New College Berkeley

NCB was founded in 1977 by a group of Christians pastors, laypeople, and scholars led by Dr. David Gill and the Rev Dr. Earl Palmer of First Presbyterian Church, Berkeley. Their goal was to provide interdisciplinary, graduate-level Christian studies for laypeople seeking to “think Christianly” about their vocations and their cultural and professional contexts. Gill had been involved with Jack Sparks and the Christian World Liberation Front, and its offshoot, the Christian Liberation University of Berkeley, which became the Crucible. These developments took place in the larger context of the 1960s-70s Counterculture, Free Speech Movement, Free University movement, Teach-ins, and Jesus People.

Church historian Charles E. Cotheman, groups NCB with the C.S. Lewis Institute (founders James Houston and James R. Hiskey, 1976, Virginia), Ligonier Valley Study Center (founder R. C. Sproul, 1971, Pennsylvania, now Florida), and the Center for Christian Study (founder Daryl Richman, 1975, Virginia); and traces these four centers back to L’Abri (founders Francis and Edith Schaeffer, 1955, Huémoz-sur-Ollon, Switzerland) and Regent College (founder James Houston, 1968, Vancouver), with some additional influence from the Institute for Christian Studies (founder Henk Hart, 1967, Toronto).

{{Citation

|first=Charles E.

|last=Cotherman

|title=To Think Christianly: A History of L'Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement

|publisher=Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press Academic

|year=2020

}}

In its first era (1977-94), NCB was an independent, degree-granting institution. It acquired WASC candidacy in 1988 and in 1993 became an affiliate of Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union.

In its second era (1994-2022) NCB focused on spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and contemplative retreat programs, helping newly promote these historic Christian practices among evangelical Protestants.

Now in its third era (2022 – present) NCB continues its commitment to historic, orthodox Christian faith, with roots in evangelical Protestantism and with an intercultural, ecumenical outlook, now seeking to freshly imagine and discern the Christian gospel in the midst of contemporary cultural, political, environmental, and demographic realities, trends, and challenges as experienced in and through the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 2024, NCB acquired Radix Magazine, which began in 1969 as Right On, an underground “street” newspaper published by the Christian World Liberation Front. Renamed Radix in 1976, under the editorship of Sharon Gallagher, the magazine developed into a journal of Christian cultural reflection and analysis, poetry and visual art, with the tagline, “Where Christian faith meets contemporary culture.” Radix continues that vision, now as the official publication of NCB. Its features include a monthly author interview, Radix Live.

• W. Ward Gasque (president, 1979-1982)
• David Gill (president, 1986-1989)
• Richard Benner (president, 1990-1993)
• Steven Pattie (president, 1993-1994)
• Susan S. Phillips (executive director, 1994–2022)
• Sharon Gallagher (associate director, 1994-2016)
• Tim Tseng (co-executive director, 2022-2023)
• Craig Wong (co-executive director, 2022-2023; executive director, 2023-present)

• Bernard Adeney, Christian ethicist and scholar of interfaith relations
• Robert N. Bellah, sociologist
• Patricia Benner, ethicist and scholar of nursing practice
• Joel B. Green, New Testament scholar, Fuller Theological Seminary
• Carl F. H. Henry, theologian and first editor of Christianity Today
• Mark Labberton, former president, Fuller Theological Seminary
• Madeleine L'Engle, writer
• Earl Palmer, pastor and theologian
• John M. Perkins, urban missionary and scholar
• Eugene H. Peterson, pastor, scholar, author, and poet
• Luci Shaw, poet
• John Stott, prominent leader of the Evangelical movement

• Marilyn McEntyre, NCB visiting professor of Christianity and literature
• Michael Barram, professor of theology and religious studies, St. Mary's College of California
• Robert Chao Romero, professor of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
• Rebecca Hernandez, Community Archivist, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Russell Yee, NCB academic director and affiliate professor of worship and culture

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• List of evangelical seminaries and theological colleges

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• [http://www.newcollegeberkeley.org/ New College Berkeley]
• [http://www.studycentersonline.org/ Consortium of Christian Study Centers]
• [https://www.gtu.edu/ Graduate Theological Union]

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Category:Seminaries and theological colleges in California

Category:Educational institutions established in 1977

Category:Education in Berkeley, California

Category:1977 establishments in California

Category:Graduate Theological Union