1995-2005: Growth and Division - This was a time of growth and multiplication for BBC. Society at large, Hollywood, the radical liberal left, are out to "get" Christians because they hate Christianity's godly values. If they decide to break, they'll have a much better chance of recovery if they have someone to help them land safely. Latest report on Christian persecution finds Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa the epicenter of jihadist violence, while China leads effort to redefine religious rights. Members under discipline could be asked to refrain from serving in ministries and even attending services. Looking back, it is very disturbing to realize that I have seen many, soon after getting rebuked, smugly proclaim that they got rocked. He told CT that eight people have contacted him since he first posted in April 2021. Site is running on IP address 104.196.26.65, host name 65.26.196.104.bc.googleusercontent.com ( United States) ping response time 4ms Excellent ping.Current Global rank is 7,180,567, site estimated value 300$ Multiple sources have confirmed that most of Gracepoints top leadership comes from the Berkland Baptist Church. We are a church where you can belong even before you have believed. The Berkland network disbanded in 2006, and the Berkeley and Davis churches rebranded as Gracepoint, eventually planting churches in college cities and towns beyond California. Im not going to negate the truth that God reached me through Gracepoint, but it doesnt mean that Gracepoint is Gods heaven on earth.. I had seen ita couple years before, when other students had trouble academically and seeing what standard practice was when the church is trying to help the students get their academics and I knew it was going to be [a] suffocating environment, Sam C. said. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Youth fellowships, in particular, like to practice "love bombing," where members will go out of their way to greet you, be friendly, do favors for you until you join -- after all, why wouldn't you want to join a group where everyone is so nice to you? He was unsure how the group may have misrepresented itself to the university. He didn't give me the number. You can do so here. You are being challenged. In his CT response, Kang said the church has implemented changes including a monthly sabbath week when members are required to break from all formal ministry. 1981: The Beginning - Rebekah Kim (Becky) and Paul Kim moved from Southern California to Berkeley to start Berkland Baptist Church (BBC). WORLD? But lets talk about the culture of getting rocked Gracepoint. Some of them left, and I was able to reconnect with them and say Im sorry for what I did to them. Kang told CT the church tries to mitigate the effects of the media-entertainment complex and tech companies and has historically discouraged the use of televisions and social media. Gracepoint started in 1991 as Berkland Baptist Church in Berkeley, California, as a church in the Southern Baptist Convention denomination. While oversight and granular life advice can be part of college formation and discipleship, Gracepoints influence grew more intrusive as members remained at the church. Independent, student-run news source at the University of California, San Diego. 2005: The Letter, church split, and Gracepoint is born - As time went on, there was growing concern about Rebekah Kims behavior, harsh rebuking and shaming of her disciples in a public manner, and overall lack of humility and accountability. Global Rank. We are Cal Alumni with a vision to build an Acts 2 community in Berkeley. Growing up poor in Los Angeles he was headed for a life of crime and delinquency. 35 35 International Student Groups 40 40 Elderly Care Facilities 80 80 And third, I made some good friends. A regional director for the church, Daniel Kim (no relation to Michael Kim), shared his contact information on the forum, asking those looking for personal reconciliation to reach out. A lot of damaged relationships with old friends, and new college ones all damaged with the the approbation of my peers and leaders at GFC and with a smug self-righteousness on my part. Some food is provided for free and the [] I also suspect that their spouse was chosen because there were two instances when the male staff suddenly announced their engagements. There is not a single post-grad in GP who does not serve the church in some time-consuming way. Consequence: A visceral internal shuddering for any kind of organization that takes itself at all seriously. In 1991, Becky and Paul Kim moved to Boston to plant a branch of the church in the East targeting students at Harvard in Boston. Saturday, April 19, 2008 The ministries that got started or were present during this time at Berkeley include: College ministry in particular grew very quickly, moving from 100 GPBB to the huge lecture hall at VLSB. It's a big organization. They do good, but the process in which they enforce that good is spiritually abusive, said Joshua Mun, a former member who grew up attending the Berkeley church and served at various Gracepoint church plants throughout his 20s. GRACEPOINT BERKELEY - 54 Photos & 87 Reviews - 2797 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA - Yelp Restaurants Home Services Auto Services Gracepoint Berkeley 87 reviews Claimed Churches Edit Closed See hours Write a review Add photo Photos & videos See all 54 photos Location & Hours Get directions Edit business info Ask the Community Ask a question Gracepoint. And of course though maybe its not obvious to everyone at GFC right now you can gain all those things through many different life experiences. Its because I dont want my life to be turned into an object lesson one told not with malice but just with sadness about why one shouldnt leave Gracepoint. Gracepoint has since expanded to ~100 sites, primarily in college towns. Members realized their schedules were no longer their own. And, I can say that close friends of mine also had seriously negative experiences, the effects of which I saw up close. Gracepoint Ministries Collegiate Churches Parachurch Ministries and Fueled by 1600 Covocational Ministers 1 Collegiate Churches An Acts 2 church in every college town. My leaders words were like the words of God, said Mun, who left the church last year due in part to anxiety. Gracepoints training documents teach staff to explain why the churchs hierarchical leadership is not authoritarian or why negative perception of the churchs culture of rebuke is overblown due to an emotionally fragile generation. Weary of internal programs being leaked, leaders asked members to periodically delete sensitive recordings and emails containing talks and trainings or to watch them under supervision. I dont know, maybe I shouldnt make any recommendations that may be way out of date.). Like Paul, Priscilla and Aquila were missionaries. Paul Lee said his pastor at UC Riverside called to yell at him for having coffee with a female friend on staff, which he had done before but didnt know was frowned on. Years of whole-life discipleship took a toll. You can do that here. Gracepoint Church - for college students near Berkeley Sunday Worship Service. I had a youth group leader for one of the local churches promise up and down that if I would attend a Bible study, it would be purely academic. But many who were involved in Gracepoint say the churchs desire to pursue radical living, coupled with the pace of its ministry, has come at a costits members. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. CRU wants you to kiss dating and sanity goodbye, Navigators: They scope out people to recruit and groom you to ask for money, Navigators: Costly Programs, Social Hierarchy, Dating Restrictions, Cru - "one of the most extreme christian groups", "has damaged me and others ", InterVarsity (IV) - "a lot of prejudices", "treated him differently, looked down on him, almost", CRU "only wanted to take, never to give me time or answers to my questions", CRU's Negligence Led to Young Missionary's Death, Navigators: "Brainwashing Cult", "the same kind of round [about] answers", Navigators: Pervasive Negativity and Pyramid Scheme Concerns, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBr4V4ynYt0, Anonymous Testimony Submission Google Form Link. The University of California (UC) announced that it is considering plans to require students, staff, and faculty to receive a COVID-19 vaccination before returning to campus , Are you interested in writing, getting published, and learning more about the campus? Ed Kang received his law degree from Boalt and practiced for a couple or few years before quitting to attend seminary and . You're confusing a "War on Gracepoint" with "Not getting a free pass." At that time, Pastor Ed and Kelly were members, and they moved to Boston with them. In fact they are down-right humiliating and induce a lot of guilt-driven repentance. Turns out, in the end, most people come to their senses. Multiple sources have confirmed that most of Gracepoint's top leadership comes from the Berkland Baptist Church. Disclaimer, College ministry (known as KBSU, ABSU, or KBSK, depending on the year). Kang confirmed the church no longer operates on the campus, though some students still attend the San Francisco location. ! Ed Kang received his law degree from Boalt and practiced for a couple or few years before quitting to attend seminary and become a pastor at the church. An FAQ page on Gracepoints website answered the question Is Gracepoint a Cult?Nope, not reallywhile dismissing Reddit trolls and touting its Southern Baptist affiliation. 5:11, ESV). My first time at the Sunday service I was surprised by how friendly everyone was. Turns out, lying was a standard tactic of the group. Dropping any "idols," or things you always think about more than God. Berkeley, California, United States. Although the sites primarily focus on the issues surrounding the Gracepoint Berkeley church run by Ed and Kelly Kang, many of these issues are also manifested in other Gracepoint churches including Davis. They joined the church, paired with disciplers for mentorship, fervently studied Scripture, and evangelized on their campuses, seeing more added to the church. Posters allege they were belittled by church leaders, encouraged to take on credit card debt to fund ministry expenses, and slandered after choosing to leave the church. March 2021 to Present. Main attendees were Korean American students at UC Berkeley as Becky and Paul intentionally sought out this group. Of the big names that show up often on this sub Ed, Will, Manny, Daniel I had varying levels of interaction with each (though I've had at least one personal, one-on-one communication with each of them), which were generally positive. According to Hendrickson, that was when her relationship with her son began deteriorating. Thats life as a very imperfect sinner. Some students hold onto their self-worth and leave GP, some become followers of God and leave GP, but those who stay pretty much allow GP to guide their lives. You sit there, being yelled at, belittled, guilt being heaved upon you, sometimes getting tag-teamed by two or three leaders. 70 70 Campuses 40 40 Cities Catch the vision 2 Parachurch Ministries Reaching out to the world. This includes "unhealthy addictions" and "sinful acts" which may include: partying, drugs, bad influences of friends, excessive social media use, etc. A former UC Santa Barbara student said her declining well-beingdepression and an eating disorder relapsewas seen as evidence of her unrepentance after she crossed a physical boundary with her boyfriend. Gracepoint's leaders packaged this very cult-like behavior as discipleship. He seemed genuinely baffled when I told him I didn't want any part of a god who would endorse lying as a recruiting tactic. Just a handful of credits short of earning his degree, Sam C. took a leave of absence from UC Davis, eventually completing his bachelors degree via extension classes at Cal State East Bay and UC Berkeley in 2005. From young adults to retired, we've got them all and we are so excited for you to join us. 269276. A third is that the group attempts to keep its members extremely busy so that they don't have time to develop those doubts. Loekito, who left in 2019, said that the discussion has allowed him and his wife to process their experience, but reacclimating to a new church has been hard. One thing more to muse on before I close. My life would be innumerably poorer without that time. Please, do not get sucked into this cult. We have done our best to ensure this articles correctness, but there are certain parts that still need further corroboration. Will probably get downvoted for this, but I'm near positive that a good half of the religious fellowships on campus (whether Christian or otherwise) qualify as "cult-like". There are multiples in both categories, but lets keep it short. Without the church's support, he might have had nowhere to live. After five years as an involved member and eventual staff intern for the Gracepoint Church on UC Santa Barbaras (UCSB) campus, Jane Doe, a source who does not feel safe revealing her identity to individuals still associated with Gracepoint, faced a debilitating mental health crisis catalyzed by her involvement with the church. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://preview.redd.it/gaxmoz80xnba1.png?width=853&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=5ab34e723edc24c853bb64f672b3553d7b98c2ef. Faith and Beliefs. I wouldn't call the consulting clubs on campus "cults" because their members put in similar time commitments. Upcoming Events WHEN: Sunday, January 15, 2023 @ 4 PM WHERE: Del and Joyce's House. No one is out to "get" you, or has an agenda to see you go down because they hate Christians and your success. Gracepoint Berkeley Church, Alameda, CA. Rank in 1 month. Julia Smith, who remained anonymous due to fear of retaliation, attended Gracepoint at UCSD from 2013 to 2017 and attributed her hesitation to leave the church to her fear of losing the community. The church grew in number steadily. One member who attended Gracepoint Berkeley for 22 years worried that her involvement stunted her maturity. Of your background, we invite you to come . - Lyssna p Ed Kang - GracePoint Berkeley Part 2 av The Ralph Moore Podcast direkt i din mobil, surfplatta eller webblsare - utan app. These included statements like You are a hopeless, morally bankrupt sinner, and nothing good can come from you.. That's probably why she deleted FB, etc. Klesis is a campus Christian group at UC Berkeley, open to all students at Cal. But simply put, the ends do not justify the means. I think people experience a spiritual vibrancy and potency and just a warmth and depth of relationship with God that they havent experienced elsewhere, said Michael Kim, a member at the churchs Santa Barbara campus who was raised at Gracepoint. He and his fiancee didn't even interact like couples, so are other married couples. This is how you move hundreds of young people to mobilize quickly, efficiently, and without much complaint or deviance. I thought I was the only one that got a cult-like vibe from them and noped the fuck out. Growing up poor in Los Angeles he was headed for a life of crime and delinquency. After all, there was a lot of yelling, most likely some crying, and maybe some forced fervent and desperate prayer. Half a dozen former members recalled learning that couples were together only upon receiving wedding invitations. I'm mad because I've seen not only myself but also others get hurt and develop mental health issues because of your practices. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. For serving members, its high pressure, high labor, high toil, but high gratification.. And the closest friends I have from my time at GFC are those who also left and who were deeply hurt by their experience, so I dont know how much credit GFC should get for that bonding experience. People walk through Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus. Theres this kind of encouragement to keep up this facade because at the same time you werent supposed to just be openly out as being bi or whatnot. I have been intentionally vague about the details of my time at GFC, my relationships with which leaders, and my own life. Just having dinner, everyone at the same tablethat was very rare.. Each of us have our own story of how God found us and transformed our lives, and we believe that college is a prime time for students to explore and grow their faith! Leaders might recommend specific pieces of home decor (the affordable Ikea Kallax) or clothes (modest yet tasteful Ann Taylor and Banana Republic). My daughter is involved with this church, as a leader. This is a quote from http://gracepoint-berkeley.blogspot.com/ a blog that exposes the cult-like qualities and history of Gracepoint Ministries, a church with many branch ministries such as Koinonia, ABSK, Acts 2 Fellowship (A2F), Kairos, and Berkland. But they're not nice because they like you, but rather, because they're directed to grow the group. Please contact the team via Discord or reddit to help contribute with any corrections or additions. Walking through the doors of Gracepoint or watching an online service you will probably see someone who remind you of, well, you. . I deconverted after the experience. I had a strained relationship with my parents, said Martin Loekito, who was a member of Gracepoints Davis church for 14 years. To put it very simply, in the spiritual economy of the Gracepoint ecosystem, getting rocked is like getting audited and passing. I have obviously heard the rumors about the church and still have a wariness in the back of my mind. 295 were here. It wasnt perfect. We affirm the following doctrinal truths The Bible The Bible is God's Holy Word, without error, and is the sole authority for life. July 2020 to August 2020 . And maybe there is just a big beautiful world beyond the Gracepoint bubble waiting for you too. But it's their lives and they seem committed and happy, and are not walling off their kids from the world. Im not making this up. We will be reading select key passages of the Bible in one year. Regret: What I lost from being at GFC. In an internal survey of 1,004 Gracepoint members late last year, 37 percent viewed the church primarily as a family, 34 percent viewed it as an army, and 29 percent viewed it as a factory. this post). Acts2Fellowship Instagram Marketing Intern. I attribute my experience of suicidal ideation and my eventual failed attempt to my experience in Gracepoint, specifically the gaslighting I experienced and what I would call an intentional erosion of independent thinking and reasoning faculties, Doe said in a statement to The Triton. My point is- any criticism of you, especially because of the things you actually said or did, is not persecution. Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily. Our short history can be summed into the following periods. The pastor and his wife are a fine couple that lead the congregation and have given up lucrative careers to do so. Over the years, church members were told to avoid driving traffic to the online criticism and were instead encouraged to protect the churchs online reputation. At times, Gracepoint leaders asked staff and members to search and click on church webpages or positive blog posts at least three times a day to improve Google search rankings. It was also a period of growing dissatisfaction and division among the leaders in their feelings toward Rebekah Kim and her leadership of BBC. If the abuser fails to do that, they rationalize by saying, they dont love me and I guess I never loved them. At this church, it is the same, because if you do not respond to rebuke, you are spiritually desolate and they cannot shepherd or love you. Image: Edits by Christianity Today / Source Image: Justin Sullivan / Getty. In fact, she might even ask you to go to church with her :). The results are easy to find . But even with those, I must add caveats. The fellowships from Gracepoint are registered members of the ASUC (Berkeley's Student Union) and Unity in Christ, the overarching Christian group overseeing the different Christian college fellowships here. I dont see reconciliation efforts made on their side. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/september/gracepoint-berkland-asian-american-church-discipleship.html. These are free courses that require no commitment or previous attendance. Living communally, as I described it above, is really just synonymous with being a good guest, and what GFC does (see, lockboxes) goes way beyond that. This church has reviews on Yelp that you may find instructive. But Christians still have questions about how the church markets faith. And, to be fair, if youre being rebuked, there is a fair chance that you did do something wrong or not (e.g. To be fair though, some people just need to get corrected more often, because frankly, they just screw up a lot. But this is not the. Also, Ive even seen leaders refer to how they got rocked by Pastor Ed or Kelly with a smug smile. Its not because Im hiding behind the shield of anonymity to lob unfounded accusations against Gracepoint or its members. Staying at Gracepoint has a strong appeal, echoing the coming-of-age films that ask, Why cant college last forever? Ive learned to just be grateful over the chastising we get even though the form and the content may be exaggerated or straight up not true, Kang said. Please feel free to choose from these questions to help remember and process the text. One thing that we must not do is be persuaded by criticism that theres something wrong with us.. One of the things Im learning now that Im out [of the church] is that I can actually make my own decisions without checking with somebody, asking for permission, being afraid that Ill get in trouble, she said. Dis-Gracepoint Berkeley. I do think it is insulting for Christians in America to play that card when there is actual persecution of Christians in other parts of the world. info@gracepoint.church. I am very sorry for those who feel they have experienced harm under our ministry, wrote Ed Kang, the churchs senior pastor and network leader, in an email response to questions sent by CT. Kang said he would be eager to hear from them so that we can seek healing, apologize when necessary, and seek reconciliation.. During the early years, many others (who would later go on to start other churches) also started coming to the church. Yes, I am pretty involved with my church (I cook freshmen dinner, I volunteer at elderly centers when we visit, etc. But I cannot bring myself to even say anything beyond its alright and I like the people I work with. Anything more think someone on LinkedIn saying Im proud of my company for accomplishing ____ just reminds me of the obsessively unending focus on Gracepoint, Gracepoint, how distinct it is, how much we love it. Now let me address one regret I have, and one lasting consequence. Gracepoint Berkeley Church Podcast (deprecated) . We have a passion to build life-transforming, God-centered community, just like the one we found in college. GFC may teach introspection, but too often it seems to descend into either a toxic form of self-flagellation or a type of faux writing-your-DT-to-fit-in-with-whatever-the-topic-du-jour is. Emails obtained by CT show that Gracepoint maintained its own blogs to compete with those critiquing the church. But that's a whole other topic I don't want to get sidetracked by here. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. Here are some ways to process the readings for each day. They cared more that I was staying and being a productive sort of functioning member.. Convention denomination must add caveats quickly, efficiently, and maybe some forced fervent and desperate prayer to lob accusations... Operates on the UC Berkeley campus of California, as a leader in one year confirmed! By Pastor Ed and Kelly were members, and they moved to with. 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