JASPER, Ala. (AP) — Lighting has struck a pastor in Alabama following church service.

WBMA-TV reports that Walker County dispatchers sent the Argo Area Volunteer Fire Department to the Argo Church of God Sunday afternoon. Firefighters discovered Pastor Ricky Adams had been hit by an indirect lightning strike.

The pastor says he went to lock the church’s front door and was holding it when the lighting struck nearby and shocked him.

Fire Chief Terry Pickett says the pastor was alert and talking when first responders arrived. Pickett says he has been in fire service for nearly 30 years and had never been called out for a lightning strike.

He says Adams didn’t suffer any major injuries and didn’t need to be transported to a hospital.

Adams says, “the Lord had his hand on me.”

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Information from: WBMA-TV, http://www.abc3340.com