By PETER SMITH

The top leader of the Anglican Church in North America — a conservative denomination that broke away from the more liberal Episcopal Church about 15 years ago — has taken a leave of absence after facing allegations of sexual and other misconduct, which he denies.

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Archbishop Stephen Wood announced the leave Monday while he awaits the outcome of a church disciplinary process triggered by a formal complaint, called a presentment, of alleged misconduct against him.

The presentment has not yet been made public, but an investigative report by The Washington Post said it alleged Wood tried to kiss a former children’s ministry director at his parish in 2024, shortly before he was elected archbishop. The presentment alleged Wood made other comments and acted in ways that made her uncomfortable since 2021, and made thousands of dollars in payments to her from church funds, the Post said. The presentment also includes allegations that he bullied staffers and plagiarized sermons, the Post reported.

Wood, 62, a married father of four, has denied the allegations.

“I believe the charges against me lack merit, and I categorically and emphatically deny the particular accusation of attempted physical contact made against me by a former St. Andrew’s employee,” Wood said in a statement announcing his leave, during which he will still be paid.

Wood also took leave as bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas and retired as rector of his parish, St. Andrew’s in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina — roles he had been serving in addition to being archbishop.

The accusations against Wood center on alleged actions while he was bishop but before he also became archbishop, according to the ACNA.

Under the denomination’s rules, when someone submits a presentment, a board of inquiry is appointed to determine whether to send the matter to an ecclesiastical trial. No decision on that has been announced yet. The process typically takes from a few weeks to about three months, the denomination says.

The case is the most high-profile yet for the small denomination, which has had ongoing leadership turmoil in recent years.

Another bishop, Stewart Ruch III of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest, has just undergone a church trial on charges that include alleged abuse of ecclesiastical power, according to the ACNA website. A verdict is pending in the case, which stemmed from scrutiny over how the diocese handled the case of a lay teacher convicted of child sexual abuse. The trial itself saw delays and controversies over procedures and the resignations of two church prosecutors.

A bishop heading the denomination’s military chaplains recently broke with the church after it pursued disciplinary proceedings against him over complaints of alleged “abuse of ecclesiastical power,” the ACNA said.

Last year, a former bishop overseeing a Canadian missionary district was removed from ministry for alleged abuse of power and inappropriate relationships and interactions, the ACNA announced.

In 2020, a bishop of Pittsburgh resigned after his diocese’s governing committee faulted his handling of a case in which a clergy member was accused of sexual misconduct. The ACNA also reported in 2020 it had removed yet another bishop from ministry after it said he admitted to long-term use of pornography.

Wood was installed last year as the third archbishop to lead the ACNA. The denomination was formed in 2009 by conservatives who split from the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and the Anglican Church of Canada. The long-building schism came in the wake of the Episcopal Church’s election of an openly gay bishop in 2003 and others since then. It is part of a wider, ongoing controversy in the global Anglican Communion, which is rooted in the Church of England.

The ACNA reports that it has about 130,000 members in about 1,000 congregations.

Wood recused himself from appointing the board in his own case, delegating it to the dean of the denomination, Bishop Ray Sutton, according to an ACNA statement. Sutton has also been named to assume Wood’s duties as archbishop during his leave.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Ramsey County will provide $450,000 to local food shelves and to buy infant formula as the federal shutdown continues, county officials announced Tuesday.

The one-time funding includes $380,000 to local food shelves for county residents and $70,000 will be reserved to purchase infant formula if there are significant disruptions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, according to county officials.

“The federal shutdown continues to have the greatest impact on our most vulnerable residents,” said Ramsey County Board of Commissioners Chair Rafael Ortega in a statement. “The recent court decision directing the federal government to continue SNAP benefits is a positive step, though its full impact remains to be seen. Families and children cannot wait — we remain focused on ensuring they have access to food and essential resources right now.”

The city of St. Paul launched a food drive this week to assist SNAP recipients. For more information go to stpaul.gov/news/city-saint-paul-food-drive-2025

Food shelves

Meanwhile, the county’s funding will go to 11 food shelves serving county residents, which were selected from an existing list of contracted providers based on location and number of residents served.

Funds will need to be used by the food shelves by the end of the year.

The 11 food shelves are: Keystone Community Services; Neighborhood House; Open Cupboard; Sanneh Foundation; Merrick Community Services; White Bear Area Food Shelf; Corner Shelf; Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES); Hallie Q. Brown Community Center; Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul-Department of Indian Work; and Vineyard Community Services (VCS).

35,000 Ramsey County households impacted

There are approximately 35,500 households, or 68,500 individuals, in the county that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Approximately 3,500 county households, or 9,800 individuals, receive food assistance through the federally-funded Minnesota Family Investment Program. Both programs stopped food assistance Nov. 1 due to a lack of funding during the government shutdown.

Last month, some states also warned they only had enough money to operate their food assistance programs until mid-November due to lack of funding during the shutdown. The county plans to allocate the $70,000 reserved for infant formula if the federal shutdown results in a significant disruption to WIC benefits.

WIC recently received $450 million in funding from the Trump administration, a senior administration official told the Associated Press on Monday. More than 17,900 Ramsey County residents currently receive WIC benefits, which provides nutrition education, health referrals and food benefits for pregnant women, mothers, children and infants.

SNAP and MFIP provide approximately $14 million per month in benefits for county residents and recipients receive an average of $170 per month for food through SNAP.

To learn more about current impacts on federal and state funding and to be directed to Ramsey County’s Food Resources page, go to tinyurl.com/2m4jamty.

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Derek Shelton was introduced as the Twins manager on Tuesday and it was a strange one for, as the team likes to say, Twins Territory.

The tenor of Shelton’s introductory news conference was less about how he would make the team a winner and more about whether a team that traded 10 of its best players at the July 31 deadline can be a winner.

New Twins manager Derek Shelton at a news conference at Target Field on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (John Shipley / Pioneer Press)

The burning questions weren’t aimed at deciphering whether Shelton is the right guys so much as getting the new manager — and team president Derek Falvey — to shed some light on whether the Twins are rebuilding, whether veteran starters Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan might be traded, and whether the payroll might rise significantly.

All that was on the table, Shelton said, when he spoke with ownership point man Joe Pohlad during the interview process, though he declined to share the answers on Tuesday.

“I think we’ll get into that more as we go through,” Shelton said. “I think that’s something that, as we talked about (it), there was clarity, but it’s also going to be a group that’s going to grow and learn.

“We’ll probably get into that more as we continue to go, but I would say when we had the initial conversation, the answer was a lot clearer than the one I just gave you there.”

In the end, Shelton said, “I got the answers that made me really want this job.”

There is a lot to like about Shelton, an experienced hitting coach (Cleveland, Tampa Bay) and manager (Pittsburgh) with ties to the Twins, where he was bench coach to Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli in 2018 and 2019. Easy going, Shelton, 55, is known for having a sense of humor, and even spent last summer learning the media side of the business as part of a radio show on SIRIUS XM.

He also acknowledged he wasn’t nearly ready as he believed he was when he was hired to help nurture a winner from scratch in Pittsburgh. He got the Pirates 10 games from .500 in 2023 and 2024, before being fired after a 12-26 start last season. But Shelton said Tuesday he’s “a different guy” than the one who had that job.

“When I left here, I thought I was really prepared to manage, because I’d been given a lot of responsibility (by Baldelli),” he said. “But you’re never ready until you sit in the chair. You’re never ready until different things come your way. So, I think those experiences are what help build you moving forward.”

One might conclude his next challenge is just as daunting, but Falvey will disagree.

“He took over a team (in Pittsburgh) that, in my opinion, had a lot less talent on the roster than what we have right now that he’s walking into,” he said. “I don’t think that’s controversial.”

What certain is that, right now, Shelton has a team that includes all-stars in Byron Buxton, Lopez and Ryan but will live and die on the play of a core of young players that includes position players Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Luke Keaschall, Matt Wallner and Austin Martin, and starters Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews and David Festa.

In his end-of-season meeting with beat reporters, Falvey said he hadn’t yet learned exactly what management wanted to do with its payroll, and he didn’t have any real clarity on that on Tuesday. He did, however, say his current goal this offseason “is not to take away anything from this team.”

But, he acknowledged, “We’re going to have to evaluate every opportunity that comes our way. There’s going to be a lot of calls on players on our team because we think we have some talented players. I have little doubt that will be part of our process.”

“At the same time,” he added, “my personal goal is to find ways to augment and add around it. There’s a core of starting pitching here that is solid. I believe that and ultimately we have to do it. There’s areas we do need to rebuild in the bullpen. But that’s an area you’ve seen in the past before — young players who just got their feet wet at the big league level find a way to turn it up and become really good stabilizers in your bullpen. We’re going to need some of that. We’re probably going to need some external additions.”

Winter Meetings are Dec. 8-10 in Orlando, Fla.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A UPS plane crashed on takeoff from the airport in Louisville, Kentucky, igniting a huge fire on ground, officials said Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane crashed at about 5:15 p.m. It was taking off for Honolulu.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police are responding to reports of a plane crash near Louisville International Airport in Kentucky on Tuesday.

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Injuries have been reported, the Louisville Metro Police Department said in a social media post.

Photos on social media showed a large plume of black smoke rising into the sky.

The location of the reported crash was at the intersection of Fern Valley Road and Grade Lane, which is at the southern edge of the airport.

Louisville’s police department said on X that there was a fire and debris, and it asked people to stay away. A shelter-in-place order was issued within 5 miles of the airport, police said.

Television station video showed a large trail of flames and a plume of smoke leading from a parking lot as fire trucks tried to douse the fire.