Worship spaces finding new homes

Churchgoers once knelt and prayed near Matt Kelly's living room.

Sunlight streaming in from arched windows that once lighted people in their pews now shines on the dining room table where Kelly, his wife, Jennifer, and their two young children share family meals.

What was once Church of the Ascension in St. Paul is now a home for ordinary people, and a sign of the new life that awaits church buildings that are no longer needed as membership dwindles and budgets tighten.

The trend is poised to accelerate in the coming years in the Twin Cities with a major reorganization of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul that began in January. Twenty-one Catholic parishes are merging with other parishes, which means some church buildings will be in search of new missions.

Bob Jaeger, executive director of Partners for Sacred Places, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that advocates for the reuse of religious properties, said thousands of religious structures across the United States have had to close. The ideal and still most common reuse of these worship spaces is for other religious entities to move into them, Jaeger said.

However, "the supply of willing and able congregations to buy an old vacant church is declining," he said. "Thinking about other non-religious uses is going to become more and more important."

Like the Kellys, other takers can be found. Attracted by distinct architectural features like soaring ceilings, ornate wood work and carvings, spiraling staircases and stunning stained glass windows, buyers have found a range of uses for old churches -- from restaurants and office space to theaters and community centers to condos and other residential structures.

Kelly, 40, a St. Paul native, was intrigued with the unorthodox living space in the English Lutheran church that was built in 1924 and converted to housing about 40 years ago. When the Macalester-Groveland home came on the market two years ago, he jumped at the chance to own it.

"It just gives you a feeling that you don't have to live in a cookie-cutter house and subscribe to a normal place to live," Kelly said. "The open space feels very free. My daughter loves to dance, and here she can run 50 feet in different directions and be wide open. I feel like there's a larger sense of freedom here."

Other churches find new life in a more public way.

Olivet Lutheran Church, for instance, became the home to the Playwrights' Center in the late 1970s.

The stucco exterior still looks like a church, with its belfry and arched windows. The Minneapolis church's original wood floors from 1905 are still in the lobby, along with some of its pews. Inside, a major renovation nearly 10 years ago created a 120-seat theater.

"If you talk to enough theater people you probably get a sense the theater space, at least to them, is a sacred space," McLaughlin said. "There's a continuance or harmony of purpose. It's well adapted to our uses. The spiritual quest you're on in attending a church service ... the literary artist's quest to realize truth through drama. There's something common in those endeavors."

Other examples of reuse include:

• Wesley Church in downtown Minneapolis, which is now a community event space where weddings and other events are held;

• Lakeshore Players Theater in White Bear Lake, which uses a former church for performances;

• Sharei Zedeck Synagogue, a Minneapolis landmark, which is now a community center and garden.

Josh Sprague, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Burnet in Edina, has shown many churches and other nontraditional spaces to prospective buyers in recent years. Small businesses, in particular, are often interested in them because "they're looking at creative uses for these spaces," he said. "Sometimes for the square footage, they can be a good value."

Sprague noted recently that out of 335 active commercial properties in the Northstar (Residential) MLS for Hennepin and Ramsey counties, eight are churches. The average price per square foot is $58 -- a bargain rate for a commercial property, he said.

Selling old worship spaces, however, can often take much longer, sometimes as much as 18 months or longer. Another challenge: the property may have to be rezoned to support new non-religious use.

As for the Twin Cities archdiocese, officials have said it's possible a merged parish might worship in two or more buildings. But in other cases, mergers will mean the loss of a church building.

Buildings would not be sold for "profane use," such as a bar, archdiocese officials have said.

For Matt Kelly and his wife, Jennifer, not maintaining their unique home with its rich history (renowned American landscape painter and sculptor George Morrison lived there in the 1970s) would be a disservice to the community.

Kelly said during warm months when he's outside working in his yard, pedestrians often stop and inquire about the building. Some people have even asked for tours of the house.

"I've kind of waited for someone to say you have no right to live in a house of God," he said. "It hasn't happened yet."

Rose French • 612-673-4352