African-American church leaders say blacks aren't treated fairly by local banks, so they pooled their resources to bring economic equality to their communities.
They formed Texas Churches United for Empowerment (TCUE) to represent African-American churches in Central Texas and ensure equal treatment from financial institutions. Rev. Pastor Joseph C. Parker, Jr., the pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in East Austin heads the nonprofit.
"It's time for banks to hear us and not to take us for granted … we are not only pursuing things on behalf of the churches themselves, but the members of the church, and then for the larger community," Parker said.
Parker said black churches face tougher challenges when securing loans and many banks take their business for granted.
"Most of the churches have not really made much demand on banks, so this is a time when we are calling for that now," he said.
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Church equity
African-American church leaders united to pool their resources and ensure equal treatment from banks.
 
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They've come up with standards and criteria for banks to adhere to when dealing with the African-American community. The TCUE bases its plan on the Collective Banking Program of Maryland, which represents nearly 200 black churches with more than $100 million in approved loans and $130 million in deposits.
"I'm very optimistic about the impact it’s going to have on our congregation, on our members, on the black business community, and on the black community all together," Parker said.
"This will make it easier for people not only in home loans but people that have ideas about business that they can put forth and be able to go to the banks and get financial backing for," parishioner Nicholas Gibson said.
The goal is to bring economic empowerment and education to the community, not to point fingers.
"Perhaps we cannot look at them too critically, because we have not leveraged the resources that we have," Parker said.
Area banks will have until April 7 to apply to be part of the list of banks black churches will use. Otherwise they and their congregations will take their business somewhere else.
