The minister of Christchurch's St Margaret's Presbyterian Church was going about his normal Sunday preparations when he found his church in flames early this morning.
Six fire appliances and a command unit worked to extinguish the fire at the church, on Farrington Ave in Bishopdale, after receiving a call at 5:44am.
Minister of St Margaret's, Andrew Nicol didn't know of the fire until he arrived this morning to find the "extensive damage".
"It was a bit of a shock to me as I turned up to and found the fire fighters in the middle of fighting a fire at the sanctuary."
Minister Nicol said firefighters were dampening hot spots and spraying water on the roof.
The fire, which caused extensive damage in the chapel and storage areas of the building, was contained by 7am and a fire investigator is working to determine the cause.
No one was on site at the time.
Although other facilities on the premises are still available for use, all services were cancelled this morning due to power being affected across the site.
Minister Nicol says the church has already had a number of people show support locally.
"In the first instance it's devastating for those people who have been part of our congregation for a long time.
"It's upsetting of course, buildings are things that are dear to people. One of our main tasks today is really being there for people and being able to support as they face waking up to a very disturbing reality."
He says it's important for his congregation to know that the church will continue to operate services as normal as possible.
"We will still continue to function with all of our services and the worship of God at the heart of us actually existing.
"As many Christchurch people know these days, it's about people, not about the building."
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