system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If church attendence is declining so fast why are there still churches everywhere?

I was thinking about this recently. We keep hearing about how church attendence plummets in the US. Based on that you'd expect churches to be closing, after all look at all the retail stores closing in face of onlime competition that probably didn't have as sharp of a drop in sales. But even in my hyper liberal neighborhood churches are still more prevelant than fast food restaurants and a single one closing is often a local news story. How are they holding up when their "consumer" base is so much smaller than decades ago?
gpt
Most churches own their buildings outright. Most retail stores pay rent.  When you own a building that was paid for by previous congregations, cost to operate it are largely independent of attendance.  When you rent retail space, the rent doesn't go down because you have fewer customers, so you fold and a new store takes over.