John Mullin

The church in place and space: the case of the Springfield diocese

In community after community across the USA our churches have long served as iconic anchors to our village and town centres. While businesses would come and go, the population base would change and the physical character of our communities would evolve, our churches tended to remain as a critical community stabilising element. And yet, in many parts of the nation, our long standing churches are in dramatic decline. These closings are significant to the people who worship in these places and are also important to city and town planners. Many of our older institutions are shifting from their long time prominent homes and we must be prepared to insure that we are fully aware of what is happening, why it is happening and what can be done to insure that our communities are protected. The purpose of this paper is intended to make a contribution to this end.