The fire quickly spread to the attic area of the old church where flames broke through the roof. According to reports, crews then had to switch to a defensive operation, as the building was deemed unsafe.

Approximately 40 firefighters and 12 vehicles were on scene battling the blaze with Hamilton and Milton fire squads offering water tanker support to assist in shuttling water to the rural area.

At 7 a.m., there were still hot spots reportedly being extinguished.

Halton police said late Wednesday morning, the roadway along Appleby Line infront of the church at No. 2 Side Road was expected to remain closed for the rest of that day.

As of noon, there were four fire vehicles, and firefighters and Halton police still on scene. Police said no one was injured.

An Ontario Fire Marshal arrived on scene shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday to conduct an investigation after being called by Burlington Fire after it had deemed the cause was suspicious.

There was no word as of late Wednesday afternoon from Burlington Fire or the Ontario Fire Marshal what the suspected cause of the blaze was.

Deputy Fire Chief Ross Montieth said Burlington Fire would remain on scene assisting the fire marshal for as long as required.

Montieth told the Post Thursday morning, the Ontario Fire Marshal Emergency Management investigators finished their on-site investigation yesterday, however, a report would not be available for several weeks.

Graffiti spotted outside on church wall

On the back, leftside wall of the church building, the word “ISIS” was clearly visible in large, black spray-painted letters.

Halton police said it was aware of the graffiti, but stated it was too early to know if it was related to the fire.

There was no indication from police whether or not the case was being investigated as a hate crime.

As of Sunday night, Muller said he had no doubt in his mind the graffiti was not on the church wall.

"(But) I don’t think it’s a religious hate crime," he noted. "My impression is if this ends up being arson, my suspicion would be there’s a malevolent character who did this; to add insult to injury, writes a provocative word on the wall."

Muller said he did suspect this was a case of arson.

“So on one level you ask, ‘Why would someone do this?’ And there might be an ideological reason; there might just be a pure malevolent, mischief reason,” he said.

“But at the bottom of it all, it’s human sinfulness… and because we see ourselves as sinners, we have no malevolent response to whoever did this. It’s our hope and prayer that something good might come out of all this.”

Standing across the street, looking at what little was left of his church building, Muller said it just brought about feelings of utter sadness.

“We love this building. We’d hate to see it crumble. It means a lot to us because… we’ve been blessed here. It’s not that the place itself is sacred, but sacred things have happened here and so, it breaks out hearts to see it go up in flames,” he continued, getting choked up.

Muller was originally an assistant to the founder of the Trinity Baptist Church, Pastor William Payne — the church was founded in 1972. He became its pastor in 1998.

Original building constructed as Zimmer Methodist Church

The building itself was built as a Zimmerman Methodist Church in the early 1890s, costing approximately $2,900, at the time.

Stone for the foundation was cut from the Niagara Escarpment, just north of the site, and hauled down during the winter by farmers with teams and sleighs, according to the Burlington Historical Society.

Sometime between then and 1975, the place of worship became a United church — it was during that year, the Trinity Baptist Church acquired the building at a cost of $30,000.

According to Trinity’s online historical timeline, church officials already had $23,000 in a building fund and an additional $8,000 came in from the small congregation during a special offering drive in July 1975.

Extensive renovations were made inside the building and a new section was added to provide washrooms and nursery facilities at a cost of $58,000.

When asked what the church’s next steps were, Elder Mark Hudson said it was too early to say.

If the building is deemed recoverable, Hudson and Muller said the plan would eventually be to renovate.

“If the building is recoverable, then down the road, this will hurt less. But if it’s permanent, it will have a serious impact on our hearts and anyone affected by it,” said Hudson.

Muller noted a church is its people; the building is simply something they walk into to share a spiritual moment.

“Our church is still here, even though the building may be gone. Church, in a real sense, is indestructible,” he added.