{ "item_title" : "Circle of Hope", "item_author" : [" Eliza Griswold "], "item_description" : "A National Book Award FinalistNamed a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, NPR, The Minnesota Star Tribune, and Publishers WeeklyGlows on every page . . . nearly miraculous. --The Boston GlobeMarvelous. --The New York Times From the Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold, Circle of Hope is an 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. And some have been searching for--and finding--more authentic ways to find and follow Jesus. This is the story of one such radical outpost of Jesus followers 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, Philadelphia's Circle of Hope grew for forty years, planted four congregations, and then found itself in crisis. The story that follows is an American allegory full of questions with urgent relevance for so many of us, not just the faithful: 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, the Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold has crafted an intimate, immersive, tenderhearted portrait of a community, as well as a riveting chronicle of its transformation, bearing witness to the ways a deeply committed membership and their team of devoted pastors are striving toward change that might help their church survive. Through generational rifts, an increasingly politicized religious landscape, a pandemic that prevented gathering to 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 us to love, to grow, and to disagree.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/37/460/168/0374601682_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "30.00", "online_price" : "30.00", "our_price" : "30.00", "club_price" : "30.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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According to numerous surveys, organized religion is on the decline in the United States, and thus, Pulitzer Prize-winner Eliza Griswold’s Circle of Hope: A Reckoning With Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church comes at a germane time. In it, the New Yorker reporter follows the fortunes of one radical evangelical church, illuminating both the strength of its powerful, inclusive teachings and the weakness revealed when it’s battered by internal strife. Beginning in 2019, Griswold (Amity and Prosperity) immersed herself in Circle of Hope, a church composed of three congregations in Philadelphia and one in southern New Jersey, and spiritual home to more than 700 members. Circle of Hope was the creation of Rod and Gwen White, a pair of Southern California baby boomers and self-described “Jesus freaks,” who came east in 1996 to establish what Rod called “an outpost of his counter rebellion against all the coercion going on in the name of Jesus.” In their case, Griswold writes, it meant aspiring to “live out Jesus’s teachings on love and liberation, building the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth by rejecting capitalism, redistributing resources, and addressing social ills.” But as 2020 unfolded, Circle of Hope found itself besieged by twin crises: the coronavirus pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. The latter tragedy launched the church, whose membership was 75% to 85% white, on a nobly intentioned but ultimately deeply divisive project of instilling anti-racism as one of its defining values. Through countless meetings, services and searching conversations, Griswold skillfully observes the church’s four thoughtful, earnest young pastors—Ben White (son of the founders), Julie Hoke, Rachel Sensenig and Jonny Rashid, its only leader of color—as they grapple with that painful issue and one another. In portraying Circle of Hope’s struggles, Griswold manages to remain both sympathetic and objective, as she reveals how difficult it can be for well-intentioned people to actualize their exalted ideals. Circle of Hope is the intimate story of one small church, but it carries within it profoundly relevant lessons for all people of faith.