Bishops and charities, praising the removal of the two-child benefit cap, say that it will lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. The change was announced in the Autumn Budget by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, on Wednesday afternoon.

The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulated faith leaders who had long called for the policy, which had been introduced by the Conservative Chancellor George Osborne shortly after the 2015 General Election, to be scrapped.

“From April, nearly half a million children will be lifted out of poverty, thanks to their campaign, for which I thank all religious leaders,” he told the Church Times.

The Church of England’s lead bishop for child-poverty issues, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, said that the decision would “make a profoundly positive difference to hundreds of thousands of children and their families.

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Bishops and charities celebrate Chancellor’s removal of the two-child benefit caphttps://t.co/vAqwlYmJVb

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) November 26, 2025

“Holiday” has become just a secularized term for a day when many break from their routines. However, Thanksgiving is one holiday that truly is a holy day — or at least it was to the Pilgrims who held the first one. To them, Thanksgiving was utterly religious. 

That Thanksgiving was a religious expression to the Pilgrims is hardly surprising. After all, they came to the New World for religious purposes (“Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith” as the Mayflower Compact stated): freedom of religion — not freedom from religion, as so many today seek to recast it. 

The Pilgrims suffered greatly on their ocean voyage over and had to turn back twice. Then, they landed at the wrong place. Next, they faced a mutiny as they waited to come ashore; the response to this impending revolt was the Mayflower Compact, America’s first act of independent governance. They suffered no less once ashore, with barely half surviving the first year: 52 of the 102 who had set sail on the Mayflower. 

However, despite their suffering, like Job, they did not forsake God. And like Job, those who survived saw themselves blessed; for their survival they gave thanks — hence, thanksgiving. 

The Pilgrims had no doubt as to whom they were giving thanks: God. Their action of thanks was to them as obvious as their longed-for connection. The two were inseparable, just as they themselves sought to be to God.

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Happy Thanksgiving! Here at CBL, we are so thankful for all of you.

And did you know that Thanksgiving is a deeply Christian holiday?

In 1623, William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, made the first formal Thanksgiving declaration. In his declaration, Bradford… pic.twitter.com/l75g1ifSIj

— Center for Baptist Leadership (@BaptistLeaders) November 27, 2025

But every family grows. And that growth often prompts questions for reflection and restructuring, questions about how the family not only grows together but lives together.Questions like:What happens when a family that needed strong, decisive parental leadership in its infancy reaches adolescence?Do bishops need to spend more time listening?Should clergy and laity be more intentionally involved in shaping our governance, our culture, and our common life?Should we reconsider long-standing practices such as the absence of debate on the floor of Provincial Council?Could deliberation within the separate houses of bishops, clergy, and laity strengthen our discernment, even if it requires a longer legislative process?Would allowing resolutions to be submitted and discussed more broadly help us address challenges in healthier and more unified ways?These questions aren’t merely procedural. They touch the very heart of how we walk together as God’s people.

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— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) November 27, 2025

Within this spirit of gratitude, we also recognize The Anglican Church in North America finds itself in a season marked by real challenges. There are voices that need to be heard. There are processes that require honest review. There are difficult, candid conversations that must take place for the sake of accountability and the health of Christ’s Church and I want to update you on several matters currently before us, and ask for your prayers.

1. Archbishop Steve Wood

On Sunday, November 16, Archbishop Stephen D. Wood was inhibited from the exercise of ordained ministry in the Anglican Church in North America. During this inhibition, and with the support of the Executive Committee, Archbishop Wood is on paid leave.

A presentment against Archbishop Wood has been referred to a Board of Inquiry that has now been impanelled. A Board of Inquiry investigates charges brought against an accused person. Members of the Board hear accusations, evaluate testimony and supporting evidence, and then determine whether, upon the matters of law and fact presented to them, reasonable grounds exist to put the accused to trial.

Pray for the members of the Board of Inquiry, for those who have made accusations, for those who have offered testimony, and for our Archbishop, his wife, and their family. Updates will be posted here. 

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Bp. Julian Dobbs, Dean of the ACNA currently acting in the archbishop's role: "You can expect prompt and straightforward updates from me as matters unfold across our provincial life. Our unity depends upon trust, and trust requires transparency." pic.twitter.com/RUrKA5FI6J

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) November 26, 2025

O Sovereign God, who raisedst up (King) Kamehameha (IV) and (Queen) Emma to be rulers in Hawaii, and didst inspire and enable them to be diligent in good works for the welfare of their people and the good of thy Church: Receive our thanks for their witness to the Gospel; and grant that we, with them, may attain to the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever.

King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma of Hawaii, who took the throne in 1855, are fondly remembered for their genuine kindness and humble approach to leadership.#HolySovereigns #FeastoftheHolySovereigns pic.twitter.com/aPMx5VjOsi

— Saintly Sagas (@saintlysagas) November 28, 2023

Almighty God, whose blessed Son taught in all honesty the way of life that thou requirest: Grant that we may so live as dutiful and loyal citizens of our earthly country, that we may show ourselves to be members of that heavenly country whereof thou art sovereign Lord and King; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

A Morning Path. 8°C and breeze picking up. Wrens. pic.twitter.com/aanrtFVX9m

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) November 28, 2025

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Then the mother of the sons of Zeb′edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

–Matthew 20:17-28

One of Althorp’s beautiful cedars of Lebanon – planted 200 years ago by my great-great grandmother, Lavinia Spencer. If only she could see them now…. pic.twitter.com/Y23FLADyxB

— Charles Spencer (@cspencer1508) November 28, 2025