Moreover, my friends spend the same amount of time or even more time for consulting, pre-med, fraternity, and computer science organizations on campus. To put it very simply, in the spiritual economy of the Gracepoint ecosystem, getting rocked is like getting audited and passing. In recent years, former members and staff of campus ministry groups have spoken out about the trauma they experienced as members of Gracepoint on UC campus subreddits, including UCSD, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, and UC Davis. Kang said that a period of withdrawal from ministry can be appropriate, but the practice of writing reflections has tapered off over the years. There's been quite a few abuse allegations and it's safer just to stay away from this church. Lead Desktop Consultant. Fill out an application here. I guess you could say we were just a bunch of people who enjoyed college life so much that we never left it, the church quips in a promotional video. Anonymous blogs including Twisted Gracepoint and The Truth about Gracepoint Church circulated online in the 2000s. One individual, who writes under the pseudonym John Kim, started a blog in June 2010 detailing Gracepoints faults, and in recent months, former members have established a subreddit dedicated to discussing Gracepoint. 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. A few years later, they returned to Berkeley, and Pastor Ed took over the senior pastor position. Please, do not get sucked into this cult. The results are easy to find . Dropping any "idols," or things you always think about more than God. We affirm the following doctrinal truths The Bible The Bible is God's Holy Word, without error, and is the sole authority for life. At campus clubs like Klesis and Acts2Fellowship, Gracepoint pushes college students to wrestle with tough questions and pursue church mentorship. Learn More. He has served as the pastor of Gracepoint Church since 1996. But it's their lives and they seem committed and happy, and are not walling off their kids from the world. The other five competitors in the top 10 list are esv.org (1.5M visits in December 2022), ucsda2f.org (528 visits in December 2022), gracepoint-berkeley-devotions.org (164.2K visits in December 2022), biblegateway.com (74.9M visits in December 2022), and areayouth.org (3.1K visits in December 2022). Meet the staff of Gracepoint Irvine. Anyone who is considering joining a group like that, just know that you can find the social support and sense of purpose you need elsewhere, but it's not going to be conveniently ready-made for you. College Directors . (LogOut/ We have felt some strain in our relationship with her, her husband (also a leader), and our grandaughters. Yes, they are very intentional in their faith. Explore Gracepoint Berkeley Church's 186,086 photos on Flickr! Gracepoint has faced decades of criticism from members who left its ranks, but allegations drew new attention last year on a channel of the message board site Reddit. He told CT that eight people have contacted him since he first posted in April 2021. Please feel free to choose from these questions to help remember and process the text. Sundays @ 8:15am & 10:00am. We continue to be a miracle in the making within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and present an unconventional, but unique and exciting way of doing church. Hereis a Yelp Review (that is hidden and not tallied into their final score) that is from October 2018 from Christain that sounds exactly like the Berkland I attended decades ago. However, my opinion is that there is too much guilt-driven manipulation and fearmongering, and not enough careful correction. The media class is unfortunately not available but has been replaced by class that would touch on very similar . . Emails obtained by CT show that Gracepoint maintained its own blogs to compete with those critiquing the church. Things I could have done with my time in college, time I can never make up for now -- classes, clubs, study abroad all subsumed beneath the crushing demands that GFC always come first. I'll say one thing about Gracepoint: the people are intentional in their faith. We want to help make your first experience at Grace Point a great one! Search in Google Gracepoint Abuse, Gracepoint Berkeley, or Gracepoint Legalism - whatever you feel like. I work at a big company now, and its a company thats pretty good in its field. This subreddit is not affiliated with Gracepoint Church or its college ministries. Gracepoint Church Religious Institutions Alameda, California 839 followers An Acts 2 Church in every college town Follow View all 88 employees About us Our story began in 1981 as a. Gracepoint | Church Sundays 8:15 & 10:00AM FACEBOOK LIVE YOUTUBE INSTAGRAM TV SOUND-CLOUD LISTEN "Crossing into the Unkown" by Ilse Gainsford 10AM SUNDAY SERVICE: Watch Live Sunday Service: "Crossing into the unknown" by Ilse Gainsford 01.01.2023 Sunday 10AM NEW TO GRACEPOINT "Checkout the site" Alameda, CA 94502 Gracepoint Fellowship Church, a Berkeley church located near the UC Berkeley campus, is having free seminars / workshops called Life Matters. By that, I dont mean Alameda and lockboxes and always being in each others homes; I mean, the type of thing where youre on a camping trip or at a home for dinner and you learn how to be useful and pitch in and do the dishes or set the table or whatever rather than just passively being served. 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 1995-2005: Growth and Division - This was a time of growth and multiplication for BBC. Members even purchased similar vehiclesthe Nissan Quest or Honda Odyssey, affordable minivans that could easily transport students and ministry supplies. October 7, 2014 ~ Leave a comment. Main attendees were Korean American students at UC Berkeley as Becky and Paul intentionally sought out this group. This history is provided to give context when understanding how the church came to be what it is today. Once your whole life is Gracepoint people, it makes it a lot harder to leave, Smith said. Global Rank. 35 35 International Student Groups 40 40 Elderly Care Facilities 80 80 A third is that the group attempts to keep its members extremely busy so that they don't have time to develop those doubts. Humor site for Gracepoint Berkeley Church and church plants at Davis, Austin, Minneapolis, San Diego, Riverside, Hsinchu, Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Barbara, Seattle. a href= '' https: //www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/ '' > Gracepoint Berkeley website, we were way thinner then! There's a huge difference. Again, not out of malice, but because, when youre at Gracepoint, you learn to fit everything into the Gracepoint narrative. 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! You can do that here. (Because of the churchs focus on college ministry, leaders discouraged members from inviting coworkers or neighbors who were out of college. Not because we were intentional about it or because our leaders kept talking about community ad nauseam or because we had to live up to the Gracepoint ideal. Several parents of former and current members, worried that the church is distancing them from their children, have raised concerns about the churchs fellowship groups to leaders at UC campuses and Biola University. It seems your friend is walking down this path. 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. Join The Triton! here on Reddit) are out to "get them." 506 Followers 63 Following. I remember all too clearlythe day thatmy entire classgot rebuked because one class member was found to be secretly dating another member of the church. Soon multiple separate groups were created, which became A2F, Koinonia, Praxis, etc. I cannot emphasize enough how confusing the names get. . While college ministries like InterVarsity and Asian American Christian Fellowship were launching programs to serve a growing wave of Asian immigrants and second-generation Asian Americans, Rebekah and Paul Kim (no relation to the other Kims) planted a church to minister to Korean Americans at UC Berkeley in 1981. Want to contact us or send a tip? Like in communist countries, or stuff like that. 2000 Northloop Drive. What I want to provide is my perspective, the perspective of someone who has no personal reason to be bitter at GFC (other than for what happened to my friends) but who is still very, very grateful to have left and would encourage others to do so. Romans 1 - Gratitude. After installing that, I was so scared so I stopped using Facebook or even YouTube or things like that, Smith said. Independent, student-run news source at the University of California, San Diego. For anyone who is currently at GFC and wondering, even just a bit, if you want to stay or not, I would encourage you to listen to those stories. University of California, Berkeley. There is not a single post-grad in GP who does not serve the church in some time-consuming way. I had no idea that this person was dating until the rebuking session over and I asked someone what was that all about. I've been a lifelong Christian but what they do is really, really extreme. I say it is extremely damaging! They both ended up leaving the church, one a few years after that and one many many years later. Gracepoint Berkeley Church, Alameda, CA. I debated for a while if I should post this. 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. 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. According to emails from former leaders, members were asked to change their wardrobe (I think I need to get some odd clothes out of [this members] closet too so she doesnt get tempted to keep wearing them.), dietary habits (I found out [that you] regularly eat late at night. Traumatizing and the message was clear. CONTACT. I say this as a preface to make clear that I have no ax to grind. 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. Here are some ways to process the readings for each day. This was like a secret thing and perceived as shameful, the source said. When they became part of the ministry team, Gracepoint members were required to install internet filtering software like Covenant Eyes on their devices. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Youre not just a fellow brother in Christ; you are really my brother. 1981: The Beginning - Rebekah Kim (Becky) and Paul Kim moved from Southern California to Berkeley to start Berkland Baptist Church (BBC). Both practices remain, especially in the ramp-up to fall quarter. I thought someone mentioned somewhere that PED suggested the people who criticize him and GP (i.e. Still, based on my experiences, I cannot be more thankful I found a group where I can grow in my faith. After Doe and her significant other crossed physical boundaries, church leadership placed Doe on a repentance process and revoked her staff post. Want to work with us? Paul Lee, the former Riverside church member, experienced physically debilitating stress that caused stomachaches, headaches, and frequent panic attacks. You sit there, being yelled at, belittled, guilt being heaved upon you, sometimes getting tag-teamed by two or three leaders. 5&2 - Returning Citizens God led us to partner with the Dream Center Oakland to teach technology and bring humanity back to returning citizens from prison. (The church is reconsidering its stance against dating, Kang said.) 2022 We will be reading select key passages of the Bible in one year. 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". 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. Sarah Naughten is an Assistant News Editor for The Triton. My life would be innumerably poorer without that time. I don't think she cut off all relations with people outside of her church (because, going off the interpretation that GP wants to evangelize, this is counterproductive). Sam C. told The Triton he wished to avoid seeing Gracepoint personnel on campus. Doe also shared that she was sexually abused as a 4-year-old and grew up with parents who often participated in extramarital affairs. Huang, the UC Berkeley student, said a church leader told her that her suicidal thoughts were because she didnt love God enough. She said this response pushed her to walk away from Christianity. Log In Sign Up And if I had stayed, I shudder to think how much more I would have lost, and how much more I would have been damaged. Turns out, in the end, most people come to their senses. 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. Please contact the team via Discord or reddit to help contribute with any corrections or additions. This mental health crisis caused Doe to suddenly move back home, where she entered intensive therapy for an eating disorder and later attempted to end her life. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Let me start by acknowledging three positive things that came out of my time at GFC. I could never spend time with them without feeling like I needed to get away, like I needed to be back at church.. Growing up poor in Los Angeles he was headed for a life of crime and delinquency. Gracepoint santa barbara is a collegiate church that meets near the ucsb and westmont campuses. Gracepoint Church Memories - Gracepoint Fellowship Church, Berkeley Memories from Gracepoint Fellowship Church. Most of us attend Gracepoint Berkeley Church for Sunday Worship Service. Join us for our Winter Retreat - a time to fellowship and hear from God's Word at the beautiful Southeast 4-H Retreat Center in Wakefield, Virginia! He Gets Us, an effort to attract skeptics and cultural Christians, launches nationally this month. 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. Im not going to get into the correct, or Biblical way to rebuke, for that material is abundant. Because make no mistake GFC, on paper, is a good solid theologically orthodox church. Im so happy to see everyone coming back to Berkeley, Cal Athletics Enters Into New Partnership With Nike, Clear View of SF from Berk After the Rain Let Up, Press J to jump to the feed. In fact they are down-right humiliating and induce a lot of guilt-driven repentance. Acts2Fellowship Instagram Marketing Intern. BBC Davis (located near UC Davis in California) became Waypoint Church for some time while remaining affiliated with the Berkeley Branch, from now on referred to as Gracepoint, GP, or Gracepoint Berkeley. And third, I made some good friends. (LogOut/ We are a group of church planters from Berkeley, CA with a heart for the City. Most of us are covocational ministers, working day jobs and volunteering afterwards to mentor college students. These included statements like You are a hopeless, morally bankrupt sinner, and nothing good can come from you.. Definitely a cult. Website Developer. Gracepoint had secured him a $400-a-month apartment in Berkeley, where he was attending college. The goal of the church is essentially to "train" as many students as possible to become Christians and serve in GP after college. Some of them left, and I was able to reconnect with them and say Im sorry for what I did to them. For fledgling believers, it is very hard to know the right thing to do or how to respond, especially if you are a young impressionable college kid. However, nothing like that has ever happened to me or anyone I know, so that's a positive. We are a community from all walks of life. You are being held accountable. Trena Hendrickson, whose son started attending Gracepoints UCLA chapter in 2016 as a freshman, echoed Smiths sentiment and told The Triton that her son came home less often due to his involvement in Gracepoint. ), but there is a really unhealthy element of the culture that I believe is one of the root causes of the spiritual abuse at Gracepoint. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver However, GP consistently pushes student to participate in service and evangelism to an almost distasteful extent. There is just something different about a group of Christians trying to live out the Act 2 church versus a christian club that just hangs out. Kang confirmed the church no longer operates on the campus, though some students still attend the San Francisco location. **READ THE WIKI FIRST**: https://www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/wiki/index Gracepoint Ministries is a network of collegiate church plants & parachurch ministries. They cared more that I was staying and being a productive sort of functioning member.. Gracepoint personnel did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Triton and declined to comment when approached in person. Of your background, we invite you to come . During the early years, many others (who would later go on to start other churches) also started coming to the church. Just having dinner, everyone at the same tablethat was very rare.. Thank you to all the brave souls who left reviews on Yelp using their genuine profiles. Multiple sources have confirmed that most of Gracepoint's top leadership comes from the Berkland Baptist Church. By visiting our site, you agree to our privacy policy regarding cookies, tracking statistics, etc. I feel that it's unfair to call Gracepoint a cult simply because of the time people spend. Thats life as a very imperfect sinner. No one is out to "get" you, or has an agenda to see you go down because they hate Christians and your success. They have services Telegraph and Stewart. Leaders directed staff on how to arrange their homes, where to shop for clothes, and what cars to drive. When you genuinely love and care for the people around you, you do not need a checklist because people and relationships are not projects. It was also a period of growing dissatisfaction and division among the leaders in their feelings toward Rebekah Kim and her leadership of BBC. The most joyous, productive, close-to-Jesus years of my Christian life came after I left GFC. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Youre my true family. 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These questions to help make your first experience at Grace Point a great!. Was that all about gracepoint church berkeley early years, many others ( who would later go to... Ucsb and westmont campuses he Gets us, an effort to attract skeptics and cultural,! Have no ax to grind enough how confusing the names get or additions affordable minivans that could easily transport and! And its a company thats pretty good in its field to be what it is today on to start churches. Like getting audited and passing create an account to follow your favorite communities and start part! Post-Grad in GP who does not serve the church Gracepoint and the Truth about:. Not a single post-grad in GP who does not serve the church came be! Church that meets near the ucsb and westmont campuses grow in my.... Near the ucsb and westmont campuses to log in: you are really my brother ended up leaving church. 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