Bankers turn to clergy to help calm Y2K fears

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Eager to calm Year 2000 jitters and head off any apocalyptic cash hoarding, the American Bankers Association has found religion.

The trade group has delivered a model "Y2K Sermon" aimed at reassuring worshipers that government and industry -- particularly U.S. banks -- will be ready when computer clocks make the big flipover in 130 days.

"Whatever you do, don't bury your money in the backyard," says the text, sprinkled with allusions to Moses leading the children of Israel into a "bright, hopeful future" with God's help.

"ABA has developed this generic Y2K Sermon for bankers to share with members of the clergy as a way to calm people's concerns over the Jan. 1 date change," the bankers group said in a note to members.

ABA members, representing 90 percent of U.S. banks, were urged to pass on the five-page sermon to their ministers, priests and rabbis. Their words, the ABA said, "will carry much clout" with congregants.

"I'm not worried about America's ability to solve the technical problems of Y2K," says the sermon, written by a bankers association speech writer and made available earlier this month.

"But there is something that does worry me: misinformation" and "the kind of panic that comes from not knowing. Not understanding. Not getting it."

"It's especially important that we -- as members of our community, believers in God and members of the family of faith -- set the example.

"We want to go into the new Millennium with hope, eagerness and faith in this new century of promise. We don't want to be crouched in our basements with candles, matches and guns."

The text says money is "safest in the bank, where it is protected and insured by the federal government."

"Banks will keep your money safe. They're backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.," it adds. "So in preparing for Jan. 1, 2000, do what you can. Trust God...and take a few practical steps."

The sermon explains the original Y2K "sin," a coding glitch that could cause system-wide failures in networks that have not been fixed in time.

It compares Y2K doomsaying with that sparked by Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of "War of the Worlds" that panicked listeners who missed the lead-in that had said it was a fictional radio drama. The radio dramatization was based on H.G. Wells' story of an invasion from Mars.

But the bankers group, in line with U.S. government policy, suggests that consumers prepare for the 2000 transition in the same way they would for a weekend snowstorm.

That means keeping "a few days worth of of cash on you" along with some extra food and water, candles and flashlights with fresh batteries. It also warns against scams.

The bankers group, which has taken its message to newspaper editorial boards across the country, does not expect spiritual leaders to use the text word-for-word but as a "template," said John Hall, a spokesman in Washington.

"It's a matter of reaching out to the religious community because ministers have a great deal of influence over their parishioners," he said.

The keep-the-faith message warns against panic and old-think, citing the Pharaoh's men being swallowed up by the Red Sea.

"We want to go into the next century as God intended, with hope, knowledge and the promise of a bright future," the sermon reads.

14:37 08-24-99

-- bwa (haha@ha.ha), August 24, 1999

Answers

LOL.

If I were a Pastor I would do a sermon on the modern equivalent tothe Tower of Babel.

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), August 24, 1999.

"We don't want to be crouched in our basements with candles, matches and guns."

This is why I never could get into organized religion. Those folks just don't know how to have a good time.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 24, 1999.

Matthew 20 verses 12 and 13

And Jesus went into the temple of GOD, and cast out all them that bought and sold in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

And said unto them. It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.

-- he did it once (It is @written.com), August 24, 1999.

Full text of the Y2K bank sermon:

http://www.charlotte.com/banking/docs/0816sermon.htm

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), August 24, 1999.

"In God we trust... all others pay (and hold) cash."

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), August 24, 1999.

I think I finally got this one. Demographicly speaking congregations of faith usually weight heavily to the 50's and beyond crowd. These folks tend to remember things like the Depression and have a fairly large nest egg. They tend to get more conservative about their financial planning as they grow older.

This 'sermon' is aimed at them to keep them from pulling their money even partway out of the system. I might add that they have much to worry about because the older gen has enough experience with seeing government in action to know not to trust it much. They know that having a pile of cash hidden will not endanger them if well hiden.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), August 25, 1999.