Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has admitted he was
"embarrassed" to discover that some of the Church of England's funds
were invested in Wonga, the payday loan company that he had attacked for
charging "extortionate" interest rates on loans to poor people. He need not have been.
Archbishops of Canterbury do not write the Church of England's ethical investment guidelines.
The idea of using the Church's presence in every high street to advance the work of credit unions is a sound one. It is one that the Catholic Church, which has helped found hundreds of credit unions in Britain, will endorse.
If Pope Francis' mantra of "a Church for the poor" is to mean anything, it has to have some practical effect.
"Poor" means the real poverty that prevents parents feeding their children or old people heating their homes. It is already common, as rocketing attendances at food banks dramatically demonstrate.
Lack of access to credit is a significant marker of poverty, as commercial banks on the whole do not like lending to people who desperately need the money, because they might not pay it back.
Payday loan companies offer short-term loans, that can tide people over for a few days or weeks, but which frequently become unaffordable when interest charges mount at a frightening rate.
There are other significant markers of poverty; joblessness is one of them.
Across the world, the number of young people unemployed is at dangerous levels.
The credit-union movement and the parallel growth of peer-to-peer lending, rapidly expanding with or without the help of religious organisations, could become a major source of credit for the creation of small businesses that could begin to mop up youth unemployment.
Charities like the Prince's Trust, founded by Prince Charles, have experience in this field, and the Government makes funds available to support start-ups.
But credit is essential if a start-up is to grow, and the banks have not done nearly enough.
Time for the voluntary sector - for that is where the credit-union movement comes from - to look not just at the relief of poverty but at some of the causes of it.
The movement says it aims to become "the primary source of affordable, high-quality and ethical financial services for the people of Great Britain".
Helping the community meet its own financial needs includes offering affordable credit for small businesses that can create worthwhile jobs.