| Location |
| 607 Pena Drive (church offices) |
| Meetings |
| Sunday Worship Service: 1:00 PM |
| 607 Pena Drive, Davis CA 95618 |
| (Please check the website for the latest info.) |
| [email protected] |
| Phone |
| (530) 750-3256 |
| Website |
| http://gracepointdavis.org/ |
Gracepoint Davis Church is a local Baptist congregation that meets at 123 Sciences Lecture Hall on the UC Davis campus (please check website for the latest info).
Their webpage explains that Gracepoint Davis Church is "A place to find friends | A place to find answers | A place to find strength | A place to find God." Our congregation is a growing multi-ethnic community, composed largely of college students, graduate students, and post-undergrads (average Sunday attendance of ~250). We have people who’ve never stepped foot inside a church and people who’ve been to church all their lives. Some have questions about God or life and come looking for answers. Others want to be raised to become the next generation of Christ’s disciples to impact the world.
Gracepoint Davis Church is led by Peter Choi. We are a member of the Southern Baptist Convention and a part of the Sacramento Association of Southern Baptist Churches. Our church was planted on September 21, 1997 as an extension of our church in Berkeley (Gracepoint Berkeley Church). We are also a member of the Willow Creek Association of churches. We have a vision of helping plant an Acts 2 community on every college town!
So, whether you’re someone who is a spiritual seeker who is starting to ask questions about God, or you’re a committed Christian who wants to sink the roots of your faith deeper, you can find a home here at Gracepoint Davis Church. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Peter Choi at our website.
* For other churches in Davis see Religious and Spiritual Organizations.
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2012-09-04 03:38:11 I was a former "core" of Gracepoint Davis and I am here to give a friendly warning to those who are looking for a new church. When I was a freshman, I was lured into Gracepoint Davis (formerly known as Waypoint Davis back in the day) after hearing about their free food. After coming to the meetings/messages, I thought that the staff was very friendly. I considered Gracepoint Davis my new spiritual home.
However it was not until the 2nd year when the true nature of this church became apparent. Church leaders began "weeding" out students who did not fit their strict, legalistic forms of living out the Scripture. A notorious example is the church's No Dating Rule. Those who were caught dating were to be rebuked strongly and forced to break up with their significant other. Other examples include the formulaic daily devotion and the "unofficial" attendance quota where you had to attend as many meetings as possible that included prayer meetings, friday nights, and sunday worship days. Violating or failing to fulfill these guidelines in following the Scripture will result in your unpleasant rebuking.
The church preaches "Death to thyself" many times with emphasis on Luke 9:23. The concept of death is a very confusing one, and was meant to resemble one's death to his/her sinful past and to pursue a better future in Christ. However, the church's description of "Death to thyself" is vague and is twisted in a fashion to manipulate and intimidate churchgoers. Any doubt on church leadership or doctrine is a sign of pride and not "death to thyself" which justifies the church's leaders to rebuke you.
The church puts much effort in routing undergraduates' time from studying to church activities. While I was a "core" at this church, I was pressured by my leaders and peers to serve. However, it was not just ordinary serving; brothers and sisters were expected to serve for many days of the week to the extent their academics suffer. I was a pre-graduate student deciding between graduate school and medical school, so my grades had to be stellar (~3.5). My leader, noticing that I was not serving as much as my peers but instead studied most of the time, suggested that I was "not putting God at the center of my life" but instead focusing on my own priorities. I was dumbfounded.
Ultimately I decided to leave. I disagreed strongly with the practices of this church as they were unusual and unhealthy. I was disgusted by the leaders' treatment of my peers who in their eyes rebelled and swayed away from God. I was broken after hearing of an undergraduate couple that was yelled at and forced to break up after keeping their relationship secret for a long time. I'm not kidding.
Now just to let you know, this was during the time when Pastor Jonathan Lee and Susanna Lee were around. They were recently moved to Berkeley. I do not know how the new leadership is now, but I pray they do not follow the patterns of spiritual abuse that was prominent in Jonathan and Susanna Lee's leadership era.
Attending Gracepoint Davis / Waypoint Community Church was a big regret in my undergraduate years. Please, if you are looking for a fellowship, look elsewhere. DO NOT GIVE YOUR REAL PHONE NUMBER otherwise your inbox will be littered with GP event text messages and/or voicemail spam. They're trying to lure you in! READ what others have testified regarding this church.
YELP: http://www.yelp.com/biz/gracepoint-berkeley-berkeley?sort_by=date_desc Note - Gracepoint Berkeley is the mother church of Gracepoint Davis. The culture is similar between the two churches.
Twisted Gracepoint: http://gracepoint-berkeley.blogspot.com/2010/06/gracepoint-berkeleys-systematic-loop.html Note - The original blog was shut down after a previous anti-Gracepoint blog was allegedly hacked.
Former Berklander: http://formerberklander.blogspot.com/2009/08/legalism-and-policing-behavior-at.html
Keywords: Spiritual pride, spiritual elitism, spiritual abuse —KevinYu
2012-09-28 17:04:14 I am thankful that we were able to celebrate our 15th Anniversary at Davis last week. It was a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness in my life as well as the life of our church. Matthew 13:31-32 talks about the mustard seed and I remember from our first service in 1997 how that was the word of encouragement shared that with time, we can become a community where people can find rest in God and in the body of Christ.
Through the years, I have experienced a lot at this church being given opportunities to serve and to share God's love with many people, whether college students, international graduate students, and working professionals. Recently we've also started to visit three nursing homes on Sundays to provide a worship service for them, and are also now helping five other local churches in the Davis/Sacramento areas with their youth ministry. One thing I realized through it was that though people are different, we all are searching for meaning and purpose, and in the end share the common need for the Lord.
Recently returning from our church in Austin back to Davis, I was grateful to see how our church has grown through the years, seeing many transformed lives by the word of God. My prayer and hope is that God will continue to use us to reach out to our city and beyond. —JohnLin
2012-10-04 In my two years at Gracepoint Davis Church so far, I have experienced a community of faith in which the Bible is taken seriously, and where people just try and love God and live out their faith. The vision of an Acts 2 Church in the college town of Davis is being lived out, as we experience people coming to know God's love and compassion in a very personal way through devotion to "the Apostle's teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers." Come and visit, and experience for yourself the truth of what the church is actually like, which I have experienced as that place of love, commitment, understanding, compassion, faith, where God's name is lifted up and honored.
2012-10-04 14:51:03 I have been with this church since it was planted some 15 years ago. It was lonely being one of the first couple dozen people to attend the church, but I am so thankful to have personally witnessed Gracepoint grow into a sizeable church with a variety of ministries. Though it has grown, our church still feels cozy and people know one another. I am serving on staff along with some of my college buddies. It's such a blessing to have grown in the church during college years, serve on staff together and now we have started families in Davis and are still serving in the church. College can be a vulnerable time as people struggle to hold onto the faith of their youth. For others who never attended a church, it is a time when people are open to seeking God and finding out more about the Christian faith. I am thankful that at Gracepoint we try to fill both needs by strengthening those who grew up in church as well as share the Gospel with people who never heard about God. Hope to see you at Gracepoint! —LemMaghamil
2012-10-05 11:17:10 I stumbled upon Gracepoint Davis when I was a freshmen at UC Davis and I'm so thankful for what I've experienced here. When I started coming out to Gracepoint, I remember two things, one was how friendly people were and the second was how the messages were so relevant to my life. It was the first time I could actually relate to the Bible and apply it to my life. At Gracepoint, I saw people genuinely living out their faith, and loving each other. Throughout the years I've experience this love tangibly through being carried by my brothers and sisters during some difficult times with my family. I'm thankful for the community here that is committed to me. Since coming to Gracepoint, I've grown so much in my relationship with God and grown in my understanding of God's heart for people. So if you are thinking about checking us out, please feel free to come on by. —ChristineChang
2013-04-10 17:49:39 2013-09-18 10:15:35 My experience at Gracepoint Davis wasn't like the negative comments featured here. I was a churched kid who wasn't really interested in seeking God in college, but through the invitation of a friend I gave Gracepoint a shot. And I was taken aback and pleasantly surprised. People were so friendly, leaders were genuine, and the messages were spot on (the praise wasn't so bad either!) All in all, it was unlike my previous church experiences because people took the Bible seriously and they genuinely loved each other, and exhorted us to do the same. And it made sense to me. So it really helped me take my faith seriously since coming to this church. So that was one thing that struck me. Another was how open the lives of the leaders were. They regularly invited us over to their houses, shared vulnerably about their fears, and let us just do life with them. I appreciated that the leaders were so open and honest. I really liked that because I didn't see any pretense or fakeness about them. Everything that they preached on Sunday was lived out Monday through Saturday. My suggestion for anyone reading this posting who is considering finding a church in Davis, please don't let the negative comments deter you. Especially if you're like me and need to find a spiritual home, I'd recommend giving Gracepoint a shot. It's not a perfect church, and they don't claim to be. But I can guarantee that they try their best to love God and obey His commands. And if you have questions about anything about this church, my experience (and suggestion) is to talk to one of the leaders about your concerns. They are pretty open about talking about these issues that people have, and hear for yourself whether what they say makes sense, before making judgments based on some comments from people you don't know. Just my two cents. —PhilChoi
2013-09-19 9:51:12 I grew up going to church all my life but came to college with a lot of questions about God, Bible, Jesus, etc. Since coming to Gracepoint Davis in my freshman year at UCD, what I appreciated most were 1) the church’s conducive environment so that I could seek God and have a safe place to ask my questions, and 2) the fact that I had spiritual mentors to help me grow in my faith and character, by careful instruction of the Bible and by example. I look back at my college days spent with GP Davis members with a lot of wonderful memories and nostalgia. My friends and I would study hard together, take study breaks together, give and receive tutoring. In between my studies, I got to serve on our church praise band, attend fun outings to Yosemite and retreats, attend discipleship meetings, regularly go over to our pastor’s home for fellowship over warm scrumptious meals, and much more. GP Davis is the place I found wholesome fun with a group of sincere believers who try their best to live Biblically and try to teach others to do the same. More than anything, it was the place I found the love of Jesus, and the community with whom I’m still experiencing the reality of God’s love to this day. From day one, I was captivated by the fact that the messages I heard made the truths of the Bible so personally relevant and applicable in my life. If anyone is seeking answers about God or life’s many questions, and would want to do so with a loving Christian community with spiritual peers and mentors, I suggest that you just come and see for yourself. —LindaU
2013-09-28 01:51:41 "And if you have questions about anything about this church, my experience (and suggestion) is to talk to one of the leaders about your concerns." That's like saying, "If you have any questions about your country, ask your politicians. They will tell you the truth." nice try. —ppan
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