Photos: Bob Hulteen
From far left to right: Jeff Siemon, James Zoss and Megan Wolle, Pam Blomgren, David Hahn, and Anna Brelje, Allison Johnson and Megan Olsen Biebighauser.
Minnesota congregation stands up to payday lending “The 96 percent repayment is an incredibly high
repayment rate,” Biebighauser said. “We attribute that a lot to the relationships that form with clients over the course of the year. There is a lot of trust that gets built in the relationships, and clients want to make sure that money is paid back and available for the next person who needs help getting out of debt.”
What are payday loans? Exodus Lending describes payday loans as small-dollar loans with extremely high interest rates that require the borrower to pay off the loan in full on their next payday.
Corii Varner wishes there were more places
like Exodus Lending. A client currently in the repayment program, she said Exodus has helped her a lot. “They took the strain off me needing to come up with the money immediately; they made me feel more settled,” she said. “Sometimes when you’re in debt you don’t want to share that type of thing because it makes you feel embarrassed, but people shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it or to ask for the help they need.” Carlson echoes Varner’s thoughts: “Learning
about this issue allowed us as a congregation to have conversations about money and finances among
ourselves to understand the struggles people in our pews might have with debt. “One important way every church can help end
predatory lending practices is to talk more openly about debt. Through the ways we talk about money, each of us can help diminish the feelings of shame that people feel related to their personal finances and upon which predatory lenders rely.” Exodus Lending and its supporters aren’t
planning on slowing down their mission to reform payday lending anytime soon. “Ideally, payday lending would be illegal and this
type of usury would be banned,” Nelson-Pallmeyer said. “If and when the predatory landscape changes, we may be able to alter our specific loan product, but for now we’d love to offer more Minnesotans free- dom from the usurious debt of payday lending.”
For more information, go to
exoduslending.org.
To download a study guide for this article, click on the “Spiritual practices & resources” tab at
LivingLutheran.org.
Brandsrud is a content editor for Living Lutheran.
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE •
LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52