AUGUSTA — The sanctuary of the Green Street United Methodist Church is currently full of wooden pews, each with a set of Bibles and hymnals at the ready and a large cross hanging prominently on the wall.

It will someday become a sanctuary of a different sort, if organizers of a group looking to raise funds to buy the church and convert it into a homeless shelter are successful.

Cubicles of beds would take the place of the pews, enough for up to 40 homeless people to spend the night inside.

Another section of the 17,000-square-foot building would be a community center where, during the day, people could get help from community health workers to connect to services such as substance use counseling, or get help finding employment. The Green Street building would also have a series of  supported-housing apartment units for up to 16 people in what was once classroom space, which people could move to from the shelter space and become tenants and potentially move onto more permanent housing.

Organizers note in promotional literature that the proposed new Green Street United Community Living Center would be “A Sanctuary for All.”

However, before any of that will happen, organizers must raise $650,000 to buy the church property, which was initially listed on the real estate market for $985,000.

Betty St. Hilaire, a leader of the group, said they have an agreement with the church to buy the building for $649,000. She told visitors touring the facility at an open house there on Tuesday they have about three months to show church officials they have made strides raising funds and, if they have, the church will hold the property for them as they complete fundraising.

The Green Street Methodist Church, built in 1828, is currently for sale. Members decided their shrinking congregation can no longer support, nor needs, such a large facility. Church leaders have said they hope the church would be purchased by an organization that would use it to help people who are unhoused, and thus embody the community spirit shown by the church for decades, in a new way.

If and when the funds are raised, the shelter could open sometime next year. St. Hilaire, who manages community health workers at MaineGeneral Medical Center, and other organizers said they seek to provide people who are homeless with a safe place to sleep and a path out of homelessness.

“That’s what we’re hoping for, to make change,” said Sue Gayne, one of the organization’s founders, as she greeted visitors at the open house.

But a commitment to that path will not be required, as people who come to stay there will not be required to partake in any services offered, and can also stay for as long as they want.

“Services won’t be mandated. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink,” St. Hilaire told a group touring the facility at the open house, which drew more than 100 people.

Community health workers who would staff the facility could help connect people with services that could include education, employment, recovery, and physical and mental health needs.

The final services to be offered there are yet to be determined, as organizers plan to host listening session with people who are homeless and people with unstable housing. Organizers want to find out what their needs are, what barriers to escaping homelessness they face, and how they could best be helped.

“What we want to do is meet with the folks who’ll be using the space to find out, from them, what they need,” St. Hilaire said.

Bobby-Jo Bechard, manager of peer support programs for Motivational Services, and a founding member of the Green Street United Community Living Center, said “hopefully it is going to be the best program around for people who are unhoused.”

Augusta and other areas of the state have seen an increase in the number of people who have become homeless, amid high home prices and escalating rents.

The shelter space will not be open to users during the day. The attached community center would be open during the day, Bechard noted, but not just as a spot for people to “hang out” — it would be open for people seeking services there, or using its planned computer lab and teaching kitchen.

Some downtown business owners and residents have previously expressed concern that people who are homeless, including those staying at overnight shelters, who have nowhere else to go during the day can cause problems downtown, such as panhandling, and make others there feel unsafe.

The shelter would have separate sleeping areas for men and women, as well as a bathroom with showers.

It would not be meant for families and limited to people 18 and older. St. Hilaire said that’s because as a low-barrier shelter it would not be appropriate for children, as the facility will accept people with criminal records, mental health conditions, or actively using substances, as long as those people do not pose a risk to others and do not bring weapons or drugs onto the property.

Bread of Life Ministries has a 40-bed family shelter on Hospital Street in Augusta.

St. Hilaire said shelter officials would work with other local organizations, including Bread of Life, Bridging the Gap which runs a winter daytime warming center on Eastern Avenue in Augusta, and the Augusta Overnight Emergency Warming Center, to provide services to people in need without duplicating each other.

Donations to the project can be made through the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Augusta, which will serve as the living center’s fiscal agent until the new group obtains nonprofit status.

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