Online / zoom

Have you ever wanted to know more about spiritual direction—and how it might serve your faith and life? This conversation is for you.

People long to communicate with God. We want to know about God, but mostly we deeply desire to be in relationship with God. More than 15 years ago the New College Berkeley Board of Trustees decided to try to address that need by creating more programs that help people open their hearts to God in regular, honest ways.

A most astounding film combining nonstop belly laughs, accurate-based history, and eye-opening revelations of chaotic, cynical power grabs that reveal true sausage making. Discussion led by Sam Choi.

The Death of Stalin, A Comedy of Terrors, is one of the sharpest and most darkly hilarious political satires of the modern era -- a film where terror and absurdity sit side by side at the dinner table.

Online / zoom

In this Radix Live conversation, we are delighted to welcome Jeffrey to discuss his beautifully reflective new book (May 2026). Part memoir, part film criticism, and part spiritual testimony, the book traces Overstreet’s journey from a fear-based religious upbringing into a richer and more expansive vision of faith—one shaped, surprisingly enough, by the movies. As always, there will also be time for questions from our live audience.

"Juneteenth" celebrates the day, June 19th, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston to ensure Texan compliance with the Emancipation Proclamation (signed into law two and a half years prior), bringing institutional slavery in the United States to an end. While Juneteenth represents a most critical milestone in America's history, the experience of "freedom" for the emancipated slaves, and the succeeding generations of African-Americans, has never been fully realized. While bittersweet at best, the celebration of Juneteenth has nonetheless inspired other communities to embrace their family and cultural histories to find resonance and solidarity with the complex struggles - and stories of grace - of Black America.

This event gathers an intimate group of Latino, Black and Asian Christians who will bring their narratives into dialogue with one another, shedding light on lesser-heard realities (and theological perspectives) of the American Experiment, but also testimonies of faith, resilience and hope. We will use a "fishbowl" format, meaning that guests who come have only to listen and learn throughout the evening. The hope of the gathering is for all to come away with new insight (if challenging), understanding, compassion and hunger for deepened transformation into the person and likeness of Christ in the world.  The dialogue will be moderated by Nicole Dickens.

No Other Land is a powerful, on-the-ground documentary that follows Palestinian communities in the West Bank as they struggle to remain on their land amid ongoing displacement and conflict. Co-created by Palestinian and Israeli activists, the film offers a rare, deeply human portrait of life under pressure, as well as an unexpected story of friendship and shared moral courage across dividing lines.

Free Admission. Please register. Co-sponsored by New College Berkeley and First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley.

At The Graduate Theological Ceremony

Hybrid event (Online & In Person)

Online / zoom

Instructor: Marilyn McEntyre, PhD

These 90-minute workshops will address a different topic each month. Each session will include a brief presentation, prompts, a bit of writing and workshopping time, and suggestions for developing a particular writing practice. Handouts offer guides for cultivating new dimensions of your writing. We will talk about language, faith, form, and what a lively, committed writing life entails. All levels of writing experience are welcomed!

US missiles target civilian targets in the name of Jesus, Christ’s sermon on the mount is vilified as heretical, and a president who boasts that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” continues to earn the trust of large swaths of the American Church. What has happened? How did we get here? What am I to learn, who do I listen to, and how do I stay rooted in - and faithful to - Jesus in such a time as this?

In the heart of the vast Australian Outback, two siblings are left stranded after a sudden tragedy. Their survival seems impossible until they encounter an Aboriginal youth on his "walkabout"—a solitary, months-long rite of passage.

What follows is a haunting, wordless journey across a landscape of surreal beauty, as two vastly different worlds collide. Nicolas Roeg’s masterpiece is a shimmering visual poem that explores the thin line between civilization and the wild, the loss of innocence, and the profound mystery of the human connection. Discussion led by film curator Sam Choi - one of his favorite films!

"A masterpiece of visual storytelling." – The Guardian | "One of the most beautiful and haunting films ever made." – Roger Ebert | "A shimmering, sensory experience." – The New York Times

NR, 1971, Adventure/Drama, 1 hr 40 min, directed by Nicolas Roeg

Free Admission. Please register. Co-sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and New College Berkeley.

Online / zoom

Some books diagnose the sickness of an age. Others offer practices for healing. Jonathan Pan Walton’s work does both.

For this Radix Live conversation, we are pleased to have Walton discuss two of his books: Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive: And the Truth That Sets Us Free and Beauty and Resistance: Spiritual Rhythms for Formation and Repair. One names the false stories that shape our national imagination; the other offers a way of living that resists despair, burnout, and spiritual fragmentation. Sounds timely, right?

Online / zoom

Instructor: Marilyn McEntyre, PhD

These 90-minute workshops will address a different topic each month. Each session will include a brief presentation, prompts, a bit of writing and workshopping time, and suggestions for developing a particular writing practice. Handouts offer guides for cultivating new dimensions of your writing. We will talk about language, faith, form, and what a lively, committed writing life entails. All levels of writing experience are welcomed!

Online / zoom

We live in a visual age. Screens catechize us daily, shaping how we see the world, ourselves, and even God. But what if the Church has always possessed a visual language of its own: one not designed to distract, but to reveal? It’s an interesting question – timely, too.

In this Radix Live conversation, Eve Tibbs reflects on her gloriously illustrated book Seeing the Gospel: An Interpretive Guide to Orthodox Icons (2025)and invites us to rediscover Orthodox icons as more than religious art. Often described as “windows into heaven,” icons are theological proclamations in color and form – visual interpretations of Holy Scripture that draw viewers into the Kingdom of God.

Hosted by Matthew Steem, this event will feature dialogue between Eve Tibbs and Christian contemplative and essayist Arthur Aghajanian. Aghajanian writes and speaks at the intersection of visual culture and theology, examining how images guide imagination and influence our perception of reality. Together they will consider how icons shape Christian imagination, how beauty forms belief, and what it means to “see the Gospel” in a culture saturated with competing images. 

Past Lives invites viewers into a tender and reflective story about love, longing, and the mysterious ways our lives unfold. The film follows Nora and Hae Sung, two childhood friends separated when Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea to North America. Decades later, they reconnect and begin to explore what might have been—and what truly is.

With quiet beauty and emotional honesty, Past Lives raises profound questions about destiny, choice, identity, and the meaning of “home.” It gently explores how our past shapes us, how relationships form us, and how we discern the life we are called to live. Rather than offering easy answers, the film invites reflection on grace, commitment, and the sacred complexity of human connection.

This is a contemplative, deeply human story that opens space for meaningful conversation about love, vocation, and the paths we choose—and the ones we leave behind. Join us and bring a friend for an engaging discussion and review after! Discussion led by Doug Dunderdale.

Academy Awards 2024, nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay | Independent Spirit Awards 2024, won Best Film, Best Director. PG-13, 1 hr 46 minutes, (2023), written and directed by Celine Song

Online / zoom

Instructor: Marilyn McEntyre, PhD

These 90-minute workshops will address a different topic each month. Each session will include a brief presentation, prompts, a bit of writing and workshopping time, and suggestions for developing a particular writing practice. Handouts offer guides for cultivating new dimensions of your writing. We will talk about language, faith, form, and what a lively, committed writing life entails. All levels of writing experience are welcomed!

Join us for a prayerful pause as the momentum of 2026 accelerates. Lent is a time of reflection and soul-searching as we consider God's great love for us. As we receive that gift in our hearts, we also discover how grace flows through our hearts and hands to the world, the world which God loves so dearly that he gave his only begotten son that we might live. 

Together we will pray and reflect in Zoom’s contemplative space on Saturday morning, March 21. It will be a privilege and pleasure to be with you then.

Co-sponsored by New College Berkeley and First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley

One of the great achievements of animation by one of the most revered filmmaker/story tellers of the 20th and 21st Century! Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke was the most watched film in the history of Japan when it was released.

Free Admission. Please register. Co-sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and New College Berkeley.

Online / zoom

Instructor: Marilyn McEntyre, PhD

These 90-minute workshops will address a different topic each month. Each session will include a brief presentation, prompts, a bit of writing and workshopping time, and suggestions for developing a particular writing practice. Handouts offer guides for cultivating new dimensions of your writing. We will talk about language, faith, form, and what a lively, committed writing life entails. All levels of writing experience are welcomed!

Online / zoom

In this Radix Live interview, Bradley Jersak will reflect on his book Out of the Embers: Faith After the Great Deconstruction, exploring what faith might look like after cherished certainties are shaken—but not abandoned. Drawing from memoir, theology, philosophy, and the Christian tradition, Jersak invites us to consider how deconstruction, when approached wisely and communally, can actually become a pathway toward deeper communion with God rather than an exit from faith.

This conversation with Bradley (who is so known for his gentle, humble, and pastoral voice) will explore what deconstruction actually is, why critique of the Church is necessary, and why thoughtful deconstruction does not have to lead to deconversion. Special attention will be given to the vital role of community, the dangers of isolation, and the temptation toward new fundamentalisms once old ones fall away. For those feeling disoriented, weary, or searching for a faith that can breathe again, this conversation offers space, honesty, and a surprising promise: that in the embers, life still stirs.

Invest a day in growing spiritual practices that can ground you for many days to come. You will acquire practical handles on how to pray and journal - two spiritual disciplines that complement each other and help us personally, and collectively, to follow Christ amid these changing and uncertain times. All are welcome, whether exploring new faith practices or enriching existing ones.

Throughout the day, expect an interactive, conversational environment where instruction will be interwoven with writing and devotional exercises. NCB gatherings always seek to foster co-learning, discernment and relationship-building across cultures, generations and theological traditions.

“A sensory feast that makes the mundane magical.” — RogerEbert.com

Lovers Rock is a sensuous, immersive celebration of Black British life that unfolds almost entirely within the walls of a single house party in 1980s London. Pulsing with reggae, soul, and intimacy, the film captures the electric beauty of young love, freedom, and community as bodies move in sync and time seems to dissolve.

This Valentine’s Day, skip the standard rom-coms and lose yourself in the intoxicating, slow burn intimacy - not just as a social gathering, but as a sacred space where music, movement, and emotion merge into a shared ritual. Film discussion will be led by Sam Choi. 

Ranked #6 on IndieWire’s “100 Best Movies of the 2020s"

TV-MA (2020), Drama/History, 1 hr 10 min, directed by Steve McQueen

Online / zoom

Instructor: Marilyn McEntyre, PhD

These 90-minute workshops will address a different topic each month. Each session will include a brief presentation, prompts, a bit of writing and workshopping time, and suggestions for developing a particular writing practice. Handouts offer guides for cultivating new dimensions of your writing. We will talk about language, faith, form, and what a lively, committed writing life entails. All levels of writing experience are welcomed!

Online / zoom

In this live conversation, Julie Lane-Gay will reflect on her award-winning book The Riches of Your Grace: Living in the Book of Common Prayer and will invite us into a deeper way of inhabiting time, prayer, and grace through the Book of Common Prayer. Rather than offering a history or technical guide, Lane-Gay will share how the Prayer Book quietly forms us—shaping our hearts, ordering our days, and anchoring ordinary Christian life in Christ.

The movie phenomena that dared to ask the question “Why? and for what Purpose?" 

Join for this cultural touchstone that challenges our societal conventions while tapping your feet and smiling along the way!

Barbie achieved remarkable commercial success while making a significant cultural impact. The film grossed around $1.447 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023, the highest-grossing live-action comedy ever, and the first film directed solely by a woman to surpass $1 billion. Its popularity extended beyond the box office, sparking widespread conversations about gender, identity, and modern societal norms, while also influencing fashion, marketing, and online culture. Critically acclaimed, it earned numerous awards and nominations, further cementing its status as both a commercial and cultural phenomenon. By blending humor, visual spectacle, and social commentary, Barbie transformed a childhood toy into a global symbol capable of reflecting and shaping contemporary cultural conversations.

PG-13 (2023), Comedy/Fantasy, 1 hr 54 min, directed by Greta Gerwig

Free Admission. Co-sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and New College Berkeley. Discussion led by filmmaker Doug Dunderdale.

with Sharon Henthorn-Iwane

The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius program is available one-on-one with Sharon Henthorn-Iwane. This individually-directed retreat (via Zoom or in-person) is for those who wish to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ. The retreatant commits to at least 40-50 minutes of prayer every day using materials from the Spiritual Exercises and to meeting one-on-one for an hour a week with an experienced spiritual director. This retreat usually spans a 9 month period.

Online / zoom

Instructor: Marilyn McEntyre, PhD

These 90-minute workshops will address a different topic each month. Each session will include a brief presentation, prompts, a bit of writing and workshopping time, and suggestions for developing a particular writing practice. Handouts offer guides for cultivating new dimensions of your writing. We will talk about language, faith, form, and what a lively, committed writing life entails. All levels of writing experience are welcomed!

Faith & Film presents Small Things Like These

Set in 1980s Ireland, Small Things Like These follows Bill Furlong (Murphy) a humble coal merchant and father who discovers disturbing secrets behind the walls of a local convent. As he confronts the suffering ignored by his community, he faces a moral and spiritual crossroads — between silence and compassion, conformity and conscience. What unfolds is a meditation on goodness, grace, and the redemptive power of small acts of truth.

A perfect film for the season to initiate light breaking into the cold places of the world through one person’s act of love and moral courage.

PG-13 (2024), Drama, 1 hr 38 min, directed by Tim Mielants, based on award-winning novel by Claire Keegan

Free Admission. Co-sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and New College Berkeley.

Christians are called people of the Way (Acts 9:2): We follow the Way, live the Way, and prepare the Way. Advent is an opportunity to reflect on this adventure into which God invites us.

Carve out time in the press toward Christmas to prepare your hearts for walking the Way in the year ahead. Join us for a morning of prayer, reflection, and readying ourselves to continue our great pilgrimage with Christ.

Faith & Film presents Pieces of April

“Pieces of April is a little movie — a tiny one, really. It’s about a Thanksgiving dinner, the prodigal daughter who isn’t very enthusiastic about cooking it, and the family that’s even less fired-up about traveling to visit her and eat it. But this slowly unfolding domestic disaster, set in New York’s Greenwich Village, is funny and bittersweet and as emotionally satisfying as any holiday movie." - Movie Nation

PG-13 (2003), Comedy/drama, 80 min, directed by Peter Hedges

Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4_nmB7PsOo

Free Admission. Co-sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and New College Berkeley.

What does it mean to lead like Jesus?

In a world that prizes charisma and control, Formed to Lead invites us to rediscover leadership rooted in humility, prayer, and spiritual depth. Author Jason Jensen draws on decades of experience in ministry and leadership formation to explore how the Holy Spirit shapes leaders from the inside out—through vulnerability, discernment, and faithful dependence on God.

Grounded in Luke 3–4, Formed to Lead offers a fresh vision of leadership that mirrors Jesus’ own journey: resisting the temptations of power, embracing the disciplines of solitude and surrender, and leading from a posture of love. Jensen helps readers discern how divine calling, character formation, and communal accountability weave together in truly Christ-shaped leadership. Sounds pretty timely right?!

This Radix Live event offers a space to reflect and dialogue about how spirituality and leadership intersect in today’s complex world. Together, we’ll consider questions like:
• How do we discern the Spirit’s movement in our leadership and communities?
• How can humility and courage coexist in faithful leadership?
• Why is the Sabbath actually really important?