Falling Trust, Expertise, and Appeal: Americans' Changing Views on Clergy

This essay is an analysis of the shifting context of clergy work. More specifically, this paper is concerned with how Americans’ views of clergy are changing in consistent directions and how those changes inevitably influence the job itself―its general perception, its breadth of influence, and the pool of candidates who will likely be interested in such work. Taken together, the trends suggest a weakening foundation undergirding the authority and influence of American clergy and suggest a further diminishing population of pastors and priests eager to follow that call.