• About
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Facts & Trends

By providing practical information and relevant resources, Facts and Trends Online helps evangelical leaders navigate the issues and trends impacting the church in today’s world.

  • Articles
  • COVID-19 Resources
  • Pastors
  • Research
  • Videos
    • About / Contact
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • App

Public’s Trust of Pastors Rebounds Slightly

Facts & Trends - January 23, 2020 1 Comment

pastor research IRS sermons

By Aaron Earls

After reaching a historic low last year, the percentage of Americans who give pastors high marks for honesty inched upward.

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.

Two-thirds of Americans (66%) rate the ethics and honesty of engineers “very high” or “high.” Doctors (65%), pharmacists (64%), and dentists (61%) are also seen as honest and ethical.

In addition to clergy (40%), the public is more divided on police officers (54%), college teachers (49%), psychiatrists (43%) and chiropractors (41%).

Fewer trust journalists (28%), bankers (28%), labor union leaders (24%), lawyers (22%), business executives (20%), and state governors (20%).

The least trusted occupations are stockbrokers (14%), advertising practitioners (13%), insurance salespeople (13%), senators (13%), members of Congress (12%) and car salespeople (9%).

While public trust of clergy rebounded this year, the 40% who rate them as honest and ethical falls well short of the high-water mark of 67% in 1985.

In the 2020 survey, non-white Americans (31%) were less likely than white Americans (45%) to give pastors high honesty grades.

Currently, 15% of Americans rate the honesty and ethics of clergy as “low” or “very low.”

Pastors have their biggest reputation problem with those with a high school diploma or less, where 1 in 5 (20%) give clergy low marks for trustworthiness.

The age demographic most likely to say pastors have low honesty and ethics are the 35- to 54-year-olds (18%). Fewer 18- to 34-year-olds (12%) and 55 and older (13%) rate clergy as low or very low.

AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor of Facts & Trends.

Dig Deeper at LifeWay.com

7 Challenges Pastors Face: Overcome Common Struggles and Thrive in Ministry

David Horner

FIND OUT MORE

Related

Filed Under: Leadership, Research

Previous Post: « 4 Questions to Diagnose Spiritual ‘Stuckness’
Next Post: 5 Reasons Churches Struggle to Reach College Students »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. All Around the Web – January 27, 2020 – sola evangelii says:
    January 26, 2020 at 11:14 pm

    […] Facts & Trends – Public’s Trust of Pastors Rebounds Slightly […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Latest Research

LifeWay Research video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ueWJegE3A

FACTS & TRENDS NEWSLETTER

Never miss anything from Facts & Trends and get exclusive content delivered to your inbox.

@FactsAndTrends

My Tweets

Latest Articles

The Crippling Disease of Ministry Comparison

3 Ideas to Involve Church Members in Congregational Care

Why Pastors Should Lead the Way in Praying for the New President

Categories

Footer

Facts & Trends is designed to help leaders navigate issues impacting the church.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021   ·   Advertise   |   Contact   |   LIFEWAY CHRISTIAN RESOURCES   ·   ALL RIGHTS RESERVED