Yes and no. First of all, there is nobody who wants to take over. So the option is “abandon it” vs. “kill it”. Reddits actions in regard of their mods do have consequences. And it also doesn’t belong to the community as Reddit is actively claiming ownership. So to take your church analogy: The pastor wants to quit. The bishop claims ownership and control of everything, is actively harming the community, but can’t provide a replacement priest.
And in my opinion it is better to stop projects like this instead of abandoning them as abandoned places & subreddits will get taken over by spammers, crazy people and full on nazis.
I have Audio-CDs from the 80s that are still playing 40 years later. And I have CDs with deep scratches that also play without problems.