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. 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. Jun 2020 - Jul 20202 months. But that's a whole other topic I don't want to get sidetracked by here. Reviews on Gracepoint Church in Berkeley, CA - Gracepoint Berkeley, Gracepoint Ministries, acts2fellowship, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, Evangel Bible Church of Berkeley, Gracepoint Church, GracePointe Faith Church 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)." I deconverted after the experience. 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. 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. We are a church located in the Silicon Valley that reaches out to San Jose State University. 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.. Regret: What I lost from being at GFC. My leaders words were like the words of God, said Mun, who left the church last year due in part to anxiety. Sundays @ 8:15am & 10:00am. Days later, the staff asked me out for lunch. My life would be innumerably poorer without that time. 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" It may not be for everyone. I realized I was never going to be able to prove that I was taking my sins seriously.. I don't know. Are they still okay? Acts2Fellowship Instagram Marketing Intern. Lets be clear, rebuking sessions at Gracepoint are not fun. Anonymous blogs including Twisted Gracepoint and The Truth about Gracepoint Church circulated online in the 2000s. We want to help make your first experience at Grace Point a great one! Gracepoint Church - for college students near Berkeley Sunday Worship Service. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. I've been thinking about the mentality at GP. $100M Ad Campaign Aims to Make Jesus the Biggest Brand in Your City, Died: Jack Hayford, Pentecostal Pastor Who Wrote Majesty, Federal Judge Tosses Challenge to Christian College Exemptions, The 50 Countries Where Its Most Dangerous to Follow Jesus in 2021, Recant or Leave: Mobs Expel Christians in Central India, damage theyve done to Gracepoints ministry. Recently, the news exploded out of the Christ-o-sphere: A popular Berkeley, California college-based evangelical church, Gracepoint, fueled its meteoric success through iron-vise-grip control and devastating emotional abuse. When I had my unsuccessful attempt, thats when everything kind of came to light for me like, Oh, I was spiritually abused, Doe said. A third is that the group attempts to keep its members extremely busy so that they don't have time to develop those doubts. By visiting our site, you agree to our privacy policy regarding cookies, tracking statistics, etc. 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). Honestly, just bring it up with her. To put it very simply, in the spiritual economy of the Gracepoint ecosystem, getting rocked is like getting audited and passing. 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. 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. Doe stated that during the repentance process, the church leaderships repeated statements about her character eventually made her question her reality. On March 12, 2017, UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla received an email from a concerned community member about Gracepoints presence on UCSDs campus and classified the church as a cult.. Looking back, it is very disturbing to realize that I have seen many, soon after getting rebuked, smugly proclaim that they got rocked. Gracepoint is one of the larger churches in the Berkeley/Alameda area (not that numbers necessarily matter), has very mainstream/middle-of-the-road Protestant beliefs, and is certified by the Southern Baptist Convention. When disciplers approved of a dating relationship, both parties were still expected to keep it private. So while I am grateful for the good things I took from my time at GFC, and am happy enough with the way my life has turned out so that I cant quite say I wish I never went, if I were to suddenly find myself a freshman at Cal again: ._2JU2WQDzn5pAlpxqChbxr7{height:16px;margin-right:8px;width:16px}._3E45je-29yDjfFqFcLCXyH{margin-top:16px}._13YtS_rCnVZG1ns2xaCalg{font-family:Noto Sans,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:400;line-height:18px;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex}._1m5fPZN4q3vKVg9SgU43u2{margin-top:12px}._17A-IdW3j1_fI_pN-8tMV-{display:inline-block;margin-bottom:8px;margin-right:5px}._5MIPBF8A9vXwwXFumpGqY{border-radius:20px;font-size:12px;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:0;line-height:16px;padding:3px 10px;text-transform:none}._5MIPBF8A9vXwwXFumpGqY:focus{outline:unset} leavegracepoint ex-Gracepoint (Berkeley) Additional comment actions I think there's a possibility that the focus is to try and seem like they are "church planting network" aka Acts2College Network/Gracepoint Network rather than an actual church that has a group of elders making decisions. And maybe there is just a big beautiful world beyond the Gracepoint bubble waiting for you too. Of your background, we invite you to come . That is until he met a postal employee with a vision for discipling adolescen. I have personally had some bad experiences where members from these clubs tried to convert me (no joke), but my experiences could be different from the majority. free! Society at large, Hollywood, the radical liberal left, are out to "get" Christians because they hate Christianity's godly values. 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 People walk through Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus. 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. One of the characteristics of a cult is that it pushes its members to break relationships with non-members and associate only with members. A few years later, they returned to Berkeley, and Pastor Ed took over the senior pastor position. Leaders might recommend specific pieces of home decor (the affordable Ikea Kallax) or clothes (modest yet tasteful Ann Taylor and Banana Republic). 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Allegations of abuse within campus ministry groups run by Gracepoint and its predecessor Berkland Baptist Church date back at least two decades. Smith also noted this pressure to remain in the Gracepoint community also affected students relationships with their families. He didn't give me the number. I know it sounds weird. Gracepoint Church checks all the boxes of a college ministry success story. After all, there was a lot of yelling, most likely some crying, and maybe some forced fervent and desperate prayer. 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. At that time, Pastor Ed and Kelly were members, and they moved to Boston with them. If they really examine things, they really could change, he said, but I just dont think theyre willing to let go of a lot of the practices theyve been holding on to.. Growing up poor in Los Angeles he was headed for a life of crime and delinquency. Both practices remain, especially in the ramp-up to fall quarter. 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 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. I ain't paying $7 + tax for Boba and Coffee. 37% of Gracepoint members viewed the church primarily as a family, 34% viewed it as an army, and 29% viewed it as a factory. The media class is unfortunately not available but has been replaced by class that would touch on very similar . First is that I am a much more introspective person than I used to be. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Both Unity in Christ at Berkeley and the Southern Baptist Convention check the practices and beliefs of member churches and college fellowships - meaning, if nothing else, that they do provide a layer of accountability and a church like Gracepoint literally could not join if it were a cult. Pastor Ed, stop playing the victim card, as you like to tell your sheep. Independent, student-run news source at the University of California, San Diego. Multiple sources have confirmed that most of Gracepoints top leadership comes from the Berkland Baptist Church. Turns out, in the end, most people come to their senses. 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. He told CT that eight people have contacted him since he first posted in April 2021. Soon multiple separate groups were created, which became A2F, Koinonia, Praxis, etc. Gracepoint started in 1991 as Berkland Baptist Church in Berkeley, California, as a church in the Southern Baptist Convention denomination. 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. Welcome! Contact a mentor if you need a ride or get connected! 295 were here. 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. 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$ Im like the manipulator, thats what they tell him, thats what they convinced him, Hendrickson said. Online criticism of the churchs high-pressure environment did not start with the Reddit posts. Yes, I am pretty involved with my church (I cook freshmen dinner, I volunteer at elderly centers when we visit, etc. In 2020, Acts 29 CEO Steve Timmis was removed from leadership for his level of bullying and control. The charismatic shepherding movement of the 1970s and 80s ended with former leaders disavowing their own intrusive practices. Leaders directed staff on how to arrange their homes, where to shop for clothes, and what cars to drive. Category. Join us online Past sunday service messages. 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