The South Point First Church of the Nazarene was bursting at the seams, and after nearly eight years of discussion and planning, the new facility is complete.

Pastor Charles Lane said the older church on Ninth Street only seated 150 in the sanctuary, and the attendance was averaging 160. The new sanctuary, across the street on Solida Road, can seat up to 350.

“We have had growth within our church and we aren’t able to accommodate everyone,” Lane said. He said the church is very outreach-oriented, and the previous facility didn’t have the space to allow it. “We were wall-to-wall over there.”

The church was able to purchase the business building on Solida, gut it and turn it into a 10,000-square-foot modern church.

The foyer of the new church is wide and open with couches and chairs, and is in a space that Lane said used to be a beauty shop.

The new sanctuary is decorated neutrally, with beige chairs, paint and carpet. The tray ceiling has recessed lighting and professional stage lighting. Media screens are throughout the church.

The new nursery area, formerly where a pizza shop was located, is triple the size of the previous church nursery and has two separate spaces for babies and toddlers, complete with its own child-size restroom.

“This has been exciting for the whole community of South Point,” Lane said. Even when the steeple was being put up, many in the community stopped by to watch.

The new kitchen area, which used to be the location of a lawn service business, has also tripled in size.

Lane said the women in the church are especially fond of the new bathroom. The previous church had one commode and no hot water, and the new bathroom features five stalls and three sinks in the ladies’ room. He joked that he was going to have a hard time getting them to come out of the bathroom now.

“I’m going to have to install a speaker so they can hear the message,” Lane laughed.

Another feature Lane is pleased with is that the building is completely flat, making it very handicapped accessible.

The plans for building the church have been accomplished in phases.

Phase 1 was to pay off the purchase of the new building. Phase 2, just completed, was to build the church. Phase 3 will be to build a new gymnasium that can accommodate 700 people.

Lane said the members have been very supportive throughout the entire building process.

“It’s a wonderful congregation,” Lane said. “The easiest people to work with. They are very cooperative and helpful. Everyone is on the same vision level. We all know what we need to do and we do it. It’s 100 percent backing of the people.”

The church had their first service in the new building on Easter morning.

“We have new people just about every week,” Lane said. “The last three weeks we have averaged about 190.” He added that when people are crowded, like in the previous facility, they just don’t stay.

“The future of this church is really bright.”