By Michael Motes

The April 15 deadline for turning over everything but a generous blood sample to the federal government probably was less traumatic to members of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Atlanta than to many other Catholics throughout the archdiocese.

If IHM parishioners were caught short of funds as income tax day drew near, they had a special bank form which to secure a speedy loan—IHM Federal Credit Union.

Since its charter was granted on May 25, 1971, the credit union at IHM has grown to approximately 130 members with assets of over $17,000. As of March 31, 1972, loans totalling almost $10,000 have been made to more than 30 parishioners, including some quickly written checks to help with income tax payments.

When the idea of establishing a credit union at IHM first arose, Msgr. Michael J. Regan, pastor, turned to George McNamara, a member of the church, for help.

McNamara’s credentials easily qualify him as Msgr. Regan’s logical choice. Credit unions have been McNamara’s chief interest for 35 years. He spent seven years studying them as a hobby and for the last 28 years they have provided his income. Today he serves as principal review examiner for the National Credit Union Administration in the Atlanta region.

In addition to his work in establishing the IHM Federal Credit Union, currently the only all-Catholic credit union in the state, McNamara organized the first Catholic credit unions in Tennessee and Mississippi.

“The credit union movement in the South has been very slow, especially in Alabama, Georgia and Florida,” he says. “In Louisiana, especially in New Orleans, it is very active. And North Carolina has the only credit union in the country, as far as I know, that is just for deacons, sub-deacons and priests.”

The credit union was first introduced into the United States as a parish credit union for the parish of Ste. Marie in Manchester, N.H. The idea had earlier originated in Germany when Frederick William Raiffeisen, a Lutheran layman serving as burgomaster of his Bavarian village, formed a credit union for his villagers. Alphonse Desjardins, who had been greatly inspired by an encyclical of Pope Leo XII (“Rerum Novarum,” published in 1891), established the New Hampshire credit union in 1909.

Bishop Joseph M. Marling, who served as president of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, once expressed his hope for a credit union in every parish in his Missouri diocese.

In 1961, Bishop Marling wrote in CATHOLIC RURAL LIFE: “Self-reliance, self-development and progress is certainly the credit union. They educate their members, but the greatest appeal of the credit union to the Catholic community will be found in the exemplification of the Catholic principle of social charity which it affords.”

The purpose of the credit union, according to McNamara, is to “promote savings and loan money at a reasonable interest rate.”

McNamara says: “Some people in the church have opposed the idea of a credit union, feeling that there is no place in the church for loaning money. The pope, however, had endorsed the credit union for the Church.”

In pointing out the facts concerning the credit union, McNamara stressed the following:

--The interest rate, or cost of borrowing money, is one per cent per month on the unpaid balance, which is simple interest at an annual interest rate of 12 per cent. This is in accordance with the Truth in Lending Law. The federal law under which a credit union operates prohibits any changes.

--The credit union also insures its members’ accounts in case of death and matches the amount of savings dollar per dollar up to $2,000. At the same time, any loan outstanding at the time of death is paid off by the insurance company. This is at the expense of the credit union and does NOT cost the member anything.

--The parish receives no benefits from the credit union. It is strictly for the people of the parish. The priests are not officials of the credit union. All officers are elected by members of the credit union.

--The federal law under which credit unions operate prohibits salaries for any member of the credit union, with the exception of the treasurer. (At IHM no officer, including the treasurer, receives a salary.)

--All transactions with the credit union remain strictly confidential under law. Transactions cannot be divulged to anyone.

“The credit union is really democracy in action,” stresses McNamara. “Regardless of how much money you have in it, you have one vote at the annual meeting each year. The supervisory committee audits the books twice a year and the credit union is examined once a year by the National Credit Union Association. All of the officials are bonded for $1 million.”

To join the credit union at IHM, parishioners are required to deposit five dollars in a savings account and pay a life-time membership fee of one dollar. The credit union office is open each Sunday following the 8:30 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary until the business transacted after the 1:30 p.m. Mass.

Officers of the IHM Federal Credit Union are: John F. Jerow, president, O. Nixon Sheppard, vice president, Mary Malik, treasurer , and Mary Vetter, secretary.