Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Rediscovering Religion at U.C. Berkeley

LEDE: At a P.C. school like Berkeley, where everyone?s trying to subvert the dominant paradigm, some Christian students have to lose their religion, just to fit in. But a small organization is having a big impact on the lives of some students. They?ve found community, and maybe even something larger. David Gelles reports? (:15)

[Amby: sproul plaza] (:03)

IT?S A SUNNY AFTERNOON ON SPROUL PLAZA. MOST STUDENTS ARE HAVING LUNCH, OR RUNNING TO CLASS. BUT THEN, NEAR THE FOUNTAIN, SOMETHING HAPPENS. A HUMAN CIRCLE FORMS. THIRTY MEMBERS OF THE BLACK CHRISTIAN MINISTRY CLASP HANDS, BOW THEIR HEADS, AND BEGIN TO PRAY? (:15)

TASHA: ?Dear heavenly father lord I just thank you so much for bringing us all here today lord. I thank you for letting us be unified, Lord. And I just ask that you just keep us strong, lord, during this time of midterms and everything else that is going on in our lives, in Jesus? name, amen.? (:12)

PRAYING IN PUBLIC TAKES SOME COURAGE FOR THESE STUDENTS. BRITNEY GRAVES, A SECOND YEAR MASS COMMUNICATIONS MAJOR, SAYS AT CAL, IT?S NOT EASY BEING CHRISTIAN. (:08)

BRITNEY GRAVES: ?The fact that we pray on Sproul. That?s a safe space. Sproul?s where everybody sees you, but with BCM you?re not ashamed, you?re with other Christians.? (:07)

THE MINISTER AT THE BLACK CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IS A CAL GRADUATE, WENDY HUAO. (:05)

WENDY HUAO: ?It?s not really that cool to say that your Christian because it often comes with stereotypes that you?re not as open or that you?re not a critical thinker or that you?re judgmental which I don?t think is true, but often times that?s how people perceived Christians.? (:13)

FOR STUDENTS, THIS COMES UP ALL DAY. EVEN IN CLASS. (:04)

BRITNEY GRAVES : ?Today I was in Mass Comm 101. That?s basically a class about visual communication. Part of what we learn in the class is about how to break down images. One of the images was of one of the wrecks they recently had in the Midwest. It was a figurine of a woman, she was praying, and the wings were broken. The teacher asked what were some of the thoughts we had of the image. People were just saying oh, um, it means that religion leads to disaster. Or basically that religion is useless in times of despair or disaster. I do know that that?s something I have to face as a Christian on campus.? (:38)

AGAIN, WENDY HUAO. (:03)

WENDY HUAO: ?At Cal it seems like everyone is tolerant of everything, except intolerance. So because Christianity comes forward and says we believe in one god, people see that as intolerance. So there?s a lot of intolerance for Christianity because Christianity is seen as only believing in one way or one god.? (:17)

[Amby: sproul plaza] (:03)

CORRIN COBB IS A STUDENT LEADER OF THE BCM, AND A LIFELONG CHRISTIAN. BUT SHE SAYS EVERY DAY IT?S A STRUGGLE TO BALANCE COLLEGE LIFE, AND HER FAITH. (:08)

CORRIN COBB: ?I knew that when I came to CAL, my Christianity would be challenged. But I did not know that there were resources available, people available, support networks available that would help me get through that.? (:11)

THE BCM?S PASTOR IS DUKE GRADUATE MICHAEL MCBRIDE. EVERYONE CALLS HIM PASTOR MIKE. (:05)

PASTOR MIKE : ?The experience of being a Christian, and particularly going through a college campus, I think there are many opportunities for us to get lost, to get caught up. And BCM is a place where I think people can always be reminded that they?re never so lost that god can?t find them.? (:18)

WHEN PASTOR MIKE CAME TO BERKELEY FIVE YEARS AGO, THERE WERE ONLY FOUR MEMBERS IN THE BLACK CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. TODAY, THERE ARE OVER SIXTY MEMBERS. IT?S A REAL COMMUNITY? ORGANIZING EVENTS, PRAYING IN PUBLIC, AND SINGING IN THE NEW GOSPEL CHOIR. (:12)

[Singing: Lord I love you, yes I love you, I really love you, I really do?] (:20)

PASTOR MIKE : ?Every person who has undergone some kind of Christian conversion would understand themselves as being lost before they found god, or before god found them. Right? And when god comes and finds you, and gives you a sense of purpose, and gives you a hopefully greater sense of how to love and engage people, you find a whole new way of living. And we?ve tried to reflect that again in BCM.? (:29)

[Singing: Lord I love you, yes I love you, I really love you, I really do?] (:13)

FOR NORTHGATE RADIO, I?M DAVID GELLES (:03)

TRT (without lede): 4:07

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