Fire destroys church on 4th of July

NORFOLK, Va. - At first it was only smoke visible at Shekinah Glory Outreach Ministries at around 10:30 Saturday morning. But thick smoke turned into heavy flames and scorching heat.

"They had both of the ladders up there spraying from the top," said witness Shawn Dixon, "and the guys on the ground spraying it through the front door."

Inside the burning building, doors and walls created a maze choked with zero visibility in fire, trapping the flames in and keeping the firefighters out. Firefighters say it was an electrical fire.

"It was devastaing," Pastor Christina Rouson said, "I was really praying that it wasn't true but unfortunately it was."

The flat roof, held up with wooden struts, collapsed after firefighters pulled out of the buildling for safety. But where the fire destroyed a structure of wood and metal, it left a symbol of faith standing.

"We're going to stay together as a congregation," promised Rouson. "We're going to have church somewhere. We're not going to let this stop us or get us down. We're going to keep moving."

Rouson's congregation has only been here since March. They've even remodeled once. To them, this is just one more challenge to overcome.

"We're still going to have faith," Rouson said, "faith to believe we're gonna keep right on going."

Sunday service has already been scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Portsmouth's Renaissance Hotel.