In today’s culture, trust is rapidly weakening, and this decline extends into the workplace. For Christian leaders, restoring trust begins with recognizing that trust doesn’t happen overnight—it grows, nurtured by self-awareness, confidence, and strong relationships. Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben, the 62nd Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, shares how trustworthiness is tied to our connection with God, the ultimate source of trust. Dr. Kibben encourages Christian leaders to ground themselves in their faith so that they can better reflect divine trust in their daily actions, fostering an environment where vulnerability is encouraged.

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You can listen to this conversation with Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben on our podcast, Work, Love, Pray! Listen below or click here to find your preferred listening platform.

What do you think has caused the weakening or even vanishing of trustworthiness in our culture today?

Trust is built on so many different factors. It’s built on one’s self-awareness and self-confidence. It’s built on relationships and on experiences. All of these things play into our appreciation for trust. Trustworthiness also has much to do with our relationship with the one who is most trustworthy: God.

Part of why trustworthiness is becoming harder to find is because we can take trust for granted. We just think it happens, but it doesn’t; it grows. It’s been planted somewhere in our soul and it’s up to us to water it, to feed it, to strengthen it, and to appreciate what trust really is.

In your role, how do you personally try to emulate this trust?

I try to be as real and honest as I possibly can. I start with being grounded in my own sense of who God is. I have to walk into a room owning my faith and pray that I would reflect that faith in the One who is trustworthy. People are attuned to a desire for the divine. Augustine said we have a God-shaped hole in our spirits, and when you see someone who reflects God, that void in your spirit responds.

How can prioritizing trust encourage team building?

That question takes me back to all those team building exercises I did in youth group and college. I have this image of standing in a circle with everyone’s hands out and then somebody falling backwards into our hands. That’s a very physical way to do build trust. But what it reflects is that when I’m willing to let myself go and be received into the hands of people I don’t know, then we’ve just created a relationship.

Now, I’m not saying that you need to get your office together and have everyone form a trust-fall line! But what I am saying is to ask yourself, ‘How am I enabling people to feel safe in their vulnerability?’ As a leader, you certainly need to ensure safety in your office culture, but as a leader, you also have to be vulnerable. If you’re asking everyone else to participate in the trust fall but you’re not going to have anything to do with it, then you don’t really trust the process.

As people of faith, we often think that we have to say that we have it all together, even if we actually don’t. That behavior doesn’t build trust; that builds awe and distance. As a leader, build an environment where it’s okay to be broken and imperfect. Show your team that it’s okay to doubt and be afraid, because there are people who will catch you.

What role does trust play in inclusion?

I almost think you have to reverse the question. I think inclusion tests or challenges the idea of trust. When you introduce different elements to a relatively homogeneous group, you have to find ways and places to make connections or points of familiarity and similarity. Focusing on what makes us the same is where trust is built from. As we look at inclusion, you have to consider what makes us the same. Inclusion has worked when we’ve said, ‘We are all in this together.’ Once that statement is made, then you can say, ‘Let’s see how our differences contribute to better this experience of being together.’

On January 3, 2021, Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben was sworn in as the 62nd Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, having served as a chaplain for over 30 years in the Navy and Marine Corps. Born and raised in Warrington, Pennsylvania, Chaplain Kibben graduated from Goucher College and received both her Master of Divinity and her Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. Chaplain Kibben has served as a Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace and holds a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.   

In addition to Princeton Theological Seminary’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Kibben serves on the boards for the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, the World War II Foundation, and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Dr. Kibben is a faculty associate for Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies

Margaret is married to Lieutenant Colonel Timothy J. Kibben, USMC (Retired).  They reside in Alexandria, Virginia. Margaret enjoys cycling, swimming, and gardening.