''Circle of Hope: A Reckoning With Love, Power and Justice in an American Church'' is a 2024 book by journalist

Eliza Griswold Eliza Griswold (born February 9, 1973) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and poet. Griswold is currently a contributing writer to ''The New Yorker'' and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. She is the author ...

, published by Macmillan. Griswold embeds herself with the

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

congregation Circle of Hope in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and interviews pastors and church members to document how political disagreements, ideological differences and conflicts about church policy led to fractures amongst congregants and eventually the closure of the church. The book was a finalist for the 2024

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...

Narrative

The Circle of Hope congregation was founded in 1996 by pastors, and husband and wife, Rod and Gwen White. The congregation was part of the socially progressive

Jesus Movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

(also known as "Jesus Freaks"), which are a branch of

evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

known as

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

s. The Anabaptist branch is known for its apolitical stance, strong pacifist views and eschewing material wealth in favor of modest living. Church members were known to have melted guns and used them to make garden tools. Members of the congregation were also strongly devoted to service; serving food to the local community, providing support for the local poor or homeless and paying reparations to its black members. Rod and Gwen eventually transferred leadership of the congregation to their son Ben, and three other pastors; Julie, Rachel and Jonny. After the

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in 2020 the church focused more on anti-racist initiatives and became

LBGTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

affirming. Eventually, the ideological differences amongst the congregants and pastors grew, amidst growing divides in the United States. These differences led to fractures in the congregation and the eventual closing of the church.

Reception

Writing for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', political commentator

David French David Austin French (born January 24, 1969) is an American political commentator and former attorney. He was formerly a fellow at the National Review Institute and a staff writer for ''National Review'' from 2015 to 2019. French is a former s ...

stated that the book provided salient commentary of how political divides in the United States can work to undermine progress or to destroy good institutions. French also stated Griswold devoted full chapters to each of the pastors and also large parts of the book to congregants, treating each with "humanity and empathy" rather than sensationalizing the rifts. Writing for

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

, Kate Lucky stated that this is not a book about "hijacked agendas and 'reply alls'", rather it is a book about how divergent ideals can work to undermine a church. Lucky also stated that Griswold was inclusive of the pastors and church members and their views; allowing them to share their stories.

References

{{reflist 2024 non-fiction books Books about Christianity Macmillan Publishers books