Richard C. Dujardin of the Providence Journal covered A. Robert Jaeger’s visit with Rhode Island church leaders. Jaeger heads the Philadelphia-based Partners for Sacred Places:
At a forum at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on College Hill, Jaeger observed that the best way of saving a church from being torn down is to keep the congregation alive and vibrant.
That said, even churches that think they have reached the end may still have a future, he says, if they learn to articulate to the wider community how valuable they are — not only in terms of faith, but in terms of the service and economic benefit they provide.
The article goes into some detail, along with mentioning the discernment of what the Diocese of Rhode Island might do with its currently closed cathedral.