Doors back open at Brookfield church damaged in storm

BROOKFIELD (WITI) -- Parishioners returned to Victory International Fellowship Church on Sunday, June 16th. This, after a tree collapsed onto the church's roof when storms rolled through on Wednesday night.

"The worship was so good here Wednesday night, we brought the house down," Lead Pastor Rory Grooters said during Sunday's service at Victory International Fellowship.

Many were thrilled to return to the church after a tree came crashing down on the building.

"It came through the roof -- three large holes, 21 holes in total. Nobody was injured. We had water cascading like Niagara Falls because it was right at the height of the storm," Pastor Grooters said.

It happened Wednesday evening during a worship service.

Although it was a stressful situation, Pastor Grooters says he's glad he was there.

"Had it happened on a Tuesday night or a Thursday night -- an off night where we don't have anything going on here, nobody would've discovered it. There would've been much more damage," Grooters said.

A disaster clean up team spent days removing the tree and all the water, and the crew also tarped the roof.

The damaged portion of the building is still blocked off to the public.

"It's fun to be back. A lot of people are curious. I see them peaking through the holes, but they're just excited that everyone is safe and nothing really bad happened," Children's Pastor Melissa Gardner said.

Pastor Grooters joked about the experience in his sermon.

"I was thinking about changing my sermon title this morning to 'Noah and the flood,' or what it says in the book of Isaiah 'It rains on the righteous and the unrighteous,'" Grooters said.