Refuge Church Richmond — Local services in Richmond

I attended a funeral yesterday where “Pastor” Chris Wilson blatantly exploited the individuals death to recruit people for this church by giving a forty minute sermon on sheep and the habits of shepherds. ✝️

Chris feels he is uniquely qualified because he and his wife had somewhat recently travelled to Scotland and because we hadn’t been that we the public in attendance couldn’t possibly comprehend the complexities of sheep and the shepherds who herd them. 🐑

🫥It was the singularly most self-serving, disrespectful, self-indulgent display of narcissism I have ever seen at a funeral or any place of worship.🫥

He also broke the individuals “anonymity" by revealing highly private and personal details about the decedents life to the general public in attendance, this was (again) a public funeral service, effectively defaming the deceased. 🧐

It is my opinion that I do not trust this man and I feel that based off of my experience at this service that you would be wise to take it into consideration. 🙏

There is no world in which the deceased would have subscribed to this extremist way of thinking, and that was reflected in the opinions of a recently retired pastor who (obviously knew the deceased better) spoke in a measured tone about the detriments of extremism. 🦋

Thank you for reading and I hope you all find this useful! ❤️

No one should feel at risk of being taken advantage of by a religious “professional” when they are searching for meaning, are lost, hurt, or in danger. ⚠️

Anyone can become a pastor, and we all need to be very careful who we place our trust in especially in Canada as records are not public information. 🙅‍♀️

EDIT 9/19/2025: A number of individuals present at the service have (as of today) made their feelings known (disclosed) to me and requested I update this to reflect their endorsement of these sentiments. They do not wish to be named nor contacted regarding this matter, at this time they are in mourning and require the space...

Church on Five is a very friendly and welcoming church. Pastor Rachel and Chris are young, very anointed and their sermons are always relatable. We always enjoy their stories and their abilities to link it to the sermons are admirable.

I'm not sure that we should have merged with the other church for many reasons. Some of the events are now at Ladner, which is quite far. It used to feel more family orientated, more personal, and with people who respected the Pastors while they were giving sermons. The congregation now is filled with people who arrive late, chat throughout the service (why???) or just disinterested in being there. I'm not really sure why they are there if they are not interested in worship or the word of God.

The service is too busy at 10 a.m. and it's stressful trying to get there early so as to get a seat. There used to be 2 services - 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. One service was cancelled when the worship leader left and we were told that it was temporary. However, this has not been restored. Recently, a Sunday, 6 p.m. service was added. This is too late for many people especially for those who work the next day or those who have children. It's also quite dark during winter for those who are driving. I hope the two daytime services are restored so there is more room for everyone.

We were told that merging the two churches would bring benefits and economies of scales. I'm sure the intention was good but so far, I'm not sure that's true. It feels like we helped the other church but Church on Five is neglected. I love Pastor Rachel and Pastor Chris, and I'm certain that they are doing their best, but the merge has been a great disappointment.

In my personal opinion, there should be more separation so there can be more care for the existing congregation. Spreading the word of God is important but so is caring...

My family participated Church on Five about one year. We didn't have a chance to talk to the lead pastors and staff. No relationship with people who attending the service. We volunteering in some programs. Sadly, we still haven't connected with anyone in this church. Church is the place to connecting people & people with Christ. We tried hard to get involve, didn't know one person in this church after one year attendance. Very disappointed....