Gracepoint Davis Church

I was so blessed when I visited this church today when dropping off my exchange student of three years. The worship was great. the preaching was great. everyone was so nice and made us feel very welcome. How encouraging for this old Saint to see you so many young brothers and sisters worshiping our Lord and making everyone feel so welcome.

I was a member here for many years and finally left after observing several troubling things. The cons are already well documented in the Unilocal review for their parent church in Berkeley. What I haven’t seen anyone write, and think is worth mentioning, is that I think the root of their problem is hubris. They do not like people who challenge or question their authority. When I was in graduate school and challenged the pastor or staff about concerns I had, they were very condescending. At the time I was pretty hurt. Looking back, I think whether they realize it or not, they have created an echo chamber
The positive things said by people within their community are repeated and reinforced. The people who leave and challenge what they say are vilified and labeled as prideful, unrepentant, etc. As a result, they can never admit when they are wrong, and dismiss the accounts of people who have been hurt by them and their practices.
This is particularly troubling because of the emotional damage inflicted on ppl who have reasonable questions or decide to leave. There are may examples of this attitude, but I think the most daunting is their no dating policy.
It is explained by insiders as something more benign, that college undergraduates are too immature to date or be trusted to be left alone with the opposite gender without church leadership supervision. For those of you already dating when you start attending, get ready for pressure to break up with that person.
If you stay as a member beyond college, u may eventually be deemed «spiritually ready» to date (this is not guaranteed for everyone). At which point the staff and pastor will try to pair u up with who they think is appropriate. So your choices are, leave the church and take your chances outside after years of gender segregation, say no to whoever they picked but stay in the church and face being labled «picky» or accept whoever they picked for you of your own «free will».
Or maybe you will be one of the lucky ones who gets paired up with someone you actually have common interests, mutual attraction and compatible personalities.
In summary, they have an authoritarian leadership structure that is not obvious until you are an insider. They have no reservations telling you how you should make major life decisions (aside from dating this includes your career choices, grad school, where to live, etc). And they of course don’t have to live with the consequences of those decisions they pressured you to make. (e.g. having financial problems after dropping out of school to make time for church related activities)
Of course if you read the other positive reviews here, mostly written by staff members, you will see they are not all bad. If you are aware of what you are getting into, by all means check them out. I’m definitely not against, for example, someone dropping out of school to be a long term missionary if God has called them to that. But not if it’s because of pressure to do so from church.

I’ve been a part of Gracepoint Davis for over 10 years. Thankful to see how it has grown through the years where we started with sharing the gospel primarily with college students at UC Davis, but now has sprouted from children’s ministry to elderly care at homes in Davis and Sacramento to international grad and undergrads from all over the world. The need to know God remains the same no matter the age and walk of life, that’s for sure.
I encourage people to come check us out once and see what it’s like.

Since Unilocal removed my previous message for reasons that i don’t understand, i will just have to rewrite my review.
If there was a rating of no stars, I’d give gracepoint 0 stars. I attended gracepoint davis and it ended pretty badly for me. I lost all those «friends» from church in which I thought I was going to be good friends with for life and the leaders will forever think I was rebellious for leaving the church (which I could careless about what they think). I can say my situation was pretty isolated, but the emotion and spiritual abuse that I experienced from them would be the same as ex-​bbc/​gracepoint members. I was and still am traumatized by them. Those leaders judge and manipulate you until you can’t even think clearly anymore.
Pros: they do provide a LOT of material about Christianity and God and the food is good.
Cons: Everything else.
If you’re the type to not question things and just go on with your life accepting whatever knowledge is thrown at you, this is the perfect church for you.
If you’re more cynical and asks a lot of questions, I suggest you try another church.
Why does this church have so many members, you ask? Well, once you lose your touch with reality and replace it with this church, you lose all your «non-​church» friends and replace it with «gracepoint-​only» friends, it would be hard to leave this church and restart your life.
Seeing all these freshman get sucked into this church breaks my heart. They have no idea what they’re getting themselves into.

I started coming to this church in 2005 as a college freshman. That was a while ago now, but looking back, I feel so grateful for the handful of years I spent there. It was at this church where I really got to see what Christianity is like lived out. You hear about so many churches out there that preach one thing, but the people live just like everyone else. It’s different here because they take the Bible seriously and strive to honor God and what He says.
I’m thankful for the leaders and the people there who showed me God’s love and how to live out Christian life. They really took care of me when I went through hard times in my life and showed me that I’m not alone. Not only that, I met my lifelong friends who I still remain close with even after all these years. I’m not saying this church is perfect, or that it’s right for everybody. But it’s a good place to grow in your relationship with God and in a community of people who strive to love God and others. If you’re new to Christianity, you’ll be able to learn from the very basics, too. Nothing’s too «over your head».
Although I’m not there anymore, I still have lots of memories of being with people I’m close with and sharing the good and bad times together. I’m glad I had the chance to stick around there and grow deeper in my relationship with God and others. Also, I must say, the food there was amazing. I always felt so loved every time I went over to someone’s house and ate their food… haha
Anyways, don’t just take my word for it, go check it out!

I went to UCDavis in 2004 as a junior transfer and soon after started going to Gracepoint Davis Church. The first time I came to Gracepoint, I was approached by many people wanting to get to know me and my name. It was quite a warm reception that I usually don’t get from my previous experiences at church. I decided to commit to sticking to this church during my college years because I saw that it was the best place to be so that I can grow and learn more about my Christian faith. Looking back on my time in Davis, I can truly say that this church helped me to take my relationship with God seriously, grow in my knowledge of scripture, develop close relationships with others, and find vision for myself to live as a disciple of Christ in this age today.
I know this church ain’t for everyone but for people looking for a church who actually tries to live out the words in the Bible and spreads the gospel as Jesus commanded, then you should see for yourself.

Davis Davis, is my spiritual home
It has the same area code as my phone
I know the people, they’re pretty legit
So much so that I stayed and didn’t quit
Gracepoint Davis, is my favorite church
It’s a place where I started my spiritual search
I know the people, they’re pretty legit
They take God seriously, and also got wit
I was in Davis for a looooooong time. Was actually one of the first members and miss it dearly. The place has changed, but the people remain, the folks there are people I have known for years. Each time I visit I feel like I come back home. Been there through a lot of ups and downs, (as a person can read from the reviews) and you’ll have people who like their style and some who won’t. I personally have come to really love that church because the people are real, they love God, and they really do live sold out lives.
One precious thing that they do is that they take you seriously. Since I’ve been there a while, I can honestly say the people really know how to love. Like having an older sister who will call you out when you’re being a punk (which I must say I was a good part of the time). They would say words of truth, and a lot of times, they wouldn’t be things I wanted to hear. But there was truth in them, and it really helped me to grow. But yeah, again, some people like the relationships, the bonds, but don’t like being called out on stuff. But for me, there would be no place I’d rather be.

I started coming to this church in 1999 and attended off and on in the beginning. I didn’t get to know people for awhile, but slowly I began to see how the staff of the church really took God’s Word seriously and sought to live their Christian life in community as well as reach out to others, like me. I’m so thankful they did, because it was through their genuine love and the example of their lives that I began to investigate God more seriously. I recognize that this church might not be for everyone, but as for me a couple years later, I decided to become a member as well as help with the church in the following years.
I don’t live in Davis anymore, but I still stay in touch with many people there and Gracepoint Davis is a special church for me. I still have fond memories of spending time together with so many people, some who have moved on and live in other places too.
If you have questions about life or God, I highly encourage you to just check it out. That’s what I did and I found the staff helpful in answering my questions and helping me to understand how the Bible is relevant to my life. I also found close friends to share life with and just have a lot of fun together!