The blaze was discovered about 2:45 a.m. by a passing motorist who noticed flames and smoke coming from the roof of the two-story brick structure off N.C. 168 about 2 miles south of the Virginia border.

The motorist happened to be Kevin Murphy, a Virginia Beach policeman who lives in Moyock - next to Ramsey. They've been neighbors for only a month.

Murphy drove directly to the Moyock Fire Department, less than a half-mile away. Firefighters were ready, having been jolted awake by the thunderous strike that they knew hit somewhere close by.

Twenty-seven firefighters from Crawford and Moyock fire departments in Currituck County and Chesapeake Station 7, about six miles away, responded to the scene.

Murphy then went home to get Ramsey and his wife, Judy.

Mrs. J. Norwood edge, 77, said: "Some people said that when it was burning, as some of the timbers fell, it looked almost as if it was in the shape of a cross."

She and her husband have attended Moyock Baptist for almost 50 years. Her daughter was married there, and one of three sons was ordained a minister at the church.

"We had our golden anniversary in '92, and, of course, the church shared that moment with us also," she said. "It meant so much to us because it was our home in a spiritual way."

Alicia Pinnock, a parishioner who lives nearby, said: "It's just so sad to watch the older generation. It's like their life went up in smoke. The took it so personally, like it was their home."