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?

An NCB Workshop Retreat

Join us for a hopeful and inspiring time of biblical study and conversation as we explore some of the ways in which Jesus engaged the power of empire, even as he bore witness to the in-breaking of an altogether different imperial rule, the Reign of God, and invited everyone—including us, today—to participate in it.

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!

Thursday, October 30, 5–6:30 PM
Online, Zoom

Was the 1942 forced relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans to an "internment" or an "incarceration?" Who says? Does it matter?

On February 19, 1942, in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 with the intent of mitigating Japanese spy activity on United States soil. This commenced the forcible removal of some 120,000 Japanese residents, mostly American citizens, from their homes and into military-zoned internment camps throughout California, Washington and Oregon. One of these camps was the Manzanar War Relocation Center in Inyo County, California.

Dr. Troy Kaji will share the history of Manzanar through the lens of his father and his father's family’s experience. He will feature stories of faith, how Christians responded to the internment crisis, and how their various choices might speak to Christ-followers today. Come and listen, ask questions, dialogue. 

Online / zoom

Join the conversation! We're excited to welcome author Liz Charlotte Grant and returning welcome to Dr. Michael Barram. Watch this space in the coming week for more thoughts on this new book and Radix Live discussion.

"In this book, you too have permission to question the sacred without fearing . . . unbelief. Knock loudly. . . . Reject answers that do not admit complication. Seek the resonance at the base of the story. The seeking is the point. Because there, in your wandering, God is." - from Knock at the Sky

Faith & Film presents Tokyo Story

In this quietly powerful masterpiece of world cinema, Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu explores the enduring bonds—and heartbreaking distances—between parents and their grown children. When an elderly couple travels from their rural home to visit their adult children in postwar Tokyo, they are met with indifference and preoccupation. Only their widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko, offers them genuine kindness and care.

Tokyo Story is a deeply human reflection on aging, duty, gratitude, and the shifting values across generations. With remarkable simplicity and emotional depth, Ozu captures the beauty and sorrow of ordinary life, asking questions that are as spiritual as they are social: How do we honor our parents? What does it mean to love sacrificially? What is lost when tradition gives way to modernity?

A perfect film for quiet contemplation, Tokyo Story invites us to see God's presence in the everyday and to consider how our lives reflect (or resist) the commandment to "honor your father and mother.”

Saturday, October 4, 1–3 PM
at Bethel Community Presbyterian Church, 94578

Common Hymnal is an anything-but-common family of brilliant musicians and songwriters. It is not just their lyrics that set them apart, but the way they approach their craft - as a resilient community of Christ-followers committed to being truthful, authentic, human in the way they pursue their craft. They intentionally seek the higher road, in resistance to the allures of the mainstream music industry, and its many enticements and amenities. In this upcoming gathering, we want to learn about the joys and challenges of taking the road less traveled, and what such a journey makes possible. We are delighted to have some of their core team with us for an afternoon of frank conversation, storytelling, and Q&A, sprinkled with music. Local music leader, S.J. Sanchez, representing the Bay Worship Collective, will join New College Berkeley in holding this conversation with Common Hymnal.

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!

Thursday, September 25th, 7-9PM
at the Calvin Room, First Presbyterian Church Berkeley

Come to a launch event for Jason Jensen’s new book, Formed to Lead. The book casts vision for all Christian leaders to integrate their spiritual formation with their leadership calling, their being with their doing. It draws deeply from the early chapters of Luke’s gospel, to clarify how we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work to shape and send us. How might God be forming and empowering YOU in this season of life? This event will help you discern!

A Gospel & Society Workshop with Dr. Robert Chao Romero

Migration and immigration are matters of intense debate today. In the view of Dr. Robert Chao Romero, the Bible "reveals that God uses the migration process as a source of grace (i.e. a source of God's unmerited favor) both to migrants and their host countries." In other words, while some see "outsiders" as a threat, the Christian narrative sees the encounter and exchange of ethnicities and cultures as a gift of profound implications for a divided and polarized world. Having been raised in both Asian & Latino cultures, Dr. Romero is uniquely equipped to speak of the gift of interculturality, particularly among these two groups. What do the migration stories of Asian and Latino communities in California have in common?   What cultural, spiritual and practical resources do each bring to the table of fellowship?  Why might such exchange and solidarity-building be particularly important for the current moment? Join with other pastors, lay leaders, academics, practitioners and community members for a day of co-learning and bridge-building. The workshop will consist of three plenaries, along with ample opportunities for conversation (and story-telling) in pairs and small groups.

La migración y la inmigración son temas de intenso debate hoy en día. Según el Dr. Robert Chao Romero, la Biblia «revela que Dios usa el proceso migratorio como fuente de gracia (es decir, una fuente de su amor, bondad y favor inmerecido) tanto para los migrantes como para sus países de acogida». En otras palabras, mientras algunos ven a los inmigrantes como una amenaza, la narrativa cristiana ve el encuentro y el intercambio de etnias y culturas como un don de profundas implicaciones para un mundo dividido y polarizado. Criado en culturas asiáticas y latinas, el Dr. Romero está excepcionalmente capacitado para hablar del don de la interculturalidad, particularmente entre estos dos grupos. ¿Qué tienen en común las historias de migración de las comunidades asiática y latina en California? ¿Qué recursos culturales, espirituales y prácticos aporta cada una a la comunidad? ¿Por qué este intercambio y construcción de solidaridad podrían ser particularmente importantes? Únase a otros pastores, líderes laicos, académicos, profesionales y miembros de la comunidad para un día de aprendizaje conjunto y construcción de puentes. El taller constará de tres sesiones plenarias, junto con amplias oportunidades para conversar (y contar historias) en parejas y grupos pequeños.

Faith & Film presents Romero

Romero is a compelling and deeply moving film based on the true story of Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador. Set during a time of political unrest and violence in the late 1970s, the film follows Romero’s transformation from a quiet, bookish priest into a bold and prophetic voice for the poor and oppressed. As he witnesses growing injustice, government corruption, and brutal repression, Romero is compelled by his faith to speak out—risking his position, his safety, and ultimately his life.This powerful story explores themes of faith, courage, and the call to justice, inviting viewers to consider what it means to follow Christ in the face of suffering and moral crisis. Romero is a timely and inspiring film that challenges us to stand with the marginalized and live out the Gospel in action. Discussion led by Dr. Michael Barram.

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!

None of us are immune or exempt from the pressures and systems adversely affecting mental well-being in our society. How is the Church to understand mental health? What does it mean for people of faith to care for those living with severe challenges? How can congregations collaborate with others in the City to do this well?  Our featured plenary speaker will be Steve Binnquist, with decades of experience serving men and women in San Francisco's tenderloin with Youth With a Mission. The plenary will offer gospel / practical perspective in both the morning and afternoon, along with two breakout sessions around related topics (congregational approaches, mental health resources and self-care). Come and participate in this conference to gain perspective, partners, and practical resources for “loving neighbor as thyself” in these fraught times. 

Registration (including lunch): General $45 / "Living Lightly" $25 / Students $15.

Please reach out to info@newcollegeberkeley.org with any questions.

Online via Zoom