Founded in 1981 around the concept of whole-life discipleship, the churchthen known as Berkland Baptistestablished itself as a home for Asian American students attending the University of California, Berkeley. I didn't attend gp Berkeley, but I went to acts 2 Fellowship in UCI. But simply put, the ends do not justify the means. It really suprised me and other students. 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. When it came time for the oldest daughter to go to grammar school, I was interested: church school or public school? According to Smith, church leadership would receive a regular report of which websites she visited and the duration of her internet usage. Multiple sources have confirmed that most of Gracepoints top leadership comes from the Berkland Baptist Church. Main attendees were Korean American students at UC Berkeley as Becky and Paul intentionally sought out this group. They met in a building on Alcatraz Ave on the border of Berkeley and Oakland, hence the name Berkland. Some food is provided for free and the [] Traumatizing and the message was clear. Rank in 1 month. My time at Gracepoint ended with me feeling at the lowest point of my life, reads a testimonial shared in April via r/UCSD. Sam C., who has since been diagnosed with depression, said, Its something that I still work on, you know, 18 years later. Most of what Gracepoint preaches is standard Christian stuff, nothing crazy here. You'll have to work at it, but it'll be yours, and you're not going to cast it aside when you grow up. One source who attended Gracepoint during their time at UCSD asserted this resulted in a Gracepoint social bubble that made it difficult to interact with others outside of that bubble.. What is Agora Roads Macintosh Vaporwave Cafe? Pastor Richard Tjhen told CT he became agitated and annoyed because Austin Lee was defensive during their conversation. Gracepoint santa barbara is a collegiate church that meets near the ucsb and westmont campuses. They helped believers in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-28), in Rome when they were allowed to return, and again at Ephesus (2 Tim 4:19)." One of the biggest differences in the lives of current teenagers and young adults, compared to earlier generations, is that they spend much less time connecting with their peers in person and more time connecting electronically, principally through social media. After sharing with church leadership that he was put on academic probation, Sam C. was later summoned to meet with the pastor and his wife at their house in Davis, a meeting which he described to The Triton as a traumatic experience., According to Sam C, the couple scolded him for 20 to 30 minutes, and it brought me to tears, as if my parents were scolding me as a five or six year old.. Whole-life discipleship did in fact extend to every area of life. Associated Students of the University of California. My life would be innumerably poorer without that time. Gracepoint Ministries is a network of collegiate church plants & parachurch ministries. 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. CONTACT. Again I'm not a historian. In fact, she might even ask you to go to church with her :). After Doe and her significant other crossed physical boundaries, church leadership placed Doe on a repentance process and revoked her staff post. View collections. Give Online. Materials produced by The Triton do not reflect the views of the Regents of the University of California and the Regents do not endorse, warrant, or otherwise take responsibility for said content. You can ask questions and have discussions regarding the Truth Project by responding to this post. Please contact the team via Discord or reddit to help contribute with any corrections or additions. Fill out an application here. 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. This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to help show content that is more relevant to your interests. That would actually be a sin. The leader, Suzanne Suh, said she did not recall the conversation but would not talk to someone who is suicidal using this type of approach or using these kinds of words.. Members said they were manipulated into confessing sins, screamed at by leaders, and overloaded with obligations to the point of illness. We moved out in July 2021 with the hope of creating a gospel-centered church for college students. Gracepoint had secured him a $400-a-month apartment in Berkeley, where he was attending college. I have been attending this church for two years now (I'm a sophomore), been somewhat involved, and I think I kinda know how things are run. 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.Gracepoint Ministries is present in : UC Berkeley, UC Davis, SF State, UCLA, UC Riverside, USC, UC Santa Barbara, UT Austin, Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, and more. Many other BBC churches followed suit, with some remaining affiliated with each other and others going their own way. 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". Despite bringing his symptoms to his leaders, he said he was not allowed to step back from most of his church responsibilities. Turns out, lying was a standard tactic of the group. Please feel free to choose from these questions to help remember and process the text. Kang confirmed the church no longer operates on the campus, though some students still attend the San Francisco location. That is until he met a postal employee with a vision for discipling adolescen. It feels like the bridge is being burnt from the other end, said Mun. The experience I have had at this church has led me further away from God, and I really hope no one will experience what I underwent. 88 episodes. July 2020 to August 2020 . They have a rule of not dating. But they are not my stories to tell. My sometimes "cult" concerns would have been inflamed if she didn't go to a public school. We have been too task oriented, trying to do a lot with fewer people and thinned-out relationships.. Served 113 Homes Since 2006, we've had the privilege to share God's love (the greatest love) to the elderly on Valentine's day. a href= '' https: //www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/ '' > Gracepoint Berkeley website, we were way thinner then! That's probably why she deleted FB, etc. But lets talk about the culture of getting rocked Gracepoint. Im not making this up. 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. this post). Over the course of CT reporting this article, Gracepoint has begun to rethink aspects of its ministry style and implement reforms. How helpful are reviews of a church when they're left by their own members? But this is not the. But even with those, I must add caveats. 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. 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. I think you need to really curb that. 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. This includes "unhealthy addictions" and "sinful acts" which may include: partying, drugs, bad influences of friends, excessive social media use, etc. You don't want to miss 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. 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. As the predominantly Asian American church network expands to dozens of college towns, former members come forward with claims of spiritual abuse. In fact they are down-right humiliating and induce a lot of guilt-driven repentance. Lets start with the first, and probably the most important. They say that you shouldn't do anything that will "get in the way between your relationship with God" and that applies to alcohol, sex, social media, list goes on. I got involved in ministry with another church. Couple new courses as well as continuation of several popular classes. Leaders directed staff on how to arrange their homes, where to shop for clothes, and what cars to drive. Online criticism of the churchs high-pressure environment did not start with the Reddit posts. It's highly possible your friend deleted Facebook because she felt that she was stumbling in her beliefs due to an addiction to social media or something to that effect. 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. I don't know. Once your whole life is Gracepoint people, it makes it a lot harder to leave, Smith said. I'm mad because I've seen not only myself but also others get hurt and develop mental health issues because of your practices. And all those culture wars. But they're not nice because they like you, but rather, because they're directed to grow the group. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Youre not just a fellow brother in Christ; you are really my brother. I also suspect that their spouse was chosen because there were two instances when the male staff suddenly announced their engagements. However, I have found nothing but beneficial experiences so far. Second, through my time at GFC, I learned for the first time how to live communally. Or, to the contrary, are you constantly getting the feeling, encouraged by your leaders, that if you leave GFC, you might lose your salvation? During an April 2021 sermon on one of the Beatitudes, Kang told the church not to be discouraged by their online critics; Jesus himself warned that detractors would utter all kinds of evil against you falsely (Matt. Either your life is out of control or you are extremely lazy or you are extremely selfish.). He has served as the pastor of Gracepoint Church since 1996. 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? 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. And I know people would do this. During this time, Becky was revered and spoke at many retreats at Berkland Berkeley as a special guest. 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. 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. 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. Gracepoint's leaders packaged this very cult-like behavior as discipleship. 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. This history is provided to give context when understanding how the church came to be what it is today. Still, based on my experiences, I cannot be more thankful I found a group where I can grow in my faith. Staying at Gracepoint has a strong appeal, echoing the coming-of-age films that ask, Why cant college last forever? We are Cal Alumni with a vision to build an Acts 2 community in Berkeley. Sign-up link here (The church is reconsidering its stance against dating, Kang said.) Summary: - Key verses - Sentence summary of each chapter and/or key events We are a community from all walks of life. We have done our best to ensure this articles correctness, but there are certain parts that still need further corroboration. Enough stamps and certifications and you will be qualified to move on up the ranks. Log In Sign Up According to internal emails obtained by The Triton, Center for Student Involvement (CSI) Executive Director Emily Trask followed up individually with the president and did a check-in with the group and the CSI sent educational information to all student organization principal members about high pressure groups via the student organization listserv., In response to an email inquiry from The Triton, UCSDs Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) said they were not aware of any allegations involving Gracepoint Church.. Besides, hearing out my story and telling me Im sorry you were hurt, but I dont think they realize that they almost had blood on their hands, Doe told The Triton. Kang said that a period of withdrawal from ministry can be appropriate, but the practice of writing reflections has tapered off over the years. /*# sourceMappingURL=https://www.redditstatic.com/desktop2x/chunkCSS/TopicLinksContainer.3b33fc17a17cec1345d4_.css.map*/I would not go to NSWN; if I somehow accidentally did (as I think many people do), I would not go to GFC on Sundays; and, if I somehow accidentally did that, I would not get involved with a small group and spend all my free time devoted to GFC. 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. When they became part of the ministry team, Gracepoint members were required to install internet filtering software like Covenant Eyes on their devices. Why? here on Reddit) are out to "get them." Top SEO sites provided "Devotions for church deacon meetings" keyword . Honestly, if someone were to tell me to cut off ties will all my non-church friends, I would seriously question the church. She's deleted her Facebook and apparently cut off all relationships with people outside of her church. 2022 Anyone remember this checklist for how "relational" and "righteous" you are? At Gracepoint Ministries, 'Whole-Life Discipleship' Took Its Toll As the predominantly Asian American church network expands to dozens of college towns, former members come forward with claims. To keep members focused on mission work, Gracepoint effectively restricted dating, media consumption, and pet ownership. 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. Ed Kang says he tried his best to give her feedback but that she rationalized her behaviors and never repented. May 2020 to March 2021. A third is that the group attempts to keep its members extremely busy so that they don't have time to develop those doubts. Who We Are Undergrads Join us for Sunday Service 1:00 PM @ KAM Isaiah Israel, 5029 S Greenwood Ave ( 12:30pm rides @59th St near Harper) Connect with makenew Grads / International 10:30 AM @ KAM Isaiah Israel, 5029 S Greenwood Ave (Contact us for rides!) Regardless of your background, we invite you to come check us out! Sundays @ 8:15am & 10:00am. Many of its members have to seek psychiatric treatment at the UC Hospitals after going to this cult and joining their core group, the email read. Gracepoint personnel did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Triton and declined to comment when approached in person. Meet the staff of Gracepoint Irvine. From the perspective of GP: "if heaven existed, shouldn't you be spending your time telling everyone?". Young members were being discipled to follow not only the Bible but also the churchs culturewhat was acceptable, what was lauded by their leaders as signs of their devotion. Humor site for Gracepoint Berkeley Church and church plants at Davis, Austin, Minneapolis, San Diego, Riverside, Hsinchu, Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Barbara, Seattle. Like many college ministries where young adults commit to codes of conduct, accountability, and community obligations, Berkland attracted Asian American students with its strict but tight-knit ministry philosophy. Six ex-Gracepoint staff said mental breakdowns contributed to their decisions to leave the church and, for some, the faith. Image: Edits by Christianity Today / Source Image: Justin Sullivan / Getty. Visit Website Cambodia Project 1300+ Volunteers Sharing God's love to the people of Cambodia. One of my old friends is apparently is in this church and I wanted to find out more about the "cult-like" organization after a mutual friend brought up how she's completely been brainwashed by them. With the mission to plant an Acts 2 church in every college town, Gracepoint stands out among the loose network of predominantly Asian American college churches that pepper campuses across the West Coast and beyond. Gracepoint Church's Bald Fellowship. He told CT that eight people have contacted him since he first posted in April 2021. 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. I had a strained relationship with my parents, said Martin Loekito, who was a member of Gracepoints Davis church for 14 years. I viewed God as this incredibly sensitive, temperamental, judgmental being. Believe me, I would love to say everything is done out of a passion for Christ, but it is often not, not by most. These constant assessments about me being unrepentantthey didnt reflect what I was actually thinking and feeling, said Noelle, who is also an abuse survivor and asked CT not to use her last name due to her job as a teacher. Doe stated that during the repentance process, the church leaderships repeated statements about her character eventually made her question her reality. Gracepoint - Berkeley is a multi-ethnic and Asian-American church serving the Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco communities with ministries for working. GRACEPOINT CHURCH - COMPASSION MINISTRY Culture of Service & Mission Serving our Local Community and Internationally Changing the World by Sharing the Love of Jesus Impact Serving since 1997 Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Blog post title: More Hidden Yelp Reviews of Gracepoint Berkeley. One thing more to muse on before I close. Undergraduate students were discouraged from dating and, in some cases, forced to break up. 506 Followers 63 Following. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Press J to jump to the feed. According to Len Tang, director of the Church Planting Initiative at Fuller Theological Seminary, high-pressure churches like Gracepoint often enforce a methodological purity within their ministry. These included statements like You are a hopeless, morally bankrupt sinner, and nothing good can come from you.. Gracepoint Church, founded in 2006, currently runs a variety of campus ministry groups across the University of California, including Klesis and Acts2Fellowship at UC San Diego. 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! Just like a victim of domestic abuse, you tolerate more and more emotional damage, and begin to rationalize, because in the end they supposedly love you. In reality, the abuser needs to control and manipulate you. Rebranding as Gracepoint Ministries, it has expanded Area Youth Ministry, a parachurch organization meant to evangelize middle- and high-school students and supplement church youth groups. 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. 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. And the brothers and sisters I served with in my new church; the community was something special. used for personal study and small groups. Gracepoint Berkeley Church. I work at a big company now, and its a company thats pretty good in its field. Join us online Past sunday service messages. Peer will report you for that thing. Growing up poor in Los Angeles he was headed for a life of crime and delinquency. 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. Very silly, I know, but I know this is true because people have confided in me that they feel this way. I encourage you to continue to do so as it seems like profiles with one reviews often get hidden. Thank you Christain and Im sorry your review is hidden.. WORLD? Want to work with us? Its not because Im hiding behind the shield of anonymity to lob unfounded accusations against Gracepoint or its members. Gracepoint is a multi-ethnic church that got started in the Bay Area on the college campus and now serves several local communities across. You see, this behavior is modeled for other church members and it starts to become apparent that unless you get rebuked, the leaders must not care about you, or think of you much. I realized I was never going to be able to prove that I was taking my sins seriously.. Thats life as a very imperfect sinner. Without the church's support, he might have had nowhere to live. Kang told CT the church is focusing on dialing down the excellence in response to internal reflection and public criticism. It took me a year of therapy and an unsuccessful suicide attempt to start dismantling those things that I was told about myself, Doe said. Kelly Kang worked as an engineer. ), but - I'm going to be honest - who doesn't spend time doing things they love? A subreddit for the community of UC Berkeley as well as the surrounding City of Berkeley, California. Others on this subreddit had much more negative experiences than I did. Small potatoes, I know, compared to what many still suffer from. proverbs31.org. Latest was Christmas Part 1 | Isolation | Sunday Worship Service. The church changed its name to Gracepoint in 2006 when Ed and Kelly Kang split from the founders. 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. One of the characteristics of a cult is that it pushes its members to break relationships with non-members and associate only with members. I made a lot of mistakes. free! But thats the point: I had a generally good experience, for a relatively short time and I still have an incredibly weird aversion to something that is even tangentially reminiscent of Gracepoint. I have no doubt that leaders often agonize over what to do or say when contemplating a rebuke. Some former members said their departures were mischaracterized within the organization, with current attendees saying that those who left did so to pursue the world by purchasing pets or getting Disneyland passes. My point is- any criticism of you, especially because of the things you actually said or did, is not persecution. Of your background, we invite you to come . I have noticed that you are looking more and more unhealthy lately.), and living spaces (I was appalled once again to hear that your house has been like a pig sty. 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. 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). After all, there was a lot of yelling, most likely some crying, and maybe some forced fervent and desperate prayer. But I don't think anyone has specifically addressed this issue as a post, so I'll take a stab. Allegations of abuse within campus ministry groups run by Gracepoint and its predecessor Berkland Baptist Church date back at least two decades. The University of San Francisco revoked the recognition status of Gracepoints Klesis fellowship in May 2021 because it did not meet the requirements to be a USF affiliated ministry, misrepresented its relationship with Gracepoint Church, and continued to have contact with students following an interim suspension issued in March. For those who have left, connecting with other former members in person and online has helped their transition out of the church. 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. 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. I say this as a preface to make clear that I have no ax to grind. Paul Lee, the former Riverside church member, experienced physically debilitating stress that caused stomachaches, headaches, and frequent panic attacks. They have services Telegraph and Stewart. They were expected to ask permission to go on vacation or visit their families, former members said. 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. Ed Kang received his law degree from Boalt and practiced for a couple or few years before quitting to attend seminary and . The charismatic shepherding movement of the 1970s and 80s ended with former leaders disavowing their own intrusive practices.