Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church

by Eliza Griswold

A Pulitzer Prize winner’s intimate portrait of a church, its radical mission, and its riveting crisis.

“The revolution I wanted to be part of was in the church.”

Americans have been leaving their churches. Some drift away. Some stay home. Many search for more authentic ways to find and follow Jesus.

Circle of Hope tells of one such “radical outpost of Jesus followers” in Philadelphia, dedicated to service, the Sermon on the Mount, and working toward justice for all in this life, not just salvation for some in the next. Part of a little-known yet influential movement at the edge of American evangelicalism, Circle grows for forty years, plants four congregations, and then finds itself in crisis.

Immersive, explosive, and tender-hearted, Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold offers an American allegory full of urgent How do we commit to one another and our better selves in a fracturing world? Where does power live? Can it be shared? How do we make “the least of these” welcome?

Building on years of deep reporting, Griswold chronicles Circle’s journey as its devoted pastors and members strive toward change that might help the church survive. Through generational rifts, an increasingly politicized religious landscape, a pandemic that prevents gathering in worship, and a rise in foundation-shaking activism, Circle of Hope tells a propulsive, layered story of what we do to stay true to our beliefs. It is a soaring, searing examination of what it means for a community to love, to grow, and to disagree.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity, History, Audiobook, Christian, Faith

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 6, 2024

About the author

Eliza Griswold is an American journalist and poet. She was a fellow at the New America Foundation from 2008 to 2010 and won a 2010 Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Zack Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hurt like Hell.

I devoured it in two days, but I didn't enjoy it.

I'm giving it 5 stars because of the incredibly thorough reporting, well organized structure, and faithful representation of the complexity of Circle. This was my church home for five intensely formative years, and I will carry this community in my heart forever. Having moved from Circle of Hope to pastoring in the United Church of Christ (an extremely progressive denomination), I'm seeing the same issues among my new wider church family. When we preach inclusion and radical welcome, we idealistically imagine that includes everyone, but by definition, it cannot. Because, as we see in these pages, when everyone is given equal platform, the marginalized are made to shoulder a heavier burden, and are often retraumatized by majority members who are unaware of their impact on others. We can end up pulverizing each other with our good intentions. I wonder how this story would have played out different if each congregation became it's own autonomous unit, bound together by regular celebrations, but given full independence to become who they were being formed to be. The kind of open dialogue and big umbrella welcome that we strived for works a lot better in small settings, and becomes wrapped up in messy power dynamics when we try to do it among such a large and disconnected group of people.

This book was both a heartbreaking postmortem of my beloved community and a hopeful testimony of the power of rebirth that is the foundation of the Christian faith. It demonstrates the painful and necessary work that we in the majority must do to root out our own unseen biases, while also highlighting that not everyone can move along with the speed set by those at the top of the system. For those who were pushed out of the community because they couldn't deconstruct their embedded biases fast enough or fundementally change their personalities to become less threatening, I imagine this book feels less than generous.

One of the issues (which is somewhat resolved by the end) is the idea of Ecclesial Superiority at Circle and other churches who were founded by people trying to do something new. We believed that we were the ones who got it right and were untethered to the unhealthy traditions of the American Church. This meant that it was us or no one. I hope that this book teaches us that there also needs to be church communities where it is safe to be a slowly deconstructing white Christian. There's a wonderful "Queer Storytelling Bar Church" in Chicago called Gilead who advertises, "We're not for everyone, but we might be for you". I love that idea. My wife and I planted a church a few years ago that is committed to equality, justice, and mutuality, and we regularly tell our fellow UCC folks that we are not here to steal your members because most traditional Christians wouldn't be able to relate to us.

To the traditional church, be the best that you can be. To the modern church, do that in a way that only you can. To the weird church for the outcasts, be weird! At Circle, we always used to say that, "we're working this thing out together", and it's more important than ever to do that across differing churches, organizations, and communities.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I were to describe the church at the center of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eliza Griswold's "Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church," I would likely use a term popularized by folks like Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne - "red letter Christian."

Started by Rod White, Circle of Hope could easily have been seen as a cousin to The Simple Way, the intentional community co-founded by Shane Claiborne that burst to familiarity after the popularity of Claiborne's "The Irresistible Revolution" became a bestseller. Claiborne's was a, and still is to a degree, the kind of popularity to which Jonny, one of the Circle of Hope pastors chronicled by Griswold, would likely aspire.

It has been these kinds of churches that have drawn a broad tapestry of believers. These are people tired of church in the traditional way yet not quite ready to let it go. They want to do church differently. When White and his family founded Circle of Hope in hopes of creating just such a home, a different kind of church that would love all and include all. Words like emergent, new monastic, and others offer a way to understand these churches, but they have always tended to draw the "other Christians" - people wounded by the church or deconstructionists or people who simply believe there has to be a better way.

Truthfully, after reading"Circle of Hope" I'm starting to wonder if there is a better way.

It's well known and well documented that church attendance in America is down. Churches are dying or becoming a fraction of what they used to be.

Griswold's "Circle of Hope" immerses us within Philly's Circle of Hope, a church that began as one central body with a vision of being radically different and dedicated to living out the red letters. Pastor White was its pastor, though he enthusiastically fostered leadership growth that would eventually identify the individuals in "Circle of Hope." When White stepped down from leadership, not so much leaving the congregation as widening its leadership, it would fall upon the likes of Rachel, Jonny, Julie, and Ben (White's son) to lead the church. White had left the church at a time when four distinct congregations existed, though in theory they were guided by united pastors.

"Circle of Hope" immerses us into the the journey of this "radical outpost of Jesus followers" in Philly. They were dedicated to service, the Sermon on the Mount, social justice, and toward having difficult conversations.

Circle of Hope is not the only such church in this relatively unknown yet influential movement that exists on the edge of what is known as evangelicalism. As a church, it grew for forty years and from one to four congregations.

Then, crisis would hit - generational differences, an increasingly politicized religious landscape, the COVID pandemic that prevented gathering in worship, and a rise in activism that demanded more than simply marching. Suddenly, this church which was founded as part of the peaceful Anabaptist movement struggled to know how to lean into its values.

If it feels like this is some jaded expose of contemporary Christianity, think again. Griswold immersed herself within the life of Circle of Hope with their permission. As she notes eloquently in her final words, a benediction of sorts, it was a permission that none could have realized would end up providing an up close and deeply personal view of everything we love about church and everything that makes us need to deconstruct the church experience.

It took almost unfathomable bravery and transparency, spirit-led really, for the White family to continue participating within this project even as it began to express itself differently. It took remarkable leadership for these four pastors plus others within Circle of Hope to vulnerably continue sharing life-shaking journeys. Remarkable.

"Circle of Hope" is immersive. It is explosive. It is intimate and tender and wise and respectful. Griswold's background as a journalist is evident throughout, neither offering an overly sympathetic account nor doing some sort of journalistic body slam of this church and these lives. Instead, this feels like truth over and over and over again.

Questions of power come up over and over and over again - gender based, race based, and so much more. Vital questions are asked and the answers aren't always pretty. How do we welcome the least of these? How do we commit to one another in a fractured world? Does power have a home in the church and can it genuinely be shared?

"Circle of Hope" is a revelation. You will feel immersed in the lives of these people and these pastors. If you're a Christian, you'll likely find yourself saying "I would never go to so-and-so's church" or "this pastor sounds amazing." Griswold doesn't decide for us if there are bad characters here - she simply shares the story and immerses us in its fullness. I found myself most drawn to Rachel as a pastor, though by the end of "Circle of Hope" everyone here is richly human, undeniably flawed, desperate to be loving, learning how to grow, struggling to disagree, and both part of the problem and part of its potential solution.

If you've ever been a pastor, and I have, "Circle of Hope" will ring as familiar and yet will tug at your heart, your mind, and your spirit.

"Circle of Hope" is a must-read for American churchgoers and anyone who has experienced what is described here as a "reckoning" with love, power, and justice while learning what it means to be the Church.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, from a reporting and writing standpoint it is very good. From a storytelling/editorial standpoint it needed a sharper POV and analysis. It goes on too long and the author allows the subjects to speak for themselves in a way that feels too hands off.

[Em]

Reminded me how grateful I am to no longer be a part of a church and made me miss church, simultaneously. Such a thorny story, portrayed with as much care and clarity as possible.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been familiar with Circle of Hope for many years as a Philadelphia resident and someone who went to/works at the university mentioned throughout. When I was a college student, I knew it most notably as how it is described in this book as “The city’s progressive homophobic church.” The church’s slow journey towards inclusion was a mystery to me, and I’d hoped this book would explain some of the recalcitrance. It did that and much more.

Author Eliza Griswold offers powerful piece of immersive journalism, rendering the life of a well-meaning church flawed in the ways all of us are flawed — institutional racism, ego, patriarchy, inherited ways of being, the list goes on. I started this book as an outsider looking in, but Griswold didn’t let me remain a voyeur. Instead, she uses Circle of Hope as an entry point to examine community as it tries to engage with institutional power combined with theology (a tricky combo, as anyone in organized religion will tell you). And wow, does she give me a lot of compassion for people trying to lead a church these days.

The vulnerability with which the pastors let Griswold — and, by proxy, us readers — into their journey is admirable. Throughout, I came to appreciate each person’s full humanity — their gifts, their woundings, their harm, their triumphs and their shortcomings.

[Emmkay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The results of an exercise in immersion journalism, by which the author immersed herself in an American Anabaptist progressive evangelical church for several years, which encompassed both the pandemic and a difficult generational transition from its boomer founders to four younger pastors. The years of infighting and earnest grappling over anti-racism are wearying to read, but Griswold carefully captures the nuances of the difficult dynamics, and certainly by the last few chapters I felt I’d had the opportunity to think about a lot of useful and meaningful things that her work illustrated, including what can be both inspiring and frustrating about how groups function, the role of ego, the possibilities of organizing differently to do good, and the ways in which earnest progressive politics can fracture rather than unite. 3.5.

[Christopher Olshefski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t write a review on my iPhone that will do justice to what I think this book is doing. But I’m also eager to share right now how much I appreciate what Griswold did here. She managed to tell a tragic story truthfully in a way that captures careful nuance. I think she truly empathized with each of the participants in this saga (though one does come off particularly messy, but you get the sense that she paints this person in the best light she possibly could have).
Circle is/was a complicated place. A beacon of what might be considered left wing evangelicalism, Circle served disaffected ex-vangelicals who took the teachings of their religious upbringing seriously, but who also wanted to believe that following Jesus could be more radical and counter cultural than their suburban white conservative churches seemed to believe. And in some ways their racial reckoning and their pursuit of gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion outshine efforts I’ve seen in the secular realm.
In this book, we see such earnest and genuine people really trying to do right by their god and their neighbor, making themselves vulnerable in the midst of intense cultural reckoning.
Thanks Eliza for your research and beautiful writing! Thanks to Ben, Jonny, Rachel, Julie and Bethany for entrusting this reporter with your stories.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and bittersweet, this book is the true story of a church unraveling and ultimately, disbanding. Coming out of evangelicalism, I have heard and experienced personally the drama, infighting and power struggles taking place in conservative churches. I guess my hope was that this could not happen in a progressive and well intentioned church like Circle of Hope, a ministry devoted to truly living out Jesus’s embrace of outcasts and focused on overcoming racism and Sunday morning segregation. But I was wrong. Author Eliza Griswold was welcomed in to observe this group who were so earnestly attempting to follow Jesus. She followed them from 2019 until their dissolution in 2023. We witness the challenges of transferring church leadership to a new, younger generation, and the stress of the pandemic. Most of all, we see the matter of “anti-racism “ become more and more divisive, despite it being a matter of deep importance to everyone at Circle of Hope.

Griswold offers a kind, dispassionate, and nuanced narrative that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about what happened. The chapters are written from the points of view of the leaders of each of the four congregations of COH. I was impressed with the subtlety of her writing, in particular, how the leadership become more and more mistrustful of one another, and how careful people had to be in order to not be labeled racist. Indeed, I have a new understanding of how fraught with landmines this topic is and how difficult it will be to become an anti racist culture.

I came away from reading this book with both a more sober perspective on human frailty and also a desire to learn more about anti racism. But to be honest, I also came away feeling a bit exhausted. Life is just hard at times, and labeling people as racist or anti racist seems not necessarily helpful. As humans we are flawed, complex, and mostly doing the best we can. I hope as a species we can somehow move forward to be a more equitable society without turning on each other as sadly happened at the end of this book.

[Diana Landistratis · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former covenant member of Circle of Hope (2005-2020), it is impossible to capture all my thoughts and feelings about this book in a goodreads review. Many who spent time at Circle walked away with frustrations and issues, myself included, but I met so many quality people there and will always be grateful for that. I have a lot of respect for the players in the book and feel sad for the broken relationships, though it does seem best for this iteration of the church to die and make way for something new. I’m impressed with the vulnerability the pastors offered to the author, forever recorded for anyone to read and judge this slice of their lives. Thanks to all who tried to do the work in those final years. Now the BIC, which is non affirming and not working on anti racism, gets to cash in on these buildings that have appreciated so much over the years.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in this book is a different kind of insufferable, so it's not the most enjoyable read. There's also a rather confusing structure utilized that makes the timeline difficult to follow, depending on which person is the chapter's focus; it leads to some repetitiveness in the middle when we read of the same events happening from different perspectives at different times.

There are some very interesting conversations to be had around the place of ego in a church and where the boundaries of care and narcissism blur, and those ideas kept me reading even as the personalities became grating, frustrating, and sometimes infuriating to follow.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read the closing Benediction to Circle of Hope, I picked up a pen to jot down my favorite lines and to journal my response. Eliza Griswold has woven together the deep stories of a social-justice-oriented evangelical church in its final five years and created a tapestry that points to the human experiences of death, mourning, hope and resurrection-- with love at the center.

This book is a powerful addition to the ongoing conversation about the future of The Church. But it's not just that. It's also about how an organization of imperfect people devoted to a community of liberation still confronts power imbalances and various forms of social violence, including (but not limited to) sexism, racism, and homophobia. Ministers, lay leaders, and anyone who loves the church but has known grief because of that love will connect with Circle of Hope.

Many thanks to FSG and NetGalley for a free copy for review.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to know how to react reading this. Except to pray.

[Lily Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had so much invested in this true story. As an evangelical raised Christian who at one time pursued evangelical ministry as a career path, and has since found a home in Mennonite and mainline Protestant churches for many of the reasons members found Circle, I wanted these pastors, and their church, to work it out, and live.

But from the start, you know that won’t be their story. I still found myself hoping- praying- that the pastors would be able to overcome their own pride and reconcile their difference and appreciate each other for their work. But this is a human story.

Griswold’s organization and clear dedication to her subjects as whole people, and the fragility with which she holds what ended up becoming a life-alerting share of years for those involved is admirable. I felt we really got to see the best and the worst sides of each of the four pastors, and the best and the worst sides of Circle as a church. The transition chapter on Bethany, in the middle was an excellent decision.

What I’ll be taking from this is not any conclusions about what positions churches should take on lgbtq rights or anti racism or any of the other issues that Circle struggles to define. But that all community is human and alive, and things that live will, eventually, die. 5/5

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent telling of a story that will likely be familiar to anyone involved in progressive Christian institutions in the last couple decades. I read the final pages through tears. Church is so messy. And so much work. And, when it’s at its best, usually in the smallest moments, so, so good. To some of us, essential. So, we keep going.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hear me when I say: this wasn’t bad, but for me, it was forgettable. Eliza Griswold is a great writer and journalist, also make note o that. However, I felt myself starting to get bored because I kept getting confused sometimes with all the different people here (a lot of whom are related) and moving parts of the Circle of Hope churches and the dynamics of it all. I think reading this might have been more successful for me, but I’m still happy to have learned what I did about this congregation of believers!!

[Rose Schrott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I read this book mostly from behind my fingers, cringing and empathizing as Griswold artfully depicts the death of a progressive, evangelical church as a result of race, power and pandemic. As someone with roots in evangelism and progressivism, I felt seen and convicted by this story. As someone who is both committed to and fascinated by the backwards nature of church, I felt I couldn’t put the book down.

This story follows four pastors. I think the temptation upon completion is to decide which pastor you most resonate with or despise, but the story can do more, if I allow it. It holds up a mirror, showing the best and the worst of church. Showing death and life.

I feel that I need a conversation partner to truly dissect the lessons this book holds for church leaders when it comes to collectively and personally engaging topics related to power.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book found me exactly when i needed it to.

the process of deconstructing conservative-evangelical faith extends beyond simply dismantling the actual beliefs/morals you were taught-- it means mindset shifts. identifying how you were raised to think/react, and retraining yourself away from that behavior.

given that many members/leaders of circle of hope came from conservative-evangelical backgrounds, you can see how many of them retained the black/white, binary, us-vs-them thinking that is a hallmark of that demographic.

it's one thing to know that this mentality can cause harm to a community, and another to see tangible examples unfold in front of you. highly recommend this book to anyone on a deconstruction journey.

[Joela Mbuu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard for me to adequately express how I feel about this book. Firstly, the writing and research are outstanding. Kudos to Eliza Griswold! Secondly, it deeply saddened me to read about how this church fell apart. They had the best of intentions, this amazing spirit of love and service for the community, and an overwhelming desire to follow Jesus. One would think that would be enough to keep a church thriving for a very long time. Although I knew the outcome before I started reading the book, the details of how it happened were heartwrenching. And it makes me really question how ANY church survives? What is it that actually keeps churches from crumbling?
It's an important book to read, especially those churches who are on the journey of racial reconciliation and affirmation of LGBTQ+.

[Cara]

This book defies any attempt to define it with a simple star rating. The writing style is engaging, and I can only imagine how many hours went into this level of immersive reporting.
The actual content left me feeling incredibly weary and sad. It is the story of the breakup of a church so perhaps I should have been prepared, but I think I was expecting a redemptive or encouraging ending, and I didn't get that. Perhaps the ending was supposed to be redemptive but it didn't feel that way to me. It's a good reminder that the issues facing the American church are not simple or one-dimensional, and we desperately need the Holy Spirit to teach us how to actually live well in community.

[Brant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this will go down as my favorite nonfiction book of 2024. Years ago, the author, Eliza Griswold, received permission from the ministry at Circle of Hope church in Philadelphia, to embed as a journalist in the congregation. As evangelicalism had been co-opted by the “radical right” in the culture wars, Circle of Hope offered an alternative vision of Christianity, one of acceptance, love, compassion, giving, etc., an approach to Christianity that caught the attention of this researcher, who, herself, is the daughter of Frank Griswold, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. In the midst of COVID, the rise of agnosticism, and in a moment of racial reckoning, the Circle of Hope ministry fractures from within. As Griswold describes it, in an attempt to contend with anti-racism, a perception grew among some ministers of existing racist attitudes/behaviors among the church and some leaders. Reflecting the zeitgeist of the moment, some began calling for the removal of others, tearing the church apart.

And while this book is clearly about the Circle of Hope, I saw it as a microcosm for society and institutions at large, those who have also been forced to contend with the rhetoric of anti-racism and woke-ness in a politically divisive moment. Griswold allows the character’s words and actions to speak for themselves; she doesn’t wade into the mess. I found myself torn by the situation, unsure of what was right and wrong in the moment, unsure of how I would have acted, or unsure how my institutions would have responded to the challenges.

There’s much to mull over here. Can’t wait to discuss it with someone else who reads it.

[Elizabeth Deters · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This book was a unique twist on the typical "bad church" or "harmful church" narrative. This was a place (that by Griswold's skilled storytelling) I could see myself being part of and excited about. The allure of being part of a congregation who cares about social justice is real in a world filled with churches that seem preoccupied by the flowers at the front of the sanctuary. The author did a lovely job telling the story. Good read!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the most riveting and disturbing books I've read in a while. It's about the rise and fall of an innovative church in Philadelphia. At it's peak it had over 700 members in 5 different locales. It was started by a couple from the Jesus People movement who were committed to ministry in low income communities. They identified with Anabaptism and joined the somewhat conservative Brethren in Christ denomination, which wasn't a good fit, especially once the congregation decided to become a welcoming church.
Eliza Griswold is a superb writer. She embedded herself in the congregation and the leadership team. to their credit, didn't put strictures on her. The story she tells reminds me that sometimes a good non-fiction book makes fiction almost superfluous.
So why did the church implode and eventually fall apart? COVID had something to do with it. The founders also didn't pull back sufficiently when they tried to turn the church over to a new, younger pastoral team. That team, it seems to me, was immature and petty. One member, especially, committed what I call the "original sin": whereas God created us in God's image, the original sin is that we try to recreate the world around us into our own image. While they were gifted people, they weren't very mature. Instead of being what a call a "lean in" team, they were a "pushback team." If only they had read and heeded Bonhoeffer's cautions about trying to make the church conform to our own ideals (Life Together).
The church wouldn't have had to have gone this way. More transparency, humility (gelassenheit is an Anabaptist virtue highly lacking here), and wise mentors might have kept them from their demise. I don't know where the denomination was in all this, but it seems as though they were handsoff until the congregation welcomed gays, then they asserted their polity of taking control of congregational assets when a congregation steers from denominational standards. Another learning, it seems to me, is that justice warriors don't necessarily make good pastors. And congregations are skating on thin ice when they make social and political agenda the main or only thing.
I highly recommend this book, especially for people who care about the church and/or are involved in church leadership. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was absolutely exhausting to read about, so I can only imagine how exhausting it was to live through. The way that evangelicals talk to each other--with so many aphorisms and cliches and applications of the word "love"--seems designed to communicate as little actual information as possible. Other than the Whites, Jonny Rashid comes out of this narrative looking the worst; someone co-opting and dominating a community space in order to process their own identity journey is a tale as old as time. I just...deeply never want to spend time with any of these people.

Like most nonfiction books I've read, this would have been an excellent 7,000 word longform journalism piece but is simply too repetitive as a 300-page book. The author keeps circling back over the same time period, which makes for a confusing story, and ultimately not much actually happens. It's definitely an interesting premise, but maybe not worth a whole book.

[Naomi W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a part of circle of hope only briefly in 2012 but was a part of a cell again from 2013-2014. To this day, most of my close friends are from that connection. Circle was certainly something special, despite it not being the right fit for me. Overall, this book made me sad, and filled with the overwhelming feeling that it didn’t have to end the way it did. When I was there in 2012, most congregants were already SO eager to change course on being affirming. and yet it took them 10 more years to get there. What if the founding pastors had stepped aside so much earlier? What if they followed the wisdom of so many denominations’ norms of stepping aside and ceasing involvement after 10-15ish years to let the community do a new thing?

Regardless, what a gift the former community members have received to have an amazing writer reflect back to them what happened.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of what makes Circle of Hope unique is the way Griswold tells the story of this church by foregrounding its four pastors, and by the degree of access these pastors granted to the author. “Every church is more than the sum of its pastors,” she acknowledges. “[But] I chose this interlinked structure of four primary subjects because it reflected the challenges facing the church, and because all four granted me permission to enter into their daily lives without asking for control over what I would write.”

It’s to the credit of these four pastors—Jonny, Julie, Rachel, and Ben—that they gave their blessing up front and, we are told, “remained committed to its completion.” I can’t imagine very many pastors who’d do the same. Nor, for that matter, would I blame them.

Read more at timhoiland.com.

[Melodie Roschman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Griswold’s writing for years and cited her extensively in my dissertation, so I jumped at the chance to read and review this for a magazine I write for. I read this almost all in one day like it was a work of true crime; the developments and rivalries and complex and difficult. Griswold does an admirable job of painting her subjects in three dimensions, flaws and all. Some certainly emerge more sympathetic than others, but mostly I was struck by how most of these people inherited the flaws of evangelicalism despite claiming to do something new. A great read for anyone interested in American Christianity, or the social and political impact of the pandemic, or the ways that communities grow and fall apart.

[Jessie Light-Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite immersive journalism. Griswold embedded herself within Circle of Hope, a uniquely situated group of congregations with four diverging young pastors. Between COVID, anti-racism work, the undeniable reality of ego, and the weight of ministry, the pastors wrestle inwardly and with one another while seeking to decipher the church’s future. This was incredibly close to home, and I read it as a cautionary tale, though the dangers remain somewhat veiled by the human nature of conflict and personality. This is an essential read for pastors and those who support them, and for all who love the church so much that they will do anything not to lose it.

[Heatherjoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. The work that went into this book was profound. I hope it offers a way of seeing that especially helps those in the Circle community who grieved the loss of their church community and who felt blindsided by what transpired. There’s much here to ponder and I appreciate the Griswold’s telling doesn’t leave much room for the assigning of “good guys” and “bad guys.” Everyone is allowed to be complex. I hope this book is a gift for the church more broadly as all of us wrestle over the ways we express the call of the gospel on our lives.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured this audiobook.

I don't really have anything bad to say about it. This is a great examination of church as an institution and a community, the issues that arose with multiple pastors and multiple visions of a church future. This was both really sad and really interesting; you have four ways of dealing with disagreements, four different people and four imperfect people. I really loved how the author treated all of them with compassion and humility. I can't wait to read more from Griswold.

[Canaan Meyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest to God masterpiece. An incredibly thoughtful piece of immersion journalism that tells the story with both empathy and honesty. I was both devastated and inspired by the end. This a work worth returning to for years to come!