I’m alive, though. Talking with the dead is specifically prohibited in Scripture.
Certainly the Bible prohibits consulting mediums and necromancers. However, if we define the Christian Church as the community of all believers in Christ, and we believe in eternal salvation and the immortality of the soul, I would suggest that those who have departed this earth are still quite alive in Heaven, and remain members of the Christian church (unless somehow they stop believing in Christ once they get to Heaven.)
When I *pray* to the Saints I really don't consider it anything different than me asking a fellow church goer, friend or family member to pray for me - to Christ. I also meditate on their lives, actions, faith and in many cases martyrdom not to worship them, but as a means of inspiration as to how my life may be better spent in Christ's service. I think we can agree that God (in three persons) should be the sole object of our worship, and the Scriptures the primary directive for implementing that worship. I think we can also agree that some of us implement the above better than others, so why not look to them as examples?