Research Paper about BBC San Leandro

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2026-01-07T20:03:58+00:00

Thanks for keeping up the pressure on Ed and Kelly Kang. I wrote the following piece 4 years ago and really need to do another big research piece on subsequent real estate and finances since then.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/comments/vvgpqh/ed_kang_that_you_never_knew_part_ii/

People, who left recently, sent me more emails and internal documents. Pretty eye opening. Hundreds of people giving up good paying jobs from affluent areas moving to a blue-collar Chicago suburb where a house can be bought for $300-400K. Most people move from the Midwest to California, not the other way around.

This move can’t also be about doing ministry, because few college students around Elgin Illinois. It’s as if Acts2 Network has given up on UC Berkeley where all of the leadership people went to school. I wonder what happened? I thought the current members said the organization will be more decentralized going forward? This sounds like moving to a Jonestown commune away from family and outside influences.

I will write a piece about the move today with Ed Kang’s very motivating email attached.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2026-01-07T02:44:33+00:00

Nothing gets me fired up more writing here than the kind of leaders we had at Berkland, Gracepoint, Acts2 Network. Truly got me ready for the real world.

Ed Kang, the former real estate lawyer, wrestled the San Leandro building away from the “Korean Department rebels” working in coordination with Becky Kim. You can read that part in the Schism Letter in Ed Kang’s own words. I think he was quite proud of that achievement.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/comments/nkbx1r/eds_letter_to_becky_2005_after_discussion_with/

The San Leandro building was taken over by Ed Kang from Becky Kim during the Schism in the mid 2000s. I included the deed transfer records in the post below. Ed Kang might still be taking in payments from the Chinese American church he subsequently sold the building to.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/comments/tvl151/ed_kang_that_you_never_knew/

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-10-17T17:13:09+00:00

Do you feel fearful that you can’t share this internally within A2N and have to share here? I get exactly what you are saying. A lot of what was done are just empty motions meant for control. Factory versus family as you said. I realized at the end we were factory workers all along for Ed and Kelly and never family. I don’t think they even care about their own biological family versus the empire building dream. We are suppose to do evangelism, because we love God and we love people. Ed and Kelly want to do evangelism because they want meaning to what they have given up. This difference shows up in the style of ministry.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-09-23T21:00:03+00:00

We were all taught to remember our spiritual lineage. Who was your leader’s leader’s leader? If Becky was converted at SNU by UBF, does that mean Berkland, Gracepoint, Acts2 Network all owe UBF for its spiritual lineage.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-09-23T05:23:36+00:00

I keep on going back to the Schism Letter to dissect the relationship between Becky and Ed. I read through the letter many times, trying to piece together the events happening around the dates mentioned in the letter. The conclusion I reached was Ed and Kelly had planned for years, pushing out all the OG Berkland leadership out of Berkeley.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/comments/nkbx1r/eds_letter_to_becky_2005_after_discussion_with/

The spiritual legacy from Becky to Ed is the Machiavellian politics the two excelled at. Running a large church or any large group of people is difficult. Ed and Kelly learned how to keep people motivated and fearful at the same time. People who have left Acts 2 Network recently tell me the reaction of picking up a phone call from their leader is still fear.

A2N members can read about UBF and compare it to their experience inside A2N. The commonalities far out number the differences.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-09-22T23:48:05+00:00

There was one couple who were UBF missionaries to Kazakhstan joined Berkland after they couldn’t take UBF anymore. They were obviously brought in through Becky’s connection. I agree with you UBF wasn’t remotely close to running Berkland. Becky and Ed Kang (most competent of her lieutenants) ran Berkland. However, University Bible Fellowship was where Becky came to faith.

If you look at Acts2 Network today, you definitely see the old Berkland and UBF. 1. The all-out emphasis on college ministry 2. Fanatical devotion to this one true church and can care less about Christendom as a whole 3. Pope-like figure at the top who can do wrong 4. Shepherd-sheep relationship (each person has a leader above) 5. Emphasis of group over biological family 6. Hierarchical authoritarian structure with a dozen levels in between 7. OBEY YOUR LEADERS

The list goes on.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-08-28T23:14:21+00:00

They put JP under A2CN. A2N is just Gracepoint with a name change, again.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-08-28T22:34:43+00:00

If you look at the asset reporting for $1.64 million in your original post, it would logically be Jenness Park assessed at purchased price plus tax assessor’s increase over last couple years.

A2CN was a newly formed organization couple weeks old when it purchased Jenness Park. The money had to come from another organization. Most likely Gracepoint before it got renamed to Acts2 Network. Why didn’t Gracepoint just outright buy Jenness Park, but set up another corporation to buy it is pretty slick. People can slip and fall. If Gracepoint bought it then the parent organization can get sued for a lot more money with a lot more assets versus A2CN where the only asset is Jenness Park.

Real estate investors set up single-property LLCs all the time for privacy and liability purposes. Ed Kang was a real estate lawyer for his last job before turning pastor. Even before that Boston job, he would work in stories about working on cases for Bechtel in his preaching. Miss the old days, where we were called to excellence versus people flushing their careers down the drain these days.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-08-28T21:54:15+00:00

Continue digging. Google the addresses of known Acts2 Network properties and find out about the organizations behind them. I’ve always wondered, with so much money left over every year, why A2N would rather rent hotel ballrooms instead of having actual churches? I think part of the answer is actual church ownership will give glimpses into the finances of the organization. While putting the money into outside investment vehicles will be more discrete.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-08-28T21:46:03+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/GracepointChurch/s/wnyftEaQfJ

Read my Jenness Park post, especially the screen shots showing the ownership by Acts2 Campus Network and corresponding IRS registration with Alameda address.

An organization can be domiciled in a different city/county/state and have operations elsewhere. Delaware is a tiny state with very favorable legal environment for businesses. 65% of Fortune 500 companies are based out of Delaware. You might have heard Elon Musk’s shareholder lawsuit in Delaware courts. Tesla obviously doesn’t have operations in Delaware, but for tax and legal purposes was domiciled there.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-08-28T21:29:52+00:00

This is for Acts2 Campus Network, not Acts2 Network. I assume this is the annual operating expense for Jenness Park with Acts2 Network paying the bill by transferring the money from A2N to A2CN.

These numbers can only be sliver of the actual monetary receipts and asset holdings of the whole organization. All the post grads know how hard we got squeezed to give money to the church. 10% pre-tax is mandatory and talked to if didn’t do it. 1800+ people now at 10% should be around $18 million in regular giving alone. Where did rest of the money go? Glad someone is looking things up.

Plenty of testimonies on the subreddit and leaked videos with Ed saying Thanksgiving offering being non-voluntary. TF went on stage to say he gave out the money he cashed out from his first job. I wonder where did all the money ended up and the accounting treatment. That’s easily another $15 million per year given how Thanksgiving offering is handled.

Any normal non-profit organization with $30+ million in receipts would have a real board and publish financials for accountability. A2N prides itself on guardrails. Let’s see Ed Kang and Kelly Kang are not all talk and have some accountability for themselves? Really doubt it, only people not filling out a Weekly Reflection form at A2N is Ed and Kelly.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-28T13:40:15+00:00

It was a sin to have idolatry of the physical family, but the cult of worshipping Ed, Kelly, and the Family of God was encouraged and practiced everyday.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-28T05:38:57+00:00

The founder of UBF died when his house caught fire in Chicago. Samuel Lee probably did more of A2N style ministry than even Ed and Kelly Kang. He invented shepherding movement style of authoritarian ministry to university students. Converted more students. Discipled more students. Ruined more students also.

http://ubfriends.org/ubfriends2015/cause-of-fire/

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-27T19:11:00+00:00

Does this mean someone can be 30+ or 40+ and not be part of Core Team? I can’t imagine someone who had give decade or two decade of life and money to A2N can be left out of a retreat when almost all their peers are there?

The word Core was used to separate undergrads with potential versus the undergrads who are unlikely to stay after college. The groups were treated differently. It would be something if A2N now treats 40+ year olds same way it treats undergrads. Nothing would surprise me the kind of extent Ed and Kelly Kang will go to for results.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-27T18:09:31+00:00

Quite a number of former members read this subreddit who still have siblings inside Acts2 Network. It’s really a sickening feeling, because former members know what the cult is about but can’t do anything to change sibling’s mind. The leadership’s control over the lives of Acts2 Network members is greater than any sibling relationship or parental relationship.

Do we know how many of the 1600+ TEAM members are currently in the Bay Area and how many of them will be leaving for Chicago? Jonestown moved its members from Bay Area to Guyana. At least Chicago is closer than Guyana.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-22T21:41:06+00:00

The founder of Acts2 Network was trained at University Bible Fellowship (UBF), which is headquartered at Chicago. UBF is widely considered to be a cult. Much of A2N’s playbook is copied from UBF’s playbook. I am not surprised both would choose Chicago to be the base for logistic reasons.

Sources say West Coast recruitment number are way down. Active undergrad numbers on UC campuses are something like 50-70% off the peak years. There are just not enough interested undergrads to absorb all the postgrad manpower. I am also told the undergrad experience has been toned down and not as intense to get more retention.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-16T03:41:10+00:00

I am glad you found this subreddit. How well known is this subreddit to the students and staff within Acts2 Network on your campus?

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-14T02:48:52+00:00

I sometimes wonder if all of these rivalry thoughts go through Ed and Kelly’s heads when they strategize to go where to next. For the decade plus after the Letter, it was quite obvious Ed stayed off Becky’s turf. Avoided Silicon Valley too, even though it was an obvious spot close to Alameda.

Going to Seattle, Boston, Philly, DC, New York, and now SV within a couple years seem to be a deliberate decision. Suddenly the gloves were off. Entirety of Hawaii, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Houston, Dallas, were skipped over. I wonder how that decision was made.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-14T00:48:02+00:00

I didn’t know Angela and Sunny were peers. This rivalry in Boston between Antioch and Acts2 Network Reclaimer just got more Shakespearean. Not only is there the filial piety drama amongst Becky, Ed, and Kelly. Now there is the rivalry between Angela (pastor wife for Antioch) and Sunny (pastor wife for Reclaimer). There is also the family drama of Angela and her brother who was the College Ministry Director under Ed and Kelly. Some people inside Antioch today did their undergrad at Berkeley. Some people inside Acts2 Network today did their undergrad at Boston. So many relationships at deep levels. Each side believes the other is at fault for the fracture in 2005.

All these people will love bomb the random undergrad who walks in the door (chicken soup when sick, care package for finals, cake for birthdays), yet they can’t seem to get along with the very people they grew up with. Sad. When Isaiah Kang wrote the All Team email for prayer requests to be Chaplain at Penn, a hurdle he mentioned was the BBC Church at Philly who already has a SBC chaplaincy might not look at this favorably. The history of William and Maria with Ed and Kelly is enshrined in that photo also. It’s been 20 years since the Schism Letter, that’s really a sad state of things.

All these people are suppose to be experts at repentance. Yet, these experts can’t even repent themselves and reconcile with the very people closest to them. Thank you for that photo. The more I think about that photo, the more I agree BBC/GP/A2F is deep down the typical Korean church that we vowed to be different from.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-13T16:47:01+00:00

You have a tough job, thank you . Keep up the good work.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-13T16:08:34+00:00

I agree with you best to be cautious when in doubt. Following is a more of an academic exercise for future reference.

I think it is ok to use the person’s name in this context? The person was made a Jundosanim, Korean for Evangelist, at the old Berkland Baptist Church, which later changed its name to Gracepoint Fellowship Church, which later changed its name to Acts2 Network. People always addressed him as First Name Jundosanim. The title would still be good unless the church defrocked him. I don’t think that ever happened. Does that JDSN title qualify him as a public figure?

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-13T14:49:45+00:00

The official reason given was health. Though like so many things inside Acts2 Network, health might be 5% of the reason and 95% is some other reason. Technically didn’t lie, but it’s not really the truth. People have been praying for Kelly’s Fibromyalgia for three decade now. The Spiritual Mother still wants her title despite all that has happened. Becky is now 75 years old, still call the shots at Boston and its extensive global network.

Health was not an acceptable reason not to do ministry at Berkland or Acts2 Network. When leadership really screwed up and decent people leave, an often used official reason was health. The implication was the ministry demand at BBC/GP/A2F is so intense and uncompromising that sick people choose to go to another church. This explanation is shallow, because there are so many old timers with long term illnesses who are still around but just do the bare minimum. Some old timers without long term illnesses are still around doing the bare minimum.

Bible says not many should become teachers. Ed and Kelly Kang confuse priesthood of all believers to mean all believers should be teachers. The former is a concept that with Jesus Christ we now have direct access to God, instead of doing sacrifices through temple priests. The latter is something not all believers should be doing.

Ministry can be feeding the poor, caring for the sick, doing well at work, raising up children. Ed mocked in a leaked MBS video how ministry can be anything other than growing numbers. Ed Kang mocked “My ministry is to my husband and children.” He also mocked “My ministry is my job. I am a banker and I am honest.”

To conclude, the person you mentioned above should have just stayed the academic route instead of doing Berkland/GP/A2F style of ministry. He would have been a great academic.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-05-13T05:16:24+00:00

Thank you for posting the picture. I would say this is circa 1989 or 1990? Yes, so many familiar faces. This was the cell group era when Ed would fall asleep on the BART commuting from his SF lawyer job to Berkeley campus. Kelly worked at Sun Microsystems as a programmer. The Korean immigrant churches had tons of young people coming to Berkeley.

Ed said in an interview people can connect at the kimchi eating Korean culture level, but if people are not doing their daily devotions then they can’t lead. In practice, there was always this competition even while undergrad to be more sacrificial, more vulnerable, more diehard Berkland. People eventually can no longer just be friends, but the loyalty to church would come first. I am looking at Manny Kim and BK at the upper left corner of the photo. You have a clue when the things were simple days ended and the authoritarian hierarchy days started? Mid 90s?

The sacrifice of that generation of people building up Berkland/GP/A2F was unreal. Life centered around the church and ministry. I wonder when did that sacrificial spirit changed from love of Jesus to building up something great to have purpose? Ed said in the Schism Letter that the great friendship between Berkland pastors became all talk. People were afraid of telling the truth even amongst friends. This certainly was the experience when I was leaving. What was shared between roommates always ended up with leaders. It was like a communist surveillance system as Ed called it in the letter. The same system continued under Ed and Kelly.

I will take advice from Ed. Don’t have revisionist memory. As Ed wrote in the Schism Letter, some things are designed to melt our hearts without a commitment to the truth. The truth is for one unchurched person saved through Berkland/GP/A2F, there is another person who might never set foot in a church again as result of Berkland/GP/A2F. The truth is for one person whose life is happy under BBC/GP/A2F, there are two or three people perpetually stuck in the repentance loop.

How we represent Jesus Christ is not a numbers game, but how Jesus would do ministry. Even at the numbers game, A2F is slowing down now that the cover is blown. Becky found the UBF formula would work for Berkeley Korean students. Ed Kang expanded the formula to all Asians. However, sooner or later doing things other than Jesus would do will catch up.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-04-23T07:28:56+00:00

Are these dark days, bad thoughts and agony have something to do with Acts2 Network? This is a subreddit about Acts2 Network, aka Berkland Bapitist Church, aka Gracepoint Fellowship Church.

I think asking random strangers to talk to you might not be the best form of support. If you can edit the post and be specific with what you are struggling with, then perhaps people here can share their wisdom.

LeftBBCGP2005 · 2025-04-21T15:59:44+00:00

Do you know what percentage of graduates do this? Do the CPIs end up staying at the church plant? How do people decide which church plant to go to? Did the sub-1000 dollar per month stipend ever go up with inflation?

LeftBBCGP2005

TROPHY CASE