How Religious Leaders Can Regain Trust

For example, churches that are failing to regain trust after a scandal need to ask themselves whether they fully understand the public’s response to their mistakes and whether they’ve put the right policies in place to prevent future issues. Too often, faith groups only make it about 75% along the path to healing, Wuthnow wrote, noting that it’s unfortunately common for faith groups to acknowledge a need to change but never really follow through with promised adjustments. Another important way to regain trust is to refocus on your own core values and then let those values guide your actions moving forward, Wuthnow said.