Tribe

I have been coming to Berkeley Tribe for a long time. I first came to Berkeley Tribe in 2003, when I was a freshman at UC Berkeley — but I didn’t really become a part of Tribe until 2009. I thought I wouldn’t be in Berkeley for more than 4 years (in 2009, I was a second-​year grad student); and to be honest, I wasn’t a good Christian when I was younger — arrogant, prideful, quick-​to-​temper, depraved, just to name some of my faults that I feel comfortable declaring to the world.
Tribe was very important in my faith journey. I turned away from God for some time, and when He was bringing me back to Him, Tribe was the community I needed. It’s not often that you find people who you look up to and want to emulate and, at the same time, feel safe bringing up your own faults and confess your sins to. I feel more assured today of God’s saving grace and his faithfulness towards me than when I was a freshman in college; I am stronger in the faith; and I am, I hope, more like my brothers and sisters in Tribe.
Pastor Dennis’s sermons (which are posted on the church website) remind me weekly of the loving God that we worship and challenge me to share this love with our neighbors as Jesus told us to. And I guess I am writing this review in hopes of sharing this with more people in Berkeley, because when you have a good thing, you just have to share it.

My husband and I recently moved to Berkeley from Seattle, Washington, and after an online church search, walked in through the doors of Tribe on a Sunday morning in June.
Tribe meets in a lovely, Julia Morgan-​designed chapel and has a welcoming, intimate atmosphere. I was instantly comfortable in the casual warmth of those around us. The worship was sweet, the sermon by Pastor Dennis sincere and applicable. I was struck by the genuine care communicated through the weekly announcements for the surrounding community and the opportunities to serve in a variety of ways.
As a newcomer to the area, the greatest impact Tribe has made on me, personally, is the community that embraced my husband and me from day one. That first Sunday we were invited to a weekly home group – a group we now consider friends. We study the Bible together, pray together, eat together, and play together. Labor Day weekend we enjoyed a canoe trip down the Russian River with several new acquaintances from the church along with those from our home group. These are people who know how to have fun!
To sum it up, Tribe is a church that is welcoming, not just on the surface, but truly engages and invites you to share life together. My husband and I knew that we didn’t want a church where it would be easy to remain anonymous, floating in and out of weekly worship services. We have found just what we hoped to find instead: a community that is seeking to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and have fun sharing the journey together.
I give this church my highest recommendation and hope you will join us!

I first decided to visit Tribe because it was close to campus, and some of my friends from Cal recommended it. I had visited a number of other churches in Berkeley, and hadn’t yet chosen a place to call «home».
That all changed when I walked in the door of the chapel, and was greeted warmly by a group of friendly and hospitable students and young families. The authenticity of the group really struck me. The teaching-​style sermons and the joyful worsip music sealed the deal for me! I came back the next Sunday… and the next… and, needless to say, I plan to stick around!