(CNN) A South Carolina church kicked off Christmas week by learning that a suspected arsonist set its executive building on fire, but that didn't stop churchgoers from attending their Sunday worship.

Church leaders received a call early Sunday reporting the building was ablaze, and police informed them that "someone intended it to be on fire," said Shaneka Newell, the lead administrator for Spirit Filled Ambassadors for Christ Ministry, an apostolic church in Andrews, a small town about 60 miles north of Charleston.

Everything inside the building, which plays host to Sunday school and community events , is destroyed. The walls and parts of the ceiling will have to be torn out and replaced, she said. It will be "a huge impact to rebuild," she said.

It appears the perpetrator started the blaze by setting tablecloths and various papers on fire, Newell said, and "you can tell someone walked around and set what they wanted on fire."

Though the main sanctuary across the street wasn't damaged, the executive building plays an important role for the 20-year-old church, she said.

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