Well, this has been interesting conversation, so let me put in my 2 cents. There was a HUGE drop of support for the church after the so-called sex scandals came to light. Some of these cases were more than questionable, but to avoid more bad publicity, and scandal the church paid off on a number of cases, and offered free counseling to some of the suffering souls. Some of the problems we are seeing today is a result of our own irreverence. We've become a society that wanted to be able to go to church Sunday morning in blue jeans and tank tops. Surely the parents that allowed their children to do so, or even argued against having to dress up helped to foster the socio-trend which seems to have taken the importance and value of attending church out of the paradigm. That paradigm is that we once viewed church as significant and crucial to family and society as we attempted to become a civilized culture. Church was a place where we gave God his glory and received our forgiveness and the sacrament of life - the Eucharist. With the degradation of value in attending church because of the loss of it's significance in our lives for personal and spiritual growth other activities became more important to us in forming social bonds - i.e soccer games, and football games. As the soccer mom culture grew, and the children's activities became more critical to their growth and development, church became a less necessary activity. Parent's tend to believe that their child is the star of the game, we want our children to be successful, and somehow sports became more important that having the values that we receive by attending church. Soccer is todays church, and unfortunately - very few good values other than sportsmanship are taught. Depending on the coach - the new role model replacing the parish priest; some sportsmanship may even be sacrificed for the sake of the game. What lesson does that teach? Next is the church paradigm which causes people to move out of parish or stop attending. The value placed on new members. I get my envelopes all the time. I gave my time prolife, RCIA, ministry formation, etc.; and when the calling came (I think it was always there) at 40 to request to become a deacon - the old farts group that controls the Diaconate (guys in their late 50's and 60's) said I was too young. - I wonder what Jeremiah would have said to that. When new members join the church they are quickly grabbed for as many groups as they can handle and soon become burned out, and uninterested - even avoiding church to prevent being asked for more time. I've been a lifelong Catholic at the same parish - I see it all the time. So how do you breathe new life into a parish that is suffering - A parish on our west side of town was failing to meet it's bills, and attendance. Someone came up with a brilliant idea that breathed life into it.. welcome the minorities. First they set up Spanish language masses, and brought in people from the other parishes to help with their needs - i.e volunteers to help distribute clothing donations, etc. Some churches found Asian speaking members to assist in their community. The problem was that the church didn't reflect the community and those people didn't attend. Once that was addressed attendance improved. My parish is in the middle of an affluent white neighborhood, and a poor mostly minority community. The affluent families only had one or two children ( I blame that on liberal idealogy - birth control and abortion), while the minority families have at least 2 -3 children. These families are working people who tend to get looks when they come into the chapel. While the parish says it is welcoming - the community of parishioners shows otherwise. I think Christ would be ashamed! We need to get the churches to become truly welcoming, and truly supportive of the people who live in the community that should be able to attend that parish. That of itself will improve things. Many latins, asians and other groups are being welcomed into the "evangelical" or mega rock and roll churches. We haven't as Catholics addressed that. When was the last time you saw a "Catholic Church" add on the tv or radio. To end this on the main point - to ask to preserve a church because it has been historically part of a culture probably won't do anything to help the church's bottom line and likely will result in the closure unless it can be preserved as a shrine or basillica. The best bet is to speak of the church's early history of helping a community of immigrants (Croatians, etc.) and redirecting that focus to the new immigrants or minoritys in order to improve attendance. I find it amazing that schools are closing because of lack of support, in this area at least only one school closed years ago because of that; now it is being rehabilitated. Their is a large population of suburbians who want their children in the safer "private" parochial schools, maybe from a sense of elitism or esteem - still if it appeals to them why not address it as a marketing tool. Good luck in the rest. I hope that the Croatian heritage can be preserved. Dave