The church community is counting the cost after a large fire destroyed the Macedonian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection in Rockdale on Sunday night.
Parishioners lined the street on Monday morning; many in tears as they saw what was left of their church.
Bricks and charred timber spilled onto the footpath in front the historic church which was built in 1892.
The only pieces left intact were the cream front doors which remain unscathed.
Church committee member Steve Kostovski said they were devastated.
‘’Being the first day of Easter we had lots of visitors,’’ he said.
‘’The community has been left devastated, we’re still just processing it.’’
He said it couldn’t have come at a worse time as just hours before parishioners were celebrating mass for the first day of Easter.
‘’This is one of the worse things that could have happened,’’ he said.
‘’The church is just stunning inside, people have a lot of good memories here.
‘’Everyone is just very sad.’’
He said the church will hold a mass later today at the Rockdale Uniting Church.
He said they were still waiting on the cause of the fire but without contents insurance would be left thousands of dollars out of pocket.
On Monday morning police and firefighters were still checking the stability of the building before entering.
Superintendent Adam Dewberry, from Fire and Rescue NSW, said about 60 firefighters battled the blaze at the church on Frederick Street for several hours, before bringing it under control.
Large flames could be seen shooting from the roof of the church, which earlier on Sunday had hosted services for Orthodox Easter.
Churchgoers watched from the street as their place of worship went up in flames.
"[It's] Orthodox Easter at the moment, and who knows, maybe candles left? Never know," one church member said.
Superintendent Dewberry said about 60 residents were evacuated from the neighbouring nursing home, with fears the large blaze could spread to that building.
They were allowed to return to their rooms about 1am.
Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins said three firefighters were struck by falling bricks when sections of the church walls collapsed. Two were taken to hospital in a stable condition, and were expected to make a full recovery.
The fire has pulled people of all faiths together with Rockdale Uniting Care offering their church to hold mass.
Reverend Martin Goodwin said they would do whatever they could to help.
‘’I know that if this happened to our church they would be the first ones offering their services,’’ he said.
‘’We have a wonderful relationship with them and we’ve shared many meals with them.
‘’It wasn’t just a church but a community centre where everyone would meet. It’s just a tragedy.
‘’I just encourage everyone to rally behind them.’’
Reverend Goodwin also visited the neighbouring nursing home and child care centre which is owned by the Uniting Church.
He said it was a miracle that the fire hadn’t destroyed those buildings as well.
Rockdale Mayor Bill Saravinovski visited the site just hours after the blaze erupted.
‘’It’s devastating and just a shock for the community,’’ he said.
‘’Easter is a very important part of the Macedonian calendar and it really bonds together our community.
‘’We had record crowds take part this year so it’s horrible for this to happen when it did.’’
