Circle of Hope: A radical mission; a riveting crisis; the future of faith

The Pulitzer Prize winner's extraordinary portrait of one religious community - and what it means for us all


"Lyrical, probing, and deeply reported, this is an extraordinary account ." - Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain

"Eliza Griswold is a dazzling reporter: ever observant, wise, sympathetic, and honest. And in this spellbinding book." - David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Wager

"A sharply contemporary book, painfully honest, stubbornly hopeful." - Archbishop Rowan Williams, author of Passions of the Soul

"That rarest of books: an examination of the sacred and spiritual realm captured with humor, humanity, and style."- Susan Orlean, author of On Animals

Although most evangelicals have their sights firmly set on salvation in the afterlife, one extraordinary church in Philadelphia is designed to fight for progress and dedicated to social justice in this life. Over forty years, Circle of Hope grew from one family to four congregations battling for equality among the sexes, an end to racial discrimination, and offering hope to believers of all kinds - from outcasts to addicts - in its radical mission to improve the world.

Then, rocked by many of the same issues facing society at large, from MeToo to Black Lives Matter, Circle of Hope is forced to confront its own mistakes, plunging the community into existential crisis.

Building on years of deep reporting, Pulitzer Prize-winner Eliza Griswold paints an intimate portrait of pastors and church members' desperate wrestling to find a way to remain together despite their dividing truths.

Through generational rifts, an increasingly politicised religious landscape, a pandemic 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 crucially to disagree.