At Madison’s largest Black church, finding space for all the programming requires some finesse. In one room with rows of narrow tables and a fireplace mantel covered in artwork, the weekly rotation includes tutoring for elementary-aged kids, computer help for older adults, painting and yoga classes and a drop-in behavioral health clinic.
Mount Zion Baptist Church has about 600 members, said the Rev. Marcus Allen, Mount Zion’s senior pastor. Most of those served by its community programs are not members of the church, he said, and in 2021 the church spun off these programs into a nonreligious entity called MTZ Charitable Organization. Allen is on the nonprofit’s board.
The church has been at its Fisher Street site on Madison’s South Side since 1961. A grander sanctuary was added in 2004, while the old sanctuary has remained in use for events ranging from post-funeral meals to community meetings to pop-up vaccine clinics.