.” - Facts & Trends