A month after a fire destroyed First Baptist Dallas’ historic red-brick sanctuary, church officials say they are making progress with cleanup and may return to their normal schedule.

“It’s been an extraordinary four weeks for us,” said Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church. “Our people are very resilient and look to the future with hope.”

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News On Wednesday, Jeffress said the church held its regular services and Sunday school last Sunday and had a record number of attendees. There were some minor inconveniences, the pastor said, as some buildings could not be used.

The damage to the sanctuary was “so great” that the teams were not allowed to search for any items that might still be there because there were archives and a library in the basement.

“They are still in the process of securing the site and starting to clear the debris,” Jeffress said, “so it may be a while before we can see what, if anything, was salvaged.”

The pulpit, which was installed in the sanctuary in 1890, has been preserved, he said, adding: “We thought that was a small miracle in and of itself.”

In a video posted on social media on Tuesday, senior pastor Ben Lovvorn stands in a clearing among the rubble of the site where he said the pulpit once stood.

He said the team working to clear debris inside the building’s shell was making “great progress” and a restoration company was removing steel bars and other debris that served as the backdrop for the video.

Only the shell of the building will remain, he said.

The church received approval from the city to preserve the exterior walls of the historic red brick sanctuary after the building, which houses the church’s second chapel, was severely damaged by a downtown fire on July 19.

The chapel served as the church’s primary worship space for more than a century until First Baptist Dallas opened a new facility in 2013. On Wednesday, a Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman said said the investigation into the fire is ongoing. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

First Baptist began in 1868 with only three men and eight women, according to a history by The Dallas Morning News on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. The church today has about 16,000 members.

Jeffress is a nationally known religious leader. Jeffress, who leads the church, is a regular contributor to Fox News and was one of the most prominent Christian advisers to former President Donald Trump.

People will see that what is rebuilt on this site will be better than what was there before, Jeffress said. The newsThe church is posting pictures of the devastation “not to sink into grief” but to praise God that no lives were lost in the fire, he said.

“All of this reminds us that the church is not a building, it is the people,” Jeffress said. “The people are the church of God, and although we have lost a precious building, nothing of eternal value has been lost.”