Who do you trust? Global opinion leaders say their most credible source of information about a company is now "a person like me," surpassing doctors and academic experts, according to Edelman, the world's largest independent public relations firm. The seventh annual Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey of nearly 2,000 opinion leaders in 11 countries, reported that in the U.S., opinion leaders also consider rank-and-file employees more credible spokespersons than corporate CEOs. "We have reached an important juncture, where the lack of trust in established institutions and figures of authority has motivated people to trust their peers as the best sources of information about a company," said Richard Edelman, president and CEO. "Companies need to move away from sole reliance on top-down messages delivered to elites toward fostering peer-to-peer dialogue among consumers and employees, activating a company's most credible advocates." Click here to read more about the survey. Television is losing ground in terms of media trustworthiness, and trust in the Internet as a credible source of information is rising. "Articles in business magazines" is the most credible source of information about a company, followed closely by "friends and family." Trust has important bottom-line consequences. In most markets, more than 80% say they would refuse to buy goods or services from a company they do not trust, and more than 70% will "criticize them to people they know," with one-third sharing their opinions and experiences of a distrusted company on the Web. "Trust is the key objective for global companies today because it underpins corporate reputation and gives them license to operate," said Michael Deaver, Vice Chairman, Edelman. "To build trust, companies need to localize communications, be transparent, and engage multiple stakeholders continuously as advocates across a broad array of communications channels." What can The Church learn from this? Do you think the same attitudes apply to Church organizations and leaders? Why or why not?

20-Something studies show regardless of faith, they don't like attending traditional worship, based on recent research. They shy away from labels, increasingly identify with no specific religion, or if Christian, call themselves non-denominational. Yet Generations X and Y demonstrate overwhelming belief in God and an interest in how all things spiritual relate to their lives and their world. Many reject dogma and large institutions, instead preferring personal and convenient ways to find answers. They send prayer e-mail, look for love online, join smaller ministry groups, and help fuel an industry of spiritually inspired books, movies and music

Attendance at American Churches is less than half what has been believed in the past, claims Dave Olson, Dir. of the American Church Research Project. At Mission America Coalition?s annual conference, Olson revealed overall church attendance is virtually unchanged from 15 years ago, even though the US population has grown by 52 million people, mostly unchurched. His data is based on actual recorded attendance in over 300,000 churches. Interestingly, the evangelical church is growing fastest among the higher income, college-educated, suburban population, and declining fastest among the least educated and in the highest poverty rate areas.

"Spirituality, or the impulse to seek communion with the Divine, is thriving," claims journalist Jerry Adler citing a Beliefnet Poll which found that "more Americans, especially younger than 60, described themselves as 'spiritual' (79%) than 'religious' (64%)."

Evangelical Christian leaders are alarmed teens are abandoning their faith in droves. The concern is stoked by a controversial claim that if current trends continue, only 4% of teens will be "Bible-believing Christians" as adults. That's down from 35% of baby boomers and 65% of the Builder generation. Today's culture trivializes religion and normalizes secularism. It may not be that young evangelicals are abandoning their faith so much as they are abandoning the institutional church. Notre Dame Professor Christian Smith, an American evangelical specialist, is skeptical about the 4% stat. It came from a poll commissioned by Southern Baptist leader Thom Rainer and appeared in his book The Bridger Generation. Rainer thinks the methodology was reliable, but the poll is 10 years old. In fact Evangelical teens are more likely to remain involved with their faith than mainline Protestants, Catholics, Jews and teens of almost every other religion.