Moravian

By Will Briggs – Madison Cap Times – 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. “They’d always come past my office and say, ‘Hi,’” recalled Marrese-Wheeler, pastor of Common Grace and co-director of the nonprofit Eastmorland Community Center. “One day I hear (them) as they’re walking downstairs, and one of them says, ‘What does this building smell like? It kind of smells like…

By Nicole Pollack – Wisconsin State Journal – The former Lakeview Moravian Community Church has stood for about 70 years on a triangular block in Madison’s Eastmorland neighborhood. Now empty, the single-story building at 3565 Tulane Ave. will soon be demolished for 26 lower-cost apartments and a new Eastmorland Community Center. The church’s two congregations, known collectively as Common Grace, have relocated temporarily to St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Monona but will return after construction to worship in the community center’s multi-use performance space. Upwards of 75 people showed up Wednesday to celebrate the church and community center breaking ground…

By Shaina Nijhawan – NBC 15 – MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – What started as two East Side churches coming together has grown into a vibrant neighborhood hub—and now, it’s outgrowing its home. The Eastmorland Community Center opened in 2021 inside a 70-year-old church building. But with everything from community art classes to support groups and school partnerships now filling the calendar, leaders say it’s time for a rebuild. “This building has actually been in use since 1954,” said Rev. Staci Marrese-Wheeler, co-executive director of the Eastmorland Community Center. “It was actually sitting pretty ineffectively on the piece of property we…