Why Sacred Places Still Matter in Pennsylvania

The oldest Catholic church in Scranton, the Nativity of Our Lord Church, recently held its final Mass. For 120 years, it stood as a cornerstone of city’s South Side, a space where generations gathered to worship, connect, and create memories. But due to declining attendance and rising maintenance costs, the doors have closed. Closures are painful to parishioners, of course, but the absence of a church is felt by the larger community as well.

Churches, synagogues, mosques, meetinghouses, and temples are sites of worship, yes, but their importance extends beyond that. These sacred places shape neighborhood identity, support local economies, and provide vital programs for people from all walks of life. When they close, communities lose more than a building. They lose access to resources essential to their health and vitality.

According to our Halo Effect study, the average urban congregation with an older building contributes $1.7 million in annual public value. Historic sacred places often serve dual roles: spiritual centers and community hubs. They provide food assistance, youth mentorship, mental health counseling, and services for immigrants. In many cases, those who benefit most aren’t even members of the congregation. The continued closure of places like Nativity underscores a deeper truth: we must preserve and reimagine sacred places if we want to protect the heart of our communities.

Across Pennsylvania, many places have already begun reimagining these spaces and now serve as incubators for new civic projects, blending their historic purpose with modern needs, including:

• Calvary United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, which formed a supporting organization, the Calvary Center for Culture and Community, that plays a lead role in managing and sharing the building. The church basement is now used by Curio Theatre and serves as a mixed-use space serving multiple community organizations.
• St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, which recently underwent a full roof and sanctuary restoration through grants and fundraising, offers hot meals, a food pantry, legal and health services, and shelter for the unhoused in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
• First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre, a National Fund for Sacred Places grant recipient, renovated its third floor for classroom use. This allowed the church to partner with another local church to provide English as a Second Language classes to a growing immigrant community.

Programs like the National Fund for Sacred Places, a collaboration between Partners for Sacred Places and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have helped more than 100 congregations – in Pennsylvania and across the nation – secure over $50 million to preserve and renovate their buildings. More than 10 Pennsylvania congregations have benefited so far. Public-private partnerships help maintain and adapt these buildings for full and continued use.

To support Black-led congregations and Black religious leaders in Philadelphia, Partners for Sacred Places and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia launched the Philadelphia Fund for Black Sacred Places (PFBSP). Since the project launch, PFBSP awarded $1 million in grants to eight Black-led churches in Philadelphia to support capital improvements, historic preservation, and community programs.

When civic leaders in Reading became aware of possible threats to their sacred places, the Berks County Community Foundation created the Sacred Places Project. Since its launch in May 2019, the project has identified over 80 purpose-built religious structures that remain in the city of Reading; assessed the condition of the buildings and the stability of the congregations; learned which ones are of architectural, historical, or community significance; and created a plan to preserve those assets by encouraging partnerships between congregations and the community. Today, the Community Foundation continues to partner with Partners for Sacred Spaces to preserve these historic sacred buildings and important community programs in Berks County.

A very new program of Partners will be helping rural churches in Pennsylvania that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Funded by the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program of the National Park Service, the program will provide training and capital grants to help congregations repair and maximize their historic buildings as assets that contribute to the health and economy of the larger community.

These are just a few examples of what’s possible when we treat sacred places not as relics, but as living infrastructure for community resilience. Sacred places are needed to sustain future generations and continue to contribute to economic vitality. When we invest in these spaces, we’re protecting irreplaceable architecture and preserving the programs, services, and spirit that hold our neighborhoods together.