A 130-year-old church in Bangor, near Belfast, suffered extensive damage after catching ablaze in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The fire at the church, which is situated in County Down, is reported to have taken hold at around 2am.
However, the situation could well have been worse if it was not for two police officers, who spotted the conflagration and called fire rescue services.
Speaking to UTV, reverend Nigel Parker commended the efforts of the police officers.
He said: “They broke into the building, discovered that the fire was raging inside and phoned the Fire and Rescue Service, who responded very quickly.
“There is sadness to see the building damaged but we are delighted that no one has been injured in this.”
The blaze damaged the roof of the church, as well as the pews in the seating area, but police are not treating it as suspicious.
Churches must ensure that they have a Responsible Person in place whose job will be to make sure that the establishment is in compliance with the Fire Safety Order regulations that came into effect in 2005.