There is a sense of sadness and shock for the Grace Lutheran Church community in Vestal, after a fire destroyed the main building Monday night. Gabrielle Lucivero has more.  

VESTAL, N.Y. -- There is major destruction at the corner of Main Street and Hazel Drive in Vestal -- the result of a fire that, as one neighbor reported, had crews out until past 3 a.m.

It was known for its stained glass windows and beautiful organ music. But on Monday night, flames tore through the Grace Lutheran Church leaving just a frame.

"And then everybody just stood around and watched. You could hear the glass breaking. And just flames were just really, really high,” said Hazel Drive resident Lana Roske.

As the sun came up, many parishioners stopped by to survey the damage and remember what once was an iconic fixture in Vestal.

"That stained glass, you walked in every Sunday you saw it brought the light in to the church. It was a beautiful church, it still is a beautiful church, and I hope that they decide to rebuild it,” Christi Smith said, who has attended the church for seven years.

The church, built in 1956, has since been expanded to include classrooms for their pre-school. A pre-school that was supposed to graduate on Tuesday.

"They're making alternate plans for a different location, but we'll proceed forward. And with every downstep there's an upstep, so it will be good to celebrate that tonight and see the kids progress,” said Doug Fett, the church’s congregational chairman.

As they move forward, there's still a long way to go before they'll have to make a decision about rebuilding, but one thing is for sure, parishioners can expect a service on Sunday no matter what.

"We are confident that Grace Lutheran will remain in some form with our members, we're maybe having church in the parking lot on Sunday, but I'm sure that we will be having church services on Sunday,” said Fett.

The one bit of good news is that the pre-school building remained relatively in-tact.  They are now assessing it for smoke and water damage.

At this point, there hasn't been any word on the cause of the fire; however, no injuries have been reported.