26th November, 1997
Gentle Bishop Stanton:
The September issue of Esprit quotes you: "It is ironic that the most liberal dioceses -- New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Newark, among others -- don't come close to paying their full asking."
The national church calls for dioceses to pay 20% of income and gradually move to 25%. Newark has been at 25% for ten years and has been specifically asked to stay there as other dioceses move towards that goal. We adopted the principle of 50/50 giving in 1987 and have been committed to contributing 25 percent of our pledge and investment income to the Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society every year since then.
| Rank | % | Diocese | Rank | Amt | Diocese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25.50% | Maryland | 1 | 888,500 | New York |
| 2 | 25.20% | Massachusetts | 2 | 854,820 | Connecticut |
| 3 | 25.00% | Newark | 3 | 787,500 | Massachusetts |
| 4 | 24.81% | Connecticut | 4 | 681,789 | North Carolina |
| 5 | 24.49% | Utah | 5 | 663,430 | Pennsylvania |
| 6 | 24.48% | Delaware | 6 | 660,183 | Virginia |
| 7 | 24.30% | North Carolina | 7 | 645,000 | Los Angeles |
| 8 | 22.53% | Los Angeles | 8 | 576,471 | New Jersey |
| 9 | 22.36% | New York | 9 | 574,580 | Olympia |
| 10 | 22.25% | Pennsylvania | 10 | 564,375 | Newark |
| ..... | |||||
| 43 | 225,000 | Dallas | |||
| ..... | |||||
| 91 | 9.61% | North Dakota | 91 | 51,200 | Montana |
| 92 | 9.50% | Dallas | 92 | 51,000 | Vermont |
| 93 | 9.24% | Chicago | 93 | 44,655 | Western Kansas |
| 94 | 9.02% | San Joaquin | 94 | 43,200 | Eastern Oregon |
| 95 | 8.82% | South Carolina | 95 | 35,371 | Eau Claire |
| 96 | 7.76% | Texas | 96 | 33,059 | Northern Michigan |
| 97 | 7.72% | Louisiana | 97 | 31,970 | North Dakota |
| 98 | 7.32% | Fort Worth | 98 | 25,000 | Quincy |
| 99 | 6.34% | Navajoland | 99 | 20,000 | Rio Grande |
| 100 | 1.60% | Rio Grande | 100 | 4,376 | Navajoland |
We urge you to correct your misrepresentation of our stewardship.
Faithfully yours,
[Signed by the 7 members present at our meeting]
John P. Cronberger
Berverly J. Huck
Marjorie L. Christie
Petero A. N. Sabune
Albert D. Jousset
Peter R. Van Brunt
Louie Crew
cc Standing Committees of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York