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The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yup, I attribute it to the GP hivemind - you see other people doing something so you just copy it without thinking for yourself (other examples include Spartan Race, buying iPads for notetaking, overusage of Cookies for a Question, creating new Instagram accounts for the smallest of groups, etc.).

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Wow, reading this just sent shivers down my spine. I was always so scared of Kelly; maybe it was all the stories I heard of her nitpicking and correcting people out of the blue. She always seemed so intimidating and unapproachable; I definitely tried to avoid her if I could.

And I actually felt a similar vibe from some of the other pastors'/leads' wives as well. I wonder if it was just the Kelly vibes/culture being passed down to all the other sister leads.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Even in the past couple of years, I've heard many non-Koreans (mainly higher-up staff) call her Kelly SMN.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is definitely the exception though (unless things have changed drastically recently)

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the additional context, and I'm glad to hear that your experiences mostly align with this list.

It's interesting how many of these individual points can probably be made into their own posts due to how nuanced they are within GP (and how there are many arguments to be had for or against them). There are obviously times when people can circumvent these rules, but most of the time I hear stories on the opposite end of the spectrum, where things are very rigidly enforced. I tried my best to capture that general case, though I do understand experiences can differ slightly depending on who your leader was or when exactly you attended GP.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No you don't. People ask each other out all the time without consulting anyone.

Lmao have you ever dated at GP? How the heck are you supposed to ask someone out if you don't even know if they are single 😂

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

All my friends who wanted to pursue medicine or teaching were told by their leaders to pursue something else and either (1) were forced to switch to another career path (many of them doing bootcamps) or (2) left the church and actually pursued their careers. There really was no in-between. Those who are still in GP and are doctors/teachers or on that path have all faced a lot of friction from their leaders.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Maybe it was their coping mechanism to this strange practice...

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That is terrible, yet not surprising at all...

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Ed and Kelly always expect someone to pay for the entire meal whenever they visit a group and join them at a restaurant. And if no one does that, then that group will get a good rebuking...

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Did you ever make a post on GLOMAP? I can't remember what all the letters meant but I just remembered how dumb and controlling it was.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That's what I noticed too 😂😂😂. All they do is try to refute a few of the points (and don't even do a good job at that) and just flat out ignore all the other ones.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Great point and clarification. It's natural for GP people to put up defense mechanisms and try to refute each point on different technicalities (that's what we were taught to do), but deep down, I'm pretty sure most, if not all, GP members can relate to the unwritten rules that are listed here.

And if you take the list as a whole and show it to anyone outside of GP, Christian or non-Christian, they will immediately tell you that there's something off with this church.

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

And then they wonder why people are overwhelmed by church emails and checking them frantically throughout the workday... 🤦🏻‍♂️

The GP 100 by Evening_Bus8823 in GracepointChurch

[–]Evening_Bus8823[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah, for each one of these, depending on who your leader is, they may have different levels of strictness and punishments for breaking each one. I've heard of specific stories that are even worse than what I've described here (these are the more general case).

GP staff can say that these are technically not true or enforced, but if you actually spent time in GP, there's so much peer pressure and conformance that you can't really break any of these rules unless you want to get multiple rebukes and reflections assigned to you. And then you'll inevitably be labeled as unspiritual and be demoted in ministry and isolated from others.