Same Numbers Different Interpretations

There is a meeting of conservative Episcopalians in Dallas to discuss the future of their denomination. Note how two news sources report the same statistic:

Conservatives rally as Episcopal Church faces a possible split

The presence in Dallas of 45 of the church's 300 bishops underscored the gravity of the situation.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH PROTEST

Only 45 of the church`s 300 bishops are meeting in Dallas. A sign that the Episcopal church may not be breaking apart.

Comments

[Steve B.]

A sign that the Episcopal church may not be breaking apart???

Only a person who is clueless about recent events in the Episcopal Church would infer that from the numbers.

The number that is not being mentioned is how many of the 45 bishops are retired and no longer actively engaged in diocesan leadership roles. Maybe the number is small, but it's no secret that half of the 300 are retired. So, if 40 of the 45 are active, every-day leaders, that number would be more significant out of 150 than if only 15 of the 45 are non-retired.

[Steve B.]

As it turns out, the "45 out of 300" number doesn't ring true anyway, as reported via the AP:

The AAC clarified its earlier statement that 46 bishops attended its gathering, saying only about half are in the Episcopal Church hierarchy. The rest came from groups that have already left the denomination. Twelve Episcopal bishops took the platform to show solidarity at the closing session.

So, a couple of dozen out of the 300 bishops were present, half of whom felt called to be visibly supportive, with no word (that I've found, anyway) as to whether some are retired from active leadership. (I'm not denigrating the role of the retired or those not lending their faces to the closing, but curious about the facts underlying the numbers.)