Orthodox Priest Rips TEC Statistical Growth Figures in Overseas Dioceses
By Fr. Fred L. Raybourn, Jr. SSC

Original story note: Four overseas dioceses -- Colombia, Dominican Republic, Micronesia, and Puerto Rico -- posted growth in membership and average Sunday attendance in 2006, Hadaway said. The seven Latin American and Caribbean dioceses of the Episcopal Church's Province 9 posted a 1,741-person gain in membership in 2006 for a 72,084 total, according to the aggregated Parochial Report data reported by Kirk Hadaway, the Episcopal Church's director of research to the Executive Council. [here]

The problem with this statement by Mr. Hadaway is that he perhaps doesn't understand that these parochial reports are very stilted for the benefit of the church. By this I mean that whereas in the past the constituents of TEC were counted as those who were "communicants in good standing", now it is "all baptized persons". This is a false "statistic", or as Mr. Disraeli is supposed to have stated: "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics."

the rest at Virtueonline