“One of the silver linings of this economic recession is that where these manses exist, they have become huge assets to pastors and their congregations,” Ewing said.

The ongoing upheaval in the real estate market has added new appeal to the old-fashioned church manse.

Presbyterian churches use the term “manse” to describe a residence for the pastor that is provided and maintained by the church. Other denominations may call it a “parsonage,” “rectory” or even a “vicarage.”

First Presbyterian Church of Clinton learned about the changing role of the manse while searching for a new pastor. The Clinton church is one of only six Presbyterian churches that currently have a manse that is used as the minister’s residence within the Milwaukee Presbytery, which serves 45 churches in a southeastern Wisconsin area that stretches from Rock County to Lake Michigan.

Another five churches own a manse, but rent it out or use it for other purposes. Thirty-four churches, including Beloit’s First Presbyterian and Sun Valley Presbyterian, do not own a manse.

During the Clinton church’s earlier searches for a pastor, candidates were sometimes doubtful about living in a manse, according to Deb DuCharme, a member of Clinton’s search committee. But in the most recent search in 2010, potential pastors saw the appeal of avoiding an uncertain investment in a fluctuating real estate market.

Attitudes toward offering a manse as the pastor’s residence have shifted over time, according to Scott Anderson, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, Sun Prairie, Wis.

“One hundred years ago, all churches had manses,” Anderson said. “It was just part of church life that there would be a church-owned manse for the pastor and his family.”

After World War II, Anderson said churches gradually stopped providing manses as ministers asked for the opportunity to gain the equity that often comes with home ownership. Instead of getting a house to live in, ministers were often given a housing allowance to help make up for salaries that typically lagged behind those of other professionals.

In recent years, churches located in housing markets with rapidly rising values returned to offering a manse as a way to make housing affordable to ministers, Anderson said. Some churches in these markets also helped ministers obtain financing by funding part of the down payment on a home, with the minister repaying that investment when he or she left the community.

After the housing market crashed, churches began taking another look at the manse as a way to attract ministers who were hesitant to buy a home they might later be forced to sell at a loss when they moved to a new congregation in another city.

“Local conditions make a huge difference,” Anderson said. “I can totally understand why in this climate, when you have housing prices going in the other direction, particularly a young minister would look at a house purchase as maybe a losing deal.”

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