We all know the population of the Mahoning valley has decreased over the past few decades.

Unfortunately, that has meant churches that once had filled their pews have been forced to close their doors or consolidate.
So what happens to the religious art inside?

"We've had people from across the diocese calling to ask when we can come in to see them," said Fr. John-Michael Lavelle.

Many churches have them..it's almost a requirement. Stained glass windows are a trademark of a place of worship.
But these at St. Michael, you can get up close and see the detail. The sun comes through and splashes their colors on to you.
They're aren't new, they have some history behind them.
They come from the former St. Joseph the provider church in Campbell.

When that church consolidated into another in that area, it's religious artifacts were spared and sent to a religious goods company out of Cleveland called Henninger's.

"They came in and took some of the the priceless artifacts. The stained glass windows, some statues, the crucifix. What they've been doing for several years now is they catalog all of those items and they give them a fair market value and churches are able to look if they are doing some project. Maybe they need a new alter or a new crucifix," said Fr. Lavelle.

Those items are then refurbished and installed into a new church.
In this case, parishioners at St. Michael's bought a sponsorship if each window for 5 thousand dollars. Most of that money went back to Campbell, to the remaining catholic parish.

In addition to the stained glass, which were needed for a new walkway, St. Michael has also acquired other items. This marble relief comes from Cleveland and this statue is from new York.

St. Michael also wanted to enhance the entrance to the parish and you can see behind me they just acquired an 8.5 foot tall statue of Christ after the resurrection. you can see where he's almost opening his arms and welcoming people into the parish.

"Kind of like they were always made for here. And it's always been our efforts to make sure that things have always been part of our church not like we went to a flea market and bought stuff. So the windows fit perfect in the gallery, these fit perfect in the sanctuary along with the other things we've done," said Fr. Lavelle.

The windows did fit perfectly by the way. St. Michaels had 16 openings in their walkway that were 3 foot wide and the stained glass from Campbell, you guessed it were 3 foot wide and there were exactly 16 of them. Meant to be, it seems.

"I find them after mass kind of staring and walking with the saints, you know. In the original church in Campbell these would have been up very high and you would have seen them in a smaller perspective," Fr. Lavelle added.

Father Lavelle continues to find statues, reliefs and windows for churches in the Youngstown diocese, as long as they are the right fit. It's all in an effort to make sure this art isn't lost on a newer generation.