This history is provided to give context when understanding how the church came to be what it is today. We have done our best to ensure this article’s correctness, but there are certain parts that still need further corroboration. Please contact the team via Discord or reddit to help contribute with any corrections or additions. Special thanks to John Kim (pseudonym) as the primary contributor for this page.
1981: The Beginning - Rebekah Kim (Becky) and Paul Kim moved from Southern California to Berkeley to start Berkland Baptist Church (BBC).
Early on, Ed Kang and Kelly Kang started attending the church as regular members. 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. Kelly Kang worked as an engineer. During the early years, many others (who would later go on to start other churches) also started coming to the church.
The church grew in number steadily. 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. The building was used for Sunday service, bible studies, prayer meetings, and many other church activities until the congregation became too large to fit into the sanctuary for Sunday service. The building has since been demolished and there are now apartments/condos there instead. The church started using Willard Middle School’s auditorium/cafeteria for Sunday gatherings when the building on Alcatraz became too small to fit all the members.
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. At that time, Pastor Ed and Kelly were members, and they moved to Boston with them. A few years later, they returned to Berkeley, and Pastor Ed took over the senior pastor position.
1995-2005: Growth and Division - This was a time of growth and multiplication for BBC. It was also a period of growing dissatisfaction and division among the leaders in their feelings toward Rebekah Kim and her leadership of BBC.
Becky Kim was intimately involved in many details of running all the BBC churches. She appointed the leaders of the new churches, including Ed Kang and Kelly Kang at BBC Berkeley, the largest of the churches.
The ministries that got started or were present during this time at Berkeley include:
- College ministry (known as KBSU, ABSU, or KBSK, depending on the year)
- Children’s ministry (Joyland)
- Youth mentoring (ImpACT)
- Young Adult Ministry
- International Student Ministry
College ministry in particular grew very quickly, moving from 100 GPBB to the huge lecture hall at VLSB. Soon multiple separate groups were created, which became A2F, Koinonia, Praxis, etc.
During this time, Becky was revered and spoke at many retreats at Berkland Berkeley as a special guest. She would lead Bible studies and give sermons that were 2-3 hours in length. She would openly rebuke some leaders during her Bible studies and they seemed honored to be “loved” by her in this way. Ed and Kelly Kang and most of the leaders spoke of her highly and looked up to her, almost as one who could do no wrong.
2005: “The Letter,” church split, and Gracepoint is born - As time went on, there was growing concern about Rebekah Kim’s behavior, harsh rebuking and shaming of her disciples in a public manner, and overall lack of humility and accountability. Ed Kang says he tried his best to give her feedback but that she rationalized her behaviors and never repented. At some point, Ed Kang had had enough and wrote a formal letter [todo: attach] to Becky, which called her out on her behaviors and laid out his intention to split off BBC Berkeley into a new church — now known as Gracepoint. Many other BBC churches followed suit, with some remaining affiliated with each other and others going their own way.
👉 Continue to next article: What does Gracepoint have to say?