The Christian Emergency Network (ReadyUK), which equips churches to respond to major incidents such as severe flooding and terrorist attacks, has issued a practical briefing for churches and congregations on resilience measures, and how to navigate serious disruption with “calm and practical faith”.

It reinforces official warnings on preparedness for serious disruption in the shape of natural disasters, cyber-attacks, or state-sponsored terrorism. The Government’s “Be Ready” campaign is part of a “national resilience conversation” to raise awareness of emerging risks, particularly in the wake of the summer wildfires, the advance of the winter storm season, the potential impact of the Super El Niño, and growing concern about cyber-attacks — the latest of which disabled freezers in shops all over Europe; and another, a security breach, which meant that 32 government websites had to be taken offline.

The Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, told BBC1’s Question Time last week that the UK was facing a “greater threat to the country than we certainly have for most, if not all, of my lifetime”. The government checklist includes advice on food and water supplies to last for 72 hours; on light and warmth, communications and information, money and documents, and medical supplies.

Read it all.

The Christian Emergency Network (ReadyUK) 🚨 has issued a practical briefing for churches and congregations on resilience measures, and how to navigate serious disruption with “calm and practical faith”. #ChurchTimes #ChurchNews https://t.co/bbTWr5zZwH

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 6, 2026

It was epochal and marks a new era in our political history. And for once everyone rushed to name clearly what happened.

The morning after the 2026 midterm elections, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was searingly blunt. For the Republican Party it was “close to an extinction level event.” Its effects will “reverberate for the next decade or more.”

“It was a Watergate-level repudiation,” said Ted Cruz, soon to be Texas’ lone Republican senator, on a podcast.

Ronna McDaniel, Republican National Committee chairman in the first Trump term, told Fox News on Wednesday the election wasn’t only a Democratic wave, it was “a Republican rebellion.”

Read it all.

Peggy Noonan, the Reagan speechwriter who has spent decades as the Wall Street Journal’s keeper of the old Republican flame, has written the GOP’s obituary. Her verdict: Trump is the author of the ruin.It wasn’t the war alone, she argues. It was the prices. The tariffs. Above all, the corruption, showy and shameless: crypto, pardons, federal contracts for his sons’ companies. Then came the decadence. Three days before the election, Trump threw a jungle-themed Halloween party with a caviar bar while Americans outside the gates added up their grocery receipts.Ron DeSantis called Tuesday’s results “close to an extinction level event” for his party. Trump’s response: sign a ballroom beam, declare his office a national monument, and blame Fox’s polls.Noonan has a line for that: “Please. It was you, Fredo.” When a Reagan speechwriter is quoting The Godfather at you, the party is over.https://t.co/Gptx4aHDHV

— Bucky (@BuckyNoseBest) November 6, 2026

War-battered Ukraine risks a demographic collapse. Births in Ukraine are falling, in part because there are fewer adults. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 the population inside government-controlled territory has fallen from about 37m to 27m-28m…. Around 3m-5m Ukrainians now live under Russian occupation, and millions more have emigrated.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, puts combat deaths at over 50,000; an independent estimate is closer to 150,000. Thousands of civilians have been killed, and Russia has deported over 20,000 children to Russify them. Wartime, moreover, is not good for starting families. The fertility rate has dropped from 1.2 children per woman in 2020 to 0.8-0.9, lower than any big country but South Korea. The replacement rate, needed to keep the population stable, is 2.1. In the first half of 2026 deaths outnumbered births by more than three to one.

Ukraine’s birth rate has lagged behind the mortality rate every year since independence in 1991, when the country (including Crimea and Donbas) had about 52m inhabitants. The war has turned that gap into a chasm. Russia’s population is getting smaller too, but Ukraine’s predicament is far worse. For a country under attack by its imperial neighbour, a demographic collapse is an existential worry.

Read it all.

Ukraine’s birth rate has lagged behind the mortality rate every year since independence in 1991. We explain why the war has turned that gap into a chasm https://t.co/59IIitfQ2O

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) November 6, 2026

From here:

Working with his Rugby contemporary R. H. Tawney, the seminal Labour thinker, and William Beveridge, the architect of the welfare reforms which sought to banish the five giants of want, idleness, squalor, ignorance and disease, Temple’s book Christianity and Social Order, published in 1942, provided a challenging theological gloss to this vision: “. . . there is no hope of establishing a more Christian social order except through the labour and sacrifice of those in whom the Spirit of Christ is active, and that the first necessity for progress is more and better Christians taking full responsibility as citizens for the political, social and economic system under which they and their fellows live.”

After Temple’s death at the age of 63 after being Archbishop of Canterbury for only 30 months, Bishop Barry of Southwell asked angrily in The Spectator: “Is the Church so rich in prophets that it can afford to squander the gifts of God?” A contrasting view, expressed by Hensley Henson, was that he died just in time “for he had passed away while the streams of opinion in Church and State, of which he became the outstanding symbol and exponent, were at flood, and escaped the experience of their inevitable ebb”.

Although a much different world than that of 60 years ago, the weight of Temple’s greatness is still felt. Once described as “a man so broad, to some he seem’d to be Not one, but all Mankind in Effigy”, his wide informed vision checks our growing narrowness and self-obsession, his realism our Utopian perfectionism, his generosity of heart a worthy riposte to the mood of cynicism and anger epitomising the age and his statesmanship a powerful reminder of what it is to serve as the national church.

O God of light and love, who illumined thy Church through the witness of thy servant William Temple: Inspire us, we pray, by his teaching and example, that we may rejoice with courage, confidence and faith in the Word made flesh, and may be led to establish that city which has justice for its foundation and love for its law; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.” William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury 1942-44, remembered here and around the country today. https://t.co/sttRYctN9g

— Lambeth Palace (@lambethpalace) November 6, 2019

O Lord and Father, to whom alone the debtors in ten thousand talents can come with hope of mercy: Have mercy upon us, O Lord, who have aught to repay; forgive us all the debt, forgive us all our sins, and make us merciful to others; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Autumnal colours of Lakeland https://t.co/Hf59uA2NOw

— Graeme Peacock (@GraemePeacock1) November 6, 2026

Whom have I in heaven but thee?
    And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;
    thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    that I may tell of all thy works.

–Psalm 73:25-28

Good morning. It’s Friday! All those lovely colours of Autumn. View towards the city centre from Epping Walk Bridge 🍂 #Manchester https://t.co/prAPiqZ7JT

— Monica NAUGHTON Crimmins (@MonicaCrimmins) November 6, 2026

Is generosity in Britain a thing of the past? A report from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), UK Giving Report 2026, published in March, suggests that both donation levels and the number of people giving are falling.

In 2025, the British public donated an estimated £14 billion, a 9.1-per-cent decrease from £15.4 billion in 2024 — the first decrease in giving since 2021, the report states. The decrease is driven by lower average donations in 2025 of £65, down from £72 in 2024. The report’s findings are based on responses from 12,913 over-16s.

Nevertheless, research specifically into the trends of legacy giving suggests a more positive outlook. The director of Remember A Charity, Lucinda Frostick, says that research shows “a really slow, steady, positive increase in the proportion of people choosing to leave a gift in their will”.

Read it all.

🎗️ As global economic conditions hit charitable giving, the significance of legacies for charities and churches needs to be better understood — and talked about, ✍️ Amelia Braddick #Features #ChurchTimes https://t.co/licTByPzro

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 5, 2026

Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 launchers for the advanced guided missiles widely used by its forces in Ukraine, a sign of Moscow’s military support for Tehran despite the demands of its own sputtering war effort.

A production schedule for 2024 and 2025 from a major Russian defence manufacturer, seen by the FT, details an export order for the helicopter-mounted launchers to a buyer identified by a code name used in Russian defence documents to refer to Iran. The order, which has not been previously reported, shows how the two allies have strengthened their military ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Western intelligence officials say Russia and Iran have further deepened their partnership during the war in the Middle East this year, despite US President Donald Trump’s recent claims that Moscow was doing “very little, if anything” to help the Islamic republic. 

Read it all.

Russia deepened Iran support with missile launcher deal https://t.co/10SHf9wy0b

— Financial Times (@FT) November 5, 2026

Surfers call it the washing machine. When a giant wave throws you off your board and plunges you underwater, you lose all sense of where you are. That is what befell Donald Trump and his party on November 3rd, as they were slammed by tens of millions of American voters. They have still to grasp just how much their country has changed.

Already it is clear this was not a normal midterm swing against a sitting president, but the biggest wave-election since the aftermath of Watergate more than 50 years ago. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, flipping seats deep into once-safe red waters, from South Carolina to Texas.

The coming days will spell out two further lessons. One is that this is not just a triumph for Democrats, but also for American democracy. Voters cannot be taken for granted. If they are angry, they will turn against parties they have long supported. The other lesson, which follows from this, is that both parties now need to find a new way of doing politics—one that spends less time riling up their constituents and more getting things done on their behalf.

The wave has swept across America.

Read it all.

Donald Trump’s humiliation offers America an opportunity https://t.co/Naxd9wxajs https://t.co/sXRA5MiMCp

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) November 5, 2026

The national elections, just completed, added five states that will be completely controlled by Democrats next year, i.e., legislature and governor. They are, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Every one of these is ripe for legalizing assisted suicide, as that policy is now part of the liberal/progressive issue agenda. Most have already seen serious efforts to legalize doctor-prescribed death — even when Republicans held some power. Indeed, the electorally late (defeated for reelection) Governor Joe Lombardo of Nevada vetoed a legalization bill a few years ago.

Every one of these is ripe for legalizing assisted suicide, as that policy is now part of the liberal/progressive issue agenda. Most have already seen serious efforts to legalize doctor-prescribed death — even when Republicans held some power. Indeed, the electorally late (defeated for reelection) Governor Joe Lombardo of Nevada vetoed a legalization bill a few years ago.

Other states that are already governed by a so-called Democratic trifecta, but which have not yet legalized assisted suicide, are Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Efforts have been made to legalize assisted suicide in all of these as well, with Massachusetts voters rejecting assisted suicide in 2012 — thanks in large part to the opposition by Ted Kennedy’s widow.

I think all of these states will see renewed legalization attempts in the next two years. 

Read it all.

The other Democratic trifecta states have already legalized assisted suicide. But that is never the end of it. The first laws passed are not meant to be ceilings but launching pads. https://t.co/w842Yov8xR

— Wesley J. Smith (@theWesleyJSmith) November 5, 2026

But at least those young men had plenty of options for gambling online and buying legal weed. Here we come to the territory where the new right simply failed. Many of its tribunes had promised cultural renewal, a more assertive religious conservatism to counter progressivism’s moral framework, a war on porn and other digital addictions. This was the aspect of the new right that liberals attacked as theocratic or “integralist,” but they didn’t need to worry, because in the second Trump administration it only showed up in social media posts about Reformation Day and St. Michael the Archangel.

Otherwise, the new right in power was a force for libertinism, with corruption in Washington, D.C., going hand in hand with policies that favored vice. The pro-life movement vanished, the quest for pro-family policy was stillborn, and the idea of a new patriotic elite for a new America dissolved into a grifter’s mindset, leering side-eyed at Sydney Sweeney’s bust. Any religious revival in the wider culture probably helped elect religious Democrats, not a sinful-seeming GOP.

Nothing in this sad story means that the new right is simply finished. It’s not like there is some other form of conservatism more attuned to late-2020s reality waiting in the wings.

But the movement will be starting over. It needs leaders who either find a way to separate themselves from the Trump record or else were on the outside all along. It needs to repudiate corruption and stupidity. 

Read it all.

Read @Douthat60 on how the new right failed.https://t.co/io5ZKvZWMU https://t.co/sTh251EKgl

— Oliver Wiseman (@ollywiseman) November 4, 2026

We give thee thanks, O God our Father, for the good work which thou hast begun in us, in that thou hast called us to the knowledge of thy grace and faith in thee; and we pray thee so to continue thy work in us that our lives may be strengthened for thy service in the fellowship of the gospel, and our love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, to thy praise and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For thou, O Lord, art my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon thee I have leaned from my birth;
    thou art he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of thee.

–Psalm 71:5-6

Reparations for slavery would amount to a “vast fine on the entire British people for a crime they did not commit”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury the Rt Revd Justin Welby said this week.

“You may be able to fine individual people for their conduct, but not everyone for their nationality,” he wrote in The Independent on Tuesday. “Group punishment is a moral evil. It mixes up the guilty and the innocent even when it is about contemporary times, let alone two centuries past.”

The article was published on the same day as a speech made by the King at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in St John’s, Antigua. The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons was a “shameful chapter of history” that “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, the King said.

The UK Government has so far resisted calls for reparations, although the Prime Minister has indicated that a formal apology may be forthcoming.

Read it all.

💷 Reparations for slavery ⛓️‍💥 would amount to a “vast fine on the entire British people for a crime they did not commit”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury the Rt Revd Justin Welby said this week. #ChurchTimes #ChurchNews https://t.co/BeWPsnLZMk

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 4, 2026

he architect of the Republican midterm collapse stepped out from the rubble on Tuesday night and insisted it wasn’t his fault.

“I wasn’t on the ballot,” President Donald Trump posted to social media. “And if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE.”

Except, of course, the Trump name was stamped on every brick. His war of choice in Iran drove up US gas prices and alienated supporters drawn to his pledge of no more foreign conflicts. Allegations of profiteering by the president and those close to him, and his obsession with gilding the White House, went down badly with voters struggling to pay their bills. His handpicked Senate candidates in ruby-red states like Texas and South Carolina proved so unpalatable that Democrats won for the first time in decades.

“The Democratic strategy was to nationalize the election and make it all about Trump. To tell voters they can end Trump and end Trumpism right now. That pitch resonated with people on the left,” said Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist. “This became a referendum on the president.”

Read it all.

The architect of the Republican midterm collapse stepped out from the rubble on Tuesday night and insisted it wasn’t his fault. https://t.co/CgzEVvTdGk

— Bloomberg Government (@BGOV) November 4, 2026

Dorchester County voters have approved a new one-cent education sales tax that will help fund school construction, renovations and other improvements in Dorchester School Districts Two and Four.

With 100% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, unofficial election results showed 31,643 voters, or 59.96%, supported the referendum, while 21,128 voters, or 40.04%, voted against it. The tax is expected to take effect April 1, 2027, and will remain in place for up to 15 years.

Read it all.

(WCIV) Dorchester County voters approve one-cent education sales tax https://t.co/L8ksJ4XiDY 59.96% supported the referendum, while 21,128 voters, or 40.04%, voted against it #southcarolina #midtermelections #lowcountrylife #taxes #politics #midterms2026

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 4, 2026

Democrat Nancy Lacore, a former Navy Admiral who was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is projected to win in the traditionally red House district in South Carolina against Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).

Nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report shifted the race for Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R) 1st District seat from “lean Republican” to a “toss-up,” as Lacore out-fundraised Honeycutt, a Charleston County Council member. Mace unsuccessfully ran for governor in the Palmetto State earlier this year.

The Democrat notched just under 50 percent of the vote, while Honeycutt trailed with just over 48 percent, with all votes tallied as of early Wednesday.

Read it all.

Nancy Mace’s former very red South Carolina house seat (where we are) goes narrowly blue https://t.co/IgcdQYD2gJ 49.7 to 48.6ish #midterms #elections #southcarolina #houseelections #midterms2026

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 4, 2026

In the end, it wasn’t just a wave. It was a wipeout.

A Democrat won a Senate seat in Kansas for the first time since the Herbert Hoover administration. The party picked up Senate seats in Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina. Republicans even fell short in House districts in the South where they had tried to give themselves an edge by drawing new, gerrymandered maps.

The sweeping Democratic victories on Tuesday night offered a decisive rebuke to President Trump and his aggressive, often chaotic second-term agenda.

The party seized control of both houses of Congress. Voters rejected Republicans in conservative states that supported Mr. Trump by double-digit margins just two years ago, in places that had not seen competitive elections for major seats in decades.

Even some Democrats were stunned by the extent of their wins, which included defeating Greg Abbott, the three-term Republican governor of Texas; and Susan Collins, the five-term Republican senator from Maine.

Read it all.

NYT top #midtermelections this was all about a negative vote on the president and his policies #politics #usa https://t.co/OUkC2Lqi9p

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 4, 2026

God of glory,
touch our lips with the fire of your Spirit,
that we with all creation
may rejoice to sing your praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Good Wednesday morning from Malmö Hopefully a lovely day ahead #malmö #photofrommyheart https://t.co/EASvVVFU9t

— Lisa von Steijern🇸🇪 (@LisavonSteijern) November 4, 2026

‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name for ever; may his glory fill the whole earth!
Amen and Amen!’

–Psalm 72:18-19

Autumn at its best here in Yorkshire. One for @CanalRiverTrust @Yorkshire_Life @willcarling @GingerWildheart @RealDeniseWelch @1pcornwell @hwinkler4real @Bradford_TandA https://t.co/3Z4EKEn8oB

— David (@Disc_light) November 4, 2026

New General Synod members are reminded of the “relative wealth” of the Church of England in a paper produced for the opening session (17-18 November) of the quinquennium.

Funding our Church’s Mission has been produced by the Archbishops’ Council and the Church Commissioners to help members to engage with the National Funding for Diocesan Ministry Review that is currently under way. It provides an overview of finances, attendance, and clergy numbers.

“In financial terms, the Church of England is exceptionally well-resourced in comparison with many other provinces of the Anglican Communion,” the paper states. “Its historic endowments, investments, and institutional resources give it a financial capacity that much of the Communion simply does not share. That relative wealth brings both opportunity and a particular stewardship responsibility.”

At a briefing on Thursday, the Synod’s secretary general, William Nye, said that it was “salutary just to be reminded of that occasionally”. It was a point often made by bishops, who, on returning from visits elsewhere in the Communion, were “often buoyed up, joyful, encouraged about what they’ve seen and what God is doing through those dioceses and provinces in places of extraordinary poverty”.

Read it all.

💷 New General Synod members are reminded of the “relative wealth” of the Church of England in a paper produced for the opening session (17-18 November) of the quinquennium. #ChurchNews #ChurchTimes https://t.co/JF9MVj9UlY

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 2, 2026

Clergy Retreat November 9-11
Pray for our clergy as they gather in Flat Rock, NC, November 9-11 for a time of rest and renewal. Dr. Jerry Root, professor emeritus at Wheaton College, as well as a visiting professor at Biola University, Talbot Graduate School of Theology, and Moody Bible Institute, will be the keynote speaker.  

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/eWQMzo9Rgx #acna #parishministry #southcarolina #faith #lowcountrylife https://t.co/QHrkV4P5Vt

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 3, 2026

America’s referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term is underway.

With polls set to open Tuesday morning for the US midterm elections and tens of millions of early ballots already cast, voters say they are frustrated by the high cost of living, fuel prices that spiked after the launch of the Iran war and uncertainty over where their jobs and the world’s largest economy are headed in the age of AI.

Democrats are expected by many to take control of the House of Representatives, with opinion polls signaling for months that the party has a wide enough advantage with voters to overcome headwinds from Republican-led redistricting efforts.

Winning the Senate is more uncertain but has shifted from being a Democratic pipe dream mere months ago to a real possibility, with the GOP unexpectedly playing defense in traditionally safe bastions like Kansas, Texas, Alaska and South Carolina.

Read it all.

Trump isn’t on the ballot Tuesday, but his policies and record are front and center as US voters decide control of Congress https://t.co/zYDJPfcizp

— Bloomberg (@business) November 3, 2026

But I am besides my purpose when I fall to bewail the cold affection which we bear towards that whereby we should be saved, my purpose being only to set down what the ground of salvation is. The doctrine of the Gospel proposeth salvation as the end, and doth it not teach the way of attaining thereunto? Yes, the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination spake the truth: “These men are the servants of the most high God who show unto us the way of salvation” [Acts 16:17] — “a new and living way which Christ hath prepared for us through the veil, that is, his flesh,” [Heb 10:20] salvation purchased by the death of Christ.

–Learned Discourse on Justification (my emphasis)

2nd November 1600 – Death of Richard Hooker 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿On this day in 1600, Richard Hooker, one of England’s most influential Anglican theologians, died in Kent, aged 46.Born in Devon in 1554, Hooker defended the Protestant Church of England, the authority of Scripture, the Book of Common Prayer and historic Christian traditions.His writings helped establish the foundations of traditional Anglicanism, defending the Church against radical Puritan demands to abandon longstanding practice 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

— The English Remnant (@Englishremnant) November 2, 2026

O God of truth and peace, who didst raise up thy servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday 3rd is the Lesser Festival of Richard Hooker, we celebrate with Holy Communion at 9.00am. Hooker (25/3/1554 – 2/11/1600) was an English priest in the Church of England, Anglican divine, and an influential theologian.More at https://t.co/8vBz4UHBAU#AllWelcomeAlways https://t.co/j2EngXD2cB

— All Saints Hertford (@AllSaintsHertf) November 1, 2026

O most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee, who carest for us; Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

Sunrise over Lake Ontario this morning in Rochester N.Y. https://t.co/TYtyUdhpfh

— James Montanus (@JamesMontanus) November 2, 2026

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

–Psalm 62:5-8

A calm and peaceful sunrise today here in Glastonbury and I even had some company today. https://t.co/hsCB5lHddg

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) November 3, 2026

Professors John Craven and Robin Gill are to be thanked for bringing to our attention in their report, Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church (News, 23 October), the serious financial issues that will face the Church of England over the next few years, and the unsustainable deficits faced by many diocesan boards of finance (DBFs). This is why the church economy will be the subject of a major debate early in the new General Synod.

So much of their report is inaccurate or unrealistic, however, that I fear that it will skew that debate in unhelpful directions. I, therefore, want to push back in three areas.

First, the report reaches a strange conclusion. The authors decide that the way to address what they diagnose as fundamentally a financial problem is to make the deanery the heart of the Church’s administrative life.

Most area deans, however, want to be pastors, not middle managers, and I can readily see why. With an eviscerated diocesan structure, area deans would have to take on, alongside their parochial responsibilities, duties now fulfilled by archdeacons and bishops.

Read it all.

📉 Philip North takes issue with three aspects of a new report that warns that the C of E is heading for financial disaster #ChurchTimes #Comment #Opinion https://t.co/gdFJMCZqAD

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 30, 2026

The economy, healthcare and the situation in Iran lead in importance to U.S. voters in this year’s election, among 11 issues rated. Half of registered voters say the economy and healthcare are extremely important to their vote, and 47% say the same about Iran. Roughly four in 10 rate income and wealth distribution (44%), gas prices (42%), immigration (40%) and abortion (38%) as extremely important.

About a third rate crime and the Israeli-Palestinian situation (35% each) as extremely important, while construction of AI data centers (30%) and climate change (29%) rank lowest.

These results are based on registered voters interviewed in an Oct. 1-19 Gallup survey, which asked Americans to say whether each issue is extremely important, very important, moderately important or not that important to their vote for Congress this year. Majorities of voters rate every issue except climate change as at least very important.

Read it all.

The Issues Voters Say Matter Most This Midterm https://t.co/9JCE1hHYMv

— james starosta (@jimjudistar) October 29, 2026