History of Gracepoint Ministries, Berkland Baptist Church, Antioch Baptist Church, and affiliated churches and ministries like Koinonia, ABSK, A2F, Kairos, etc. (Part 1)

Here is a brief history of how Gracepoint Ministries got started.

In 1981, Rebekah Kim (Becky) and Paul Kim moved from Southern California to Berkeley to start Berkland Baptist Church (BBC). The church started with five members (all family) and I heard that it was slow going at first. Paul would print 50 bulletins faithfully every Sunday, with Becky scolding him at the waste of paper. During one of the earlier years, Ed Kang and Kelly Kang started attending the church as regular members. I am not sure if they were still students or recent graduates when they first started attending but 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. My understanding is that they started attending together, as a couple. 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. There was a Korean speaking church that got started sometime later, with Becky's brother as the main pastor. (This becomes important later.)

They met in a building on Alcatraz Ave on the border of Berkeley and Oakland, hence the name Berkland. I faintly recall that the building was either donated/on loan/on lease at a below the market rate from either the Southern Baptist Church denomination or some other church network. 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 (within the past 5 years I think?) and there are now apartments/condos there instead. The church started using Willard Middle School's auditorium/cafeteria for Sunday gatherings.

Becky Kim and Paul Kim attended Berendo Street Baptist Church before starting BBC, although it is unclear if Berendo approved/sponsored the BBC plant or not. I have also been told that Becky Kim has roots in UBF (University Bible Fellowship) which seems to be widely recognized as having cult like tendencies, or even an actual cult. (Fun fact: Berendo's founding member is Esther Kim (Ahn Yi Sook) author of "If I Perish" in English and numerous other Korean books.)

Berkland Baptist Church East (later referred to as BBC Boston, and currently under the name Antioch Baptist Church) was planted in 1991 by Becky and Paul Kim. The story I was told was that she was planning to send a planting team to Boston, but as she was walking around Harvard on a scoping trip, she felt convicted to start the church herself, instead of sending her disciples. According to the Antioch Baptist Church website, BBC Boston was renamed Antioch Baptist Church in March, 2011.

BBC Boston and BBC Berkeley continued to have very strong ties, and indeed functioned almost like one church. I am almost certain that they were financially tied. They would do mission trips and retreats together and traded staff and members. Becky regularly came to Berkeley as a guest speaker at retreats. She led missions trips and directed future planning for the church.

After BBC Boston was planted and established, more churches got planted in other college towns including LA, New York, and San Jose. A church got started in Seoul, Korea as well as in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

To be continued.

(Corrections and additions welcome. Please comment.)

(typo West to East corrected on 2/6/2019)