Less than 100 years ago, the Methodist church in Old Homosassa sat where the elementary school is now.

The church members themselves pounded nails and painted the sideboards of the 10-by-10-foot wooden building.

That church is long gone — and my, oh my, have things changed.

Currently, First United Methodist Church of Homosassa is putting the finishing touches on their newest building, completing the final phase of their 20-year plan for the ministry campus on West Bradshaw Street.

Anyone who doubts whether the church can fill its combined 33,000 square feet needs only to visit this busy church any day of the week. From food pantry and thrift store to quilters and discipleship groups, this church that sits off the main highway is a constant hub of activity.

“I’ve never seen a church this busy all the time,” said the Rev. Mark Whittaker, church pastor.

Between 600 and 650 people call this church home, and more are joining the family, a good problem for a church to have.

“When we built the education building, the program was called ‘Building for Tomorrow’ …  but we built it for yesterday, because by the time we built it we had filled it,” Whittaker said. “It’s the same with this — we’re filling it.”

The newest 12,000-square-foot, $2.5 million addition includes:

n A lecture hall/media room with theater seating to be used on Sunday mornings for viewing videos during Sunday school, showing movies for kids on Saturdays, used for ladies’ nights out — and comes with a popcorn machine.

n Thrift store. “We’ve always had a thrift shop,” Whittaker said, “but we’ve rebuilt it and added a workroom for sorting clothes, and the thrift shop now has a dressing room.”

n Library.

n Reception room. “We don’t really know what to call this room,” Whittaker said of the large parlor/lounge area. The room, filled with comfortable sofa-chair-table groupings, could be used for a women’s tea, a baby shower, a reception area before or after a funeral. On Sundays it will be used as a Sunday school room.

n Huge kitchen. “We can feed 500 people from this kitchen,” Whittaker said. “We have been working on the concept of a soup kitchen for this church for (many) years, but we didn’t have the kitchen. Now we’ve got the kitchen, but we haven’t got the money.”

He said they’re looking for churches in the area to partner with them, much like what four churches in Crystal River do for their weekly free hot meal program.

“If we figure out how to do it, we’re going to do it,” he said.

n Youth center. This room comes with a lounge area with TVs and Nintendo Wii systems, foosball and other games.

n Multi-use room with full stage and electronic piano. This room has state-of-the-art, convention center-quality lighting and sound. It’s ideal for concerts, plays, etc.

“We’ll use this as often as we can, for church functions, obviously,” Whittaker said. “The YMCA has asked if they could use some rooms for exercise classes; we have the AARP driving classes here on a regular basis, SHARE (food program) is here, so it will get used.”

Other groups, from AA and Girl Scouts to FCAT and after-school tutoring, also regularly use the church’s facilities.

The new construction also includes additional rooms that can be used for Sunday school classes or meetings.

“A lot of the $2.5 million cost, we have a third of the money,” Whittaker said. “The $1.5 million we need to finance, we’re getting through the Florida United Methodist Church Foundation.”

“It’s a dream,” said Patience Nave, the church’s director of Christian education and ministries. “My favorite is the media room — the surround sound is incredible and I see so many wonderful possibilities. And we just got this incredible piano! I walk around here, smiling all the time.”

On Sunday, Feb. 22, the church will meet for a consecration service with country music artist James Rogers in concert. UMC district superintendent John Powers will be the guest speaker at all three worship services.

On Saturday, March 7, the community is invited to an open house celebration. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be inflatable games; EMS, fire and sheriff’s office demonstrations; free hot dogs and sodas; arts and crafts and hobby fair and a tour of the building.

At 7 p.m., “American Idol” season seven contestant Luke Minard will be in concert, along with the Sunshine Sound Quartet, Annie and Tim’s United Bluegrass Gospel Band, Jim and Jeannine Love’s Broadway Excerpts, Tuned to Revival and the Mary Kay Trio.

Admission to the concert is $5 per person. For ticket information, call the church office at 628-4083.