Presentation to focus on preserving houses of worship

Staff report

youngstown

The Ethnic Heritage Society will sponsor a presentation by Richard Scarsella, historic preservationist promoter and president of the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society, at 10 a.m. Saturday in the social hall of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, 421 Covington St.

The presentation is open to the public, and light refreshments will be available. For more information, call Tom Welsh, EHS coordinator, at 330-792-7936.

The “action plan” session is geared to nonprofit organizations interested in preserving or reinventing threatened houses of worship. Scarsella will focus on urban Catholic churches expected to merge or consolidate as part of the Diocese of Youngstown’s strategic plan.

EHS is dedicated to highlighting the community’s ethnic and racial diversity.

Last spring, Scarsella initiated the Sacred Spaces Dialogue, a movement advocating the preservation of local religious architecture. Many religious landmarks in the Youngstown area have strong ethnic identities.

The EHS has recommended that Bishop George V. Murry create a diocesan building committee including an architect, building contractor, historian, preservationist, non-profit representative and at least one representative of local ethnic parishes.

The EHS asked that the Rev. Nicholas Shori, director of parish plan implementation, be involved.