BALTIMORE — This week, WMAR spoke with worried parishioners after the Archdiocese of Baltimore revealed a plan that could close 40 churches in Baltimore City and County.
The potential changes, which would merge groups of churches with a nearby parish in the area, come in light of several factors, including lower mass attendance and maintenance costs.
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Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, a leader with the Archdiocese, discussed the plan with WMAR, "This is painful, that we've come to this time in our Church's life in the City of Baltimore."
Attendance, especially among younger worshipers, has plummeted, Lewandowski described. With that reality and deferred maintenance costs, the Archdiocese looked to the future.
In the development of the plan, dubbed 'Seek the City to Come'," leadership visited every parish and listened to thousands.
"Without the 'Seek the City' process, our churches are really small. And I'm not sure if anybody really captures that. We have churches of 30 or 40 parishioners. And when I'm saying dozens, I'm saying 30 or 40 parishioners in a church that had a thousand people. It seated a thousand people," Lewandowski added.
Now comes the culmination of that process's work: a map shows the potential consolidation of parishes from 61 to 21.
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"It's time to stop, to retool, reorganize, concentrate our efforts, and launch out again, getting smaller to get bigger, so we can rebuild our church in the city of Baltimore," Lewandowski said.
Swept up in the proposed changes are decades, if not centuries, of Baltimore's history and churches both local and commuting worshipers have gone to for generations.
As for the buildings themselves, Lewandowski says some may be repurposed and others sold outright.
Funds would be reinvested into the new parish community, not as assets in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in light of sexual assault lawsuits.
"We've been trying to keep the church open - the lights on, the water on, the electric bills paid - for all this time. Let's pull back from that, and let's imagine if we could take all of those resources and invest them in people. Youth ministry, young adult ministry, catechetical programs, Bible studies."
Lewandowski said they are taking into account what folks say will happen to their communities if a church closes. Two public comment sessions are planned, starting next Thursday, April 25 at Archbishop Curley High School, and one on April 30 at Mount St. Joseph High School. Both forums start at 6:30pm.
A Spanish-language forum will be held at 7pm at Our Lady of Fatima.
"We really are trying to work at this together. We've gotten - and I'm not exaggerating - some very good advice, some really good constructive criticism, and we invite that, and I'm hoping that's what will happen at our open public sessions," Lewandowski added.
The plan is not final; a finished one is expected in the middle of June.
