The Crisis of Confidence in the Church. The Gallup Organization has evaluated the public’s confidence in institutions for four decades.
Their most recent annual survey on this matter showed that Americans are continuing to lose confidence in churches and organized religion. While religious institutions were among the most revered organizations in the land for many years (topping the list some years), we are now in a situation where less than half all adults (48%) have “a great deal of confidence” or “quite a lot of confidence” in churches. Earlier in my lifetime, three out of four adults had such a degree of trust in religious institutions. Shockingly little has been made of this decline. The Alban Institute - 2009-01-05 Ways to Pray in a Board Meeting.
The Elders. Working the Angles (aka Pat Loughery @ Mt. Si Vineyard) » Strategic Planning for Missional Churches Series.