Turning to Churches or Scripture to Cope With Debt
By JOHN LELAND
Published: April 29, 2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Doug Sweeney, a police officer, watched his credit card balance grow to $13,000, thinking he would never be able to pay it off. Renée Santiago had $40,000 in student loans. Susan Hancock owed $14,000 in credit card debt and could not point to anything in her home to show for it.

“I saw it going up,” Ms. Hancock said, “but I was numb. I thought, that’s just the way of life.”
When the debt got to be too much for them, instead of going to family members or financial professionals for help, they did what many Americans are doing: they turned to their church.

“You need a little help with motivation,” said Mr. Sweeney, 47, who blamed years of impulsive spending for his debt. Recently, he joined two dozen others at Southeast Christian Church for Week 9 of a 13-week debt-reduction program called Financial Peace University. Since joining the group, he had disposed of his credit cards.

“A big part of it is that it has a faith component,” he said. “God wants you to be good stewards of your money. The money’s all his.” the rest