Just a minute after a staff member locked a door, a car came crashing through the church fence and into the door of the cafe at St Mark's, West Wollongong.

"We are thankful to God that no-one was injured and that there were not more people or children in the church at that time," said the Rev Alex Zunica, St Mark's senior minister. "The car also narrowly missed a group of ladies from our church. They were praying for God’s protection on them and their families at the time and God certainly answered them! We praise our wonderful God for his protection over the whole situation."

The car left the Princes Highway outside the church and crashed through a fence before hitting the cafe door and other parts of the building. The driver sustained only minor injuries to the hand.

CCTV of the incident shows just how close those inside came to injury during their prayer meeting.

Mr Zunica praised parishioners for their quick response.

"At the drop of a hat, a number of people from our church community pulled together to clean up and make sure the space was safe and secure. Miraculously again, the cafe was able to open up the next day and we’ll be able to have our normal services this Sunday." he said.

Above: The damaged vehicle which crashed into the church

We thank God for our wonderful emergency services, the caring people from the local community who stopped and helped, and for our wonderful church family who worked tirelessly to support others and get things up and running."