Fire stalls restoration work of Lakeville church

LAKEVILLE, Ind. -The Lakeside Baptist Church caught fire sometime Tuesday morning, with the Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department arriving on scene around 9:40am.

The fire was mostly concentrated in the attic, and was put out around 11:00am.  

Allison Rulli, daughter of Pastor Vito Rulli, said “It’s emotional. It’s been an emotional couple of days. This is my whole life and pretty much my dad’s whole life. He’s worked very hard to make it what it is. A church is more than a building, but we’ve all put work in to make sure it’s a nice place to worship.”

Allison Rulli also said “Seeing the fire was beyond gut wrenching. You know, seeing the look on my parents face when they were watching it was definitely gut wrenching and hard, but it could be worse, so we all have faith that we’re gonna get through it and we’re gonna come out better than before.”

The church was still open during the COVID pandemic, serving around 100 congregants, and even offering live streams of the services for those who could not attend in person, but now all services have had to move into the church’s Youth Center.

The fire is still under investigation, so the Rulli family is unsure when restoration work can begin, but according to Allison, the family has received numerous calls of support from the community.