CIRCLE OF HOPE

A chronicle of a progressive evangelical church that fell into infighting and eventual decline.

In a landscape that emphasizes rightward-leaning evangelicalism, New Yorker writer Griswold offers the counterpoint of a “radical evangelical” church. Founded by Gwen and Rod White in 1996, Circle of Hope had grown to four congregations in greater Philadelphia by the time the author began following them in 2019. The pastors helped their members overcome painful past religious experiences and performed acts of companionship and service in their gentrifying neighborhoods. Like countless other organizations, Circle of Hope lurched toward a crisis of identity in 2020, confronting both the pandemic and the nationwide reckoning with racist systems of oppression. As each pastor attempted to lead, their shared mission and collaboration began to fray, leaving the church at a precipice. A crucial conversation about the tension among personal devotion, social activism, and institutional loyalty sits at the center of Griswold’s text, especially meaningful in the current political environment. The author’s own history makes her an especially powerful voice, and she offers an engaging mix of sympathy and reserved skepticism. However, flaws in narrative structure and spotty details muddle the chronology and significance of each interaction between the pastors and other church leaders. Griswold devotes much attention to shifting alliances and personal slights whose impacts seem out of proportion to their presentation, leaving more profound and pertinent themes—racism, sexism, the blind spots of founders and leaders, and the relationship between political and religious identity—simmering under the surface. The author titles each chapter with the name of one of the pastors she profiles, but she presents an array of perspectives in each section, jumping back and forth among people and events along a relatively condensed timeline. This lack of clarity diminishes the impact of Griswold’s well-intentioned investigation.

Tangled and murky, despite glimmers of a hopeful, alternative faith.