We are a community of multi-cultural, multi-generational and imperfect people who have been brought together by the grace of Jesus Christ. We believe that God has brought you here and if you are new, we would love to meet you this Sunday!
We are so happy that you're here and we hope to meet you in-person soon. It's hard to know what to expect when you attend a new church service, so we've included some items below that we hope answers some immediate questions for you. If you have any more questions, just ask us!
For regular updates on the happenings at Immanuel, you can subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
Our English Service begins at 11:30am on Sundays. We’d love to see you this coming Sunday!
Our style is a mix between modern (band with guitar, keyboard and drums, relaxed clothing, etc.) while also holding on to traditional practices (reading of the Heidelberg catechism, a praise anthem from the choir and singing of hymns). We observe Holy Communion every first Sunday of the month. Click here to listen to some of our latest sermons.
Yes! All children start at the main service with their parents for singing and listening to the choir anthem. They are then dismissed to their Sunday School classes. The teachers at Immanuel take great care in providing high quality programming and ministry for children of all ages. We strive to create environments that are both safe and celebratory of the children's age and stage of life.
Our teachers and staff undergo background checks and regular training and equipping to ensure that the very best care is being provided for the children at all times. We love what we do and the children we get to work with! Learn more about our children's ministries.
Yes! For those who would like to worship with us online, our Sunday Service live-streams can be found here: https://icrc.ca/livestream. We'd love to meet with you in person on Sundays, but we recognize that the online option continues to be a necessary feature in light of the times that we live in.
If you have more questions or would like to connect, please fill out the form below and we’ll have somebody from our church reach out and connect with you!
Senior Pastor
Educated in the Philippines and England, Pastor David trained in Psychology, Biblical Studies, Chinese History, Church History and Christian Missions. Awarded the PhD by the University of London (UK), Pastor David published his signature work, Christianity in modern China, with the prestigious Brill academic press in Europe.
Pastor David began fulltime ministry in 1986 as Youth Pastor in a middle-size church and later became Senior Pastor in an inner-city church. He also served as seminary lecturer, mission executive, mission mobilizer and seminary president. Also an author and conference speaker, Pastor David is now senior pastor here at Immanuel CRC. During his free time, Pastor David enjoys guitar music, reading, watching a nice movie with his family and performing close-up magic tricks.
Mandarin Ministry Pastor
Pastor Luke is the lead pastor of ICRC Mandarin congregation. He graduated from Biblical Seminary of the Philippines and Regent College. Both Pastor Luke and his wife, Pastor Grace, love the Word of God. They have three kids: David, John, and Joshua.
Pastor Luke likes himself to be described as, according to Romans 1:1, "A servant of Christ Jesus".
Mandarin Ministry Assistant Pastor Prior to answering her call to pastoral work, Pastor Hongying worked as a fashion designer in the US and China. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from China Evangelical Seminary North America in California and now serves as a pastor of Immanuel CRC's Mandarin congregation. Aside from preaching and teaching Scripture, she is passionate about caring, spiritual formation, discipleship, and cultivating a missional community. Pastor Hongying also serves 4 churches in China for pastoral caring and discipleship since 2019. God has chosen her to testify as a witness for Him and use her in His service and miracles.
Children's Ministry
After graduating from Biblical Seminary of the Philippines for Masters in Biblical Studies, Ester served in United Evangelical Church of Pasay beginning in 1989. After she got married, she served in Christ Universal Mission with her husband and then became the coordinator of CCOWE Philippines Resource Center for 5 years as a volunteer.
After their son Matthew was born, she became a full-time mother with volunteer ministries in small group, Bible study, teaching Bible to high school students, Sunday School and VBS. After migrating to Canada, she became full-time church worker involved with Children Ministry at Immanuel CRC where she’s been since 2010.
Coming from a family of 11, with 16 nephews and nieces, Ester knows all about working with children. Her passion is to establish God's people in God's word especially through the Children’s Ministry by nurturing the next generation to grow in faith and serve God. Ester’s hobbies include gardening, listening to music and sewing!
English Ministry Pastor
Pastor Vic serves as the pastor of Immanuel CRC's English congregation. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Regent College and is passionate about teaching and preaching Scripture, spiritual formation, discipleship, and cultivating a missional community.
Prior to becoming a pastor, he worked as a project manager in the Singapore government and the IT industry. Vic and his wife, Isabel, enjoy reading, singing, studying the Hebrew language, hiking, snowboarding, and going on road trips.
Children's Pastor
Heidi has a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies at the International Graduate School of Leadership and did various studies in child development. She is passionate about teaching the word of God to transform the hearts and minds of future generations. Prior to working at ICRC, she has worked with various Christian schools in the Philippines, developing curriculum and had set up her own preschool.
A mother of three, she has homeschooled her children for 10 years and helps supports parents of other homeschoolers. She enjoys hiking, camping and reading.
The bulk of what we believe we hold in common with the Christian church around the world and throughout the ages. Three creeds adopted by the worldwide church centuries ago summarize the most important tenets of our faith: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
To summarize these common beliefs, we’ll use the text of the Apostles’ Creed. But first an explanation. Despite its title, the Apostles’ Creed was not written by the apostles or disciples who walked and talked with Jesus in the first century. Instead it is a compilation of what believers in the first centuries knew from written and oral testimony, which was then distilled into the essentials of the Christian faith. This creed was reworked by successive councils of the early Church. It was adopted in its present form before the end of the fourth century.
A quick look at the structure of the Apostles’ Creed reveals one of the bedrock truths of the Christian faith: the Trinity. The creed is divided into three parts: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All Christians believe that the Bible reveals one God in three “persons.” In other words, God is a perfect community of love.
We belong under the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) denomination. The Christian Reformed Church includes just over one thousand congregations across the United States and Canada. About 75 percent of the churches are in the United States; 25 percent are in Canada. We’re one of only a few binational denominations: rather than split into different churches at the 49th parallel, we're united.
As a local church or congregation, we are a part of a wider network of local churches through our membership in the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA). The CRCNA is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada and almost 300,000 people belong to the CRCNA—not a large number when you consider the population of our two countries. But by God’s grace we can accomplish a lot when we work together.
The word “reformed” in our denominational name signals our historical roots in the Reformation movement of the sixteenth century. Among the reformation groups which originated from that period were the Lutheran churches (associated with Martin Luther) and the Reformed churches (associated with John Calvin). The Reformed tradition in England and Scotland took the form of the ‘presbyterian’ churches. The Dutch immigrants in North America founded what later became the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Out of the RCA was born our denomination (CRCNA) in 1857.
We are a Christian Reformed church in Richmond BC. We exist to glorify God and fulfill his will. Our five major duties are: to worship, to follow Christ, to fellowship, to serve and to evangelize.
9:00AM - Minnan Worship
10:15AM - Mandarin Worship
11:30AM - English Worship
