Posting my review here since the formal name change. I strongly encourage you to skim through all the reviews in order to get a more holistic perspective of what people have experienced here. Personally, I went to GP for most of my undergrad years and experienced pain and trauma that no one should have to go through at any church. If you're looking to join a church in Berkeley, I would recommend checking out pretty much any other place like Newman or RUF. Don't make the same mistake I did and waste your time here. read more

Love this church network! I just went to the annual team retreat and was really blessed by guest speaker Paul Worcester from NAMB as well as all of Pastor Ed's messages on how to be the Acts 2 church. What makes it even better (and much easier to make changes in my actual life) is that I got to share insights and how the sessions applied to my life with friends that I've known for over ten years. Many of them have moved across the country to help plant other Acts2 Network churches and I'm personally strengthened when we get to reconnect over both the silly and serious stuff. Thanks Pastor Ed and Kelly for planning and leading this year's retreat and looking forward to what God has in store for next year! read more

I attended this church for 7 years. A big part of me wishes I never set foot in this church. The first couple of years, they love bombed me. Older folks showering me with their company, food, fun trips, etc. I ended up living with other members of this church after freshman year and slowly they made me believe that this church was the BEST church and that all other churches or ministry groups were not serious about their faith. They made me question my salvation by convincing me that I wouldn't be sinning so much if I was a "genuine" Christian. I ended up "deciding" to become a Christian again and getting baptized, again, even though I was already a Christian and had already been baptized. Most of my friends who were already Christians did this too. It's almost like they won't believe that you're a Christian unless you become one at their church. I ended up spending most of my free time doing things for this church. Friday night Bible study, Wednesday night prayer meeting, Tuesday night small group, Saturday fellowship or outreach activities, Sunday worship service with Course 101/201/301 before service and fellowship afterwards and set up and take down and cleaning. After a while, I couldn't keep up with the demands of this church. I needed to sleep 8+ a day and that seemed incompatible with this church's lifestyle. I slowly decided to stop going to so many activities. My friends and leaders definitely noticed and tried to tell me how terrible I was for missing Bible study or hanging out with a male friend. I refused to give in and to pretend that I felt bad for doing stuff that I did not feel guilty about doing. I really wasn't doing anything wrong. This flabbergasted them and I think they were relieved when I decided to leave. LOL. They didn't even try to stop me. So much for "covenantal relationships." Oh man, if I had put the money I had forked over to this church into a compounding savings account, I might be a millionaire by now. Oh yeah, they require all members to tithe, even if you're getting financial aid. Stay away from this cultish church. read more

I grew up with a strong disdain towards the church and Christians due to past experiences, but when I encountered the members of Gracepoint, I was shocked. The people I met here took Christianity seriously as if God is real and is actually worth devoting their entires lives to, even though it rubbed people the wrong way. I wanted to know why, and through investigating Christianity with Gracepoint, I became Christian. Gracepoint is at a stage now where there is more to them than their reputation on the college campuses, and they have become a source of spiritual guidance and genuine love to the greater community of children and youth in the Bay Area. read more

Since going to college, I was looking for a church that had good, sound preaching and after a year looking for one, I went out to Gracepoint. I was welcomed right away and welcomed into the church family so quickly. Not only was there the sound preaching I was looking for but it seemed like all the members were genuinely trying to live out what was preached. That was not the experience of church that I had growing up and it took some getting used to - the good kind of getting used to. Now still at this church 10 years later, I want people have this kind of experience at this church or some other church that is just trying to live out what the Bible says. read more

I didn't expect to see recent reviews, but it seems like I'm the only one who has had "decent" experiences with this church. For reference, I was very dedicated to this church for roughly a year or two before leaving as, like others, it became too much. - I'm not going to tackle the cons of the posters below, but I'll speak from a positive perspective. - I wasn't a super devoted Christian before joining. However, within a month or two, I was extremely devoted as I started attending weekly bible studies and would dedicate a majority of my time to spreading the gospel. Though admittedly, I didn't feel like I had much of a choice as they were all so kind to me, and I was too shy to say "no". However, the one thing that I dislike about GP is how much they try to pry into one's personal life. Now, as a fairly introverted and private person, I hated it. From asking about my parents to my academic life, I constantly complained to my friends because I couldn't comprehend why they were so into me. In fact, I felt like within a month; they knew more about me than my own family. - As for the leaders there, I liked all of them for the most part. Not sure if it helps to say that I'm a female, but I didn't really interact with the male yg leaders apart from Bible studies and sermons. They were all really nice and fostered a positive environment which I think was why I stayed so long as apart from the whole prying into my personal life side of things; they treated me like I was a part of the GP family. I actually attended a different church as well, and I'd been attending that church since I was a child, and when comparing that to GP, GP somehow felt more like home. - I am pretty sure you can't downvote on Yelp, but I understand this review was fairly positive, and that's the point. GP is nowhere near perfect, and clearly, I must've been with the nicer sector of GP. There's a lot more to this, and I have some more cons, but I'd rather write a book because a yelp review can not cover all that I have to say. read more

stay as far away from this college organization as possible. they will feed you on campus and then proceed to take your freedom of choice away from you while encouraging you to stop seeing your past friends and family members. GP teaches a skewed gospel to fit its' agenda and causes many to leave church all together once they leave. GP is changing college group names but Acts2Fellowship and 4Corners are still around with Moment, Make New, Klesis and AYM. imo they need to be taken off every campus. please stay away from Gracepoint they have caused pain and emotional issues for many people I have gotten to know who either left or their families are trying to get them out. read more

Came across this church back when I was in college. At first I just liked coming for the food because I wasn't looking for one. Eventually I started having questions about whether there was evidence for the existence of God and evidence for who Jesus actually was and I found that instead of expecting that I would just know stuff, people were really open to discussing with me. Really thankful for the respect I received to take things at my own pace. read more

This is a biblically sound, well-thought-out church that values long-term relationships and caring for one another. I appreciate the intentionality of the leadership, and I find clear and convincing reasons for the decisions they make. The people really care about pleasing God, and I've received a lot of genuine care over the years. It's a great environment to come with questions as a non-believer, grow in your faith, and develop a heart for serving others wherever you are! read more

I love visiting here when I'm in the Bay Area. I've been attending Gracepoint since I was in college (in different locations) and have really grown in my faith at this church. Everyone here will treat you like family :) read more

Went to one of the meetings many years ago. Just once. It was ok, until the guest speaker made fun of a specific science study, as if that was a rational argument. The argument is that there is at least one scientist who is not qualified and cruised by to get the Ph D, and thus creationism is the absolute truth. So, this is a prime example of brain washing/cultic behavior. Forcing people to accept beliefs and rules, even though it makes zero common sense. Folks. Faith is no faith, without good "reason." Trust your faith, but don't forget the God's gift of reason and wisdom. read more

Originally, I posted under the 'gracepoint' old page, saying that "This is a cult, I am glad I escaped, small group leaders are trying to control your life". Although my review was voted as 'useful' by nearly 100 people, it is still in the 'not recommended' section now, so I have to write another one to let people know about my honest experience about gracepoint. When I was a freshmen, one of the girls in my extracurricular group took me to this church. She was living right next to me so I thought it is a good way to get to know a new church in Berkeley. Prior to college, I was a Christian and had been attending churches as well as bible studies. At the first glance, gracepoint appears fine: they have amazing 'free food' such as Korean BBQ and such, and before these free food events, there is always an 1 hour sermon or something. But I thought, ok, after all, the sermons seemed 'normal'; in fact, the sermons are quite accessible and applicable to college students, mostly from the new testaments. After a few weeks, I found out that gracepoint is not a 'normal' church at all. I was in a small group and the small group leader was ALWAYS texting me, calling me and mandating me to attend their events. If I say no, I am immediately condemned as 'not a good Christian' . There was one time that I had to leave because of an emergency, and still was forced to stay for the rest of the event in Alameda. Essentially, the small group leader NEEDS to know EVERY SINGLE DETAILS IN YOUR LIFE, and your life is no longer yours. You practically are required to spend any off-class time with gracepoint. At that time, I was also going through a family disaster, and was unable to attend some of the gracepoint events. I needed a lot of time to focus on school and on my family. However, this was not viewed as 'ok' by gracepoint leaders. Soon, it had came to the point that I have to leave gracepoint, or become a full-time gracepoint person and commit my whole life into it. My grades were failing, not to mention the other hardships I had during that time period. What is wrong with gracepoint? It is not about their sermons, but about their legalistic structure, and their cult-like methods in CONTROLLING their members. The way I view spirituality is that, spirituality is an important part of my life, but I will not let an organization like gracepoint to totally control me using the name of religion. It wrenches my heart to see that many people have fallen for gracepoint, and some become blinded over the time to the extent that they are no longer able to admit that there is something wrong with gracepoint. Lucky for me, I escaped gracepoint only after a semester or so, and hadn't gone that far as some of the other reviewers had. I want to warn anyone who wanted to join gracepoint about the cult nature of this church, and I am happy to talk to you about it before you made up your mind to join. read more

Great church! They helped me through times of struggle and they are very genuine. Great people.

I love this church and the people here. People who truly want to grow closer to God and live out their Christian faith.

It feels like they teach you how to be Gracepoint-dependent more than God-dependent and GP-led instead of led by the Holy Spirit. For them, fleeing sexual immorality ends up turning into never interacting with people from the opposite sex, but they say we are like family?! The experience is good if you have good leaders and peers, but if not, it can end up becoming a nightmare after you graduate from college. It's really tricky, because some of us found God there and we are so grateful for that, but then we realized that some things were really off. We wouldn't have known if we weren't so involved in other ministries outside of Gracepoint simultaneously. When you are in the GP bubble, you don't realize that things are off. That's probably why most of the 5* reviews are from people who had conversion experiences in college. We thank God for GP, but also love GP and so we desire it to be reformed for the sake of having a BLAMELESS Church where people behave like Jesus did. read more

I have been with Gracepoint for well over ten years now, having come here since my undergraduate days back in 2003. Considering the kind of church that I grew up in back in my hometown, where I didn't have many people my age and where I'd even got jaded about church to the point of leaving, I am thankful that I found Gracepoint and that through this church God has brought me back to Him. Gracepoint has been a place where I've been able to hear the Gospel clearly and plainly, where Christ-centered teaching has been and is the focus. It's been a place where I've been able to call my home, a place where I've found many friends and developed long-lasting bonds with people over the years, people who I can trust to help me through the different ups and downs of life because of our unity in the body of Christ. Who is this church for? It's good for those who are looking to learn more about God, interested in learning about Christianity and looking to deepen in their walk with God. It's a largely young demographic (college students, young adults, and families with children), mostly Asian, but also quite inclusive of other ethnic groups as well. I do recommend this church if you're a college student or if you're a young adult looking for God or looking for a church to join. read more

My experience at Gracepoint has been spiritually abusive. Please, please avoid this church as much as you can. Their teaching is unbiblical; the extreme emphasis and focus on sin is unhealthy. Their practice of rebuke seems to me out of the context of Scripture, as leaders assert their power, authority and dominance on younger members. Let's be clear, rebuking sessions at Gracepoint are not fun. In fact they are down-right humiliating and induce a lot of guilt-driven repentance. And, to be fair, if you're being rebuked, there is a fair chance that you did do something wrong... or not (e.g. - this post). But does this type of rebuking do more harm than good? I say it is extremely damaging! It is the reason why many people who leave feel so traumatized. I'm not going to get into the correct, or Biblical way to rebuke, for that material is abundant. But let's talk about the culture of "getting rocked" Gracepoint. I'm not sure who started calling getting rebuked, "rocked," but it really turns something negative into something of a badge of honor. Again, it is often a horrible, humiliating ordeal. You sit there, being yelled at, belittled, guilt being heaved upon you, sometimes getting tag-teamed by two or three leaders. The "leaders" force you to confess to the point where you better start crying and feeling contrite. I have no doubt that leaders often agonize over what to do or say when contemplating a rebuke. But simply put, the ends do not justify the means. Looking back, it is very disturbing to realize that I have seen many, soon after getting rebuked, smugly proclaim that they "got rocked". Why? After all, there was a lot of yelling, most likely some crying, and maybe some forced fervent and desperate prayer. To put it very simply, in the spiritual economy of the Gracepoint ecosystem, getting rocked is like getting audited and passing. Yes, finally, what you did caught up to you, it got addressed by the leaders, and if you repent, you have a small stamp of approval. Enough stamps and certifications and you will be qualified to move on up the ranks. To be fair though, some people just need to get corrected more often, because frankly, they just screw up a lot. However, my opinion is that there is too much guilt-driven manipulation and fearmongering, and not enough careful correction. Also, I've even seen leaders refer to how they got rocked by Pastor Ed or Kelly with a smug smile. Not always, but I've seen it. 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. Very silly, I know, but I know this is true because people have confided in me that they feel this way. I'm not making this up. Of course, they are not trying to get rebuked on purpose (who wants that?), 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. 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. If the abuser fails to do that, they rationalize by saying, "they don't 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. 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. This is how you move hundreds of young people to mobilize quickly, efficiently, and without much complaint or deviance. Believe me, I would love to say everything is done out of a passion for Christ, but it is often not, not by most. The irony is, that on numerous occasions, I've heard a rebuke about not doing things out of a love for God and others, but the result is that people act because they do not want to get rebuked again. It's a vicious cycle. Please, do not get sucked into this cult. They are excellent at outreaching to newcomers--it is insane. 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. read more