BELLEVIEW, FL (352today.com) – They’ve been a beacon light in The City with the Smalltown Charm for more than eight decades, since 1941.

Souls Harbor First Pentecostal Church held a groundbreaking for its new sanctuary on Aug. 31,

“God is opening doors for a brand-new step for the City of Belleview,” said Rev. Doanld Currie, Souls Harbor First Pentecostal Church’s executive minister. “Let’s do great things for God in this new facility.”

U.S. Building Consultants Inc.’s Scott “Spiderman” Mulholland, the contractor, Scott Mulholland with Building Moisture Consultants, Colin Lasch, the senior project manager for the construction project and architect Greg McConnell, were all in attendance at the ceremony as were Bellview City Commissioner Bo Smith and Robert Vass, the City of Belleview’s community engagement liaison. McConley and Associates, Riddle Consulting Engineers, Inc. and Rogers Engineering, LLC are also involved in the project.

The event itself featured musical entertainment, prayer and worship services in an open-air environment, on the site of where the new sanctuary is to be built. A number of the ministers who were in attendance came around with shovels that were full of dirt and put it into vials for members of the congregation who were in attendance.

In 1972, the church had gone through a split and it appeared that the house of worship could’ve possibly shuttered. Bishop James Varnum and his wife Naomi Varnum made certain that Souls Harbor remained a vibrant part of the community through their hard work and commitment to keeping the church open, and it has grown exponentially, expanding to Dunnellon and Dade City.

It’s been a lifelong sojourn for Bishop Varnum, as he started as a pastor at age 16, traveling the nation preaching the Gospel, however, it was divine intervention that brought him back to Belleview. He told his father that God had sent him home to help. And at 18 years of age, he became the pastor of the church.

Souls Harbor First Pentecostal Church’s Rev. Jason Varnum, who has served as the pastor of the church for the past 18 years, thanked the congregation. His wife Hollina, read a poem that he wrote called The shovel that started it all to commemorate the ceremony Sunday evening.