Madison churches becoming housing, community spaces as religion shifts

The Rev. Staci Marrese-Wheeler can pinpoint the moment she heard a conversation that crystalized the need for Madison’s churches to rethink their model. Two young student teachers were talking on their way to a monthly gathering, hosted in the former Lakeview Moravian Church building...

...In October, Common Grace is set to celebrate another milestone: the opening of 26 units of workforce housing and the new 6,800-square-foot Eastmorland Community Center, with a multiuse space designed to hold around 90 people for larger gatherings — Sunday worship or otherwise — as well as a community kitchen, food pantry and smaller rooms for art classes, after-school programs or remote workers who need somewhere to take a meeting...