As a Presbyterian pastor, I'm often approached by people who are on a search for truth, and as I attempt to help them, I draw on my religious tradition, sacred Scriptures and theological training. Unfortunately, more and more people are taking their quest directly to the Internet, surfing for religious as well as political insights.

I'm convinced that the Christian faith is becoming more like Wikipedia and less like Encyclopedia Britannica. Instead of time-tested religious insights, people are accepting "what others are saying."

(Illustration by Keith Simmons, USA TODAY)

A generation ago, people turned to trusted authorities such as newspapers and mainline churches to get information. But trust in such institutions has fallen over the past 30 years, eroding the relationship between Americans and a number of traditional sources of trust. A poll called the General Social Survey has asked people whether they have "a great deal of confidence" in social institutions, and their answers reveal a clear decline.

According to this survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, confidence has dropped since the 1970s in:

* Banks and financial institutions (From 35% to 28%).

* Major companies (26% to 17%).

* The press (24% to 9%).

* Education (36% to 27%).

* Organized religion (35% to 24%).

Whether you attribute this fall to Watergate or Enron or clergy sexual misconduct, the damage has clearly been done.

The effect on religion

This is a serious concern to pastors like me, who serve churches associated with what used to be the "trusted brands" of Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, and Presbyterian Christianity. These mainline denominations grew through the 1940s and '50s but began to lose members about 1965. Today, some are one-third smaller than they were 40 years ago.

In their place, independent and community churches have appeared. Some have congregational leadership and stand alone, while others are denominational churches that are simply dropping "Baptist" or "Methodist" from their names in an effort to attract more worshipers. For instance, a congregation near Detroit called Temple Baptist became NorthRidge Church in 2000 to avoid the possible negative connotations of being Baptist. Its pastor, Brad Powell, says it is "a non-denominational Bible-believing church."

Congregations with "community" in their title became the largest group of Protestant churches in the country in the 1990s, including Saddleback Community Church in California and Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. These houses of worship are trying to reach the many people who have a longing for community, coupled with a distrust of institutions.

Grace Chapel, an independent congregation with 2,100 members in Englewood, Colo., fits the suburban landscape by looking more like a big box store than a church. It has no mysterious denominational name such as "Presbyterian" to act as a barrier, and it requires no insider knowledge in order to participate in services. Like many growing congregations, it has contemporary praise music in worship and a variety of programs designed to meet the needs of children, youths, college students, singles, couples, women and men.

These independent congregations are the bloggers of the Christian faith, speaking the truth as they see it. They have every right to do so, based on our nation's commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But given the fact that faith has long had a "binding" effect on society (in fact, the word religion has the root meaning "to tie fast"), I worry that loss of trust in denominations is causing society to become ever more fractured. If we completely lose faith in institutions - denominations, newspapers, banks, companies, political parties - there will be very little to tie us together as a nation.

Serving the next generation

Of course, denominational pastors like myself have some lessons to learn from successful independent churches. I need to accept that today's spiritual seekers want quality, clarity, convenience and community in their practice of faith, and they will choose the church that offers the programs that best meet their personal needs. Few people will join my church simply because it is Presbyterian, just as a shrinking number of people will buy a car because of loyalty to General Motors. Consumers today want a product with the best features, whether it is a church with a dynamic youth program or an automobile with an excellent crash-test rating.

Individual choice and control are affecting all of our institutions, from financial organizations (Internet banking) to journalism (blogging) to education (distance learning). The church is not immune from this, and we'll see increasing diversity in the "emerging churches" that are attracting a new generation of people in their 20s and 30s who are suspicious of organized religion. Overseas, independent churches are experiencing explosive growth, especially in Brazil and South Africa, and it won't be long before churches in the USA feel the effects of this movement.

Sadly, what is lost in this fracturing of church and society are the worldwide networks that have long been maintained by Protestant denominations. Isolated congregations can certainly meet the spiritual needs of individuals, but they cannot do the work of denominations in supporting thousands of missionaries around the world, creating seminaries for the training of clergy, or taking stands for peace, justice, and religious freedom on the national and international levels. In addition, independent congregations cannot be counted on to preserve a historically based understanding of the Christian faith, or to maintain the unity of the church across geographical or cultural boundaries.

So even though trust in institutions continues to fall, I'll continue to be a Presbyterian pastor. My denomination will never be the cultural force it once was, but I believe it provides some necessary social glue in a society that is becoming more fractured every day.

---Henry G. Brinton is pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia and author of Balancing Acts: Obligation, Liberation, and Contemporary Christian Conflicts.