These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits
This photo provided by Religion News Service shows congregants receiving communion during an Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 18, 2026, at Old North Church in Boston. Credit: AP/Adelle M. Banks
(RNS) — On Ash Wednesday this year, about a dozen people attended a noon service at Boston’s Old North Church, founded in 1723. Two days later, a handful of worshippers took part in a Shabbat service at Newport, Rhode Island’s Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763.
Congregations participating in sacred rituals — it is something both houses of worship have been doing longer than the United States has existed.
Such places of worship are rare. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research estimates that of the 370,000 religious congregations in the U.S. today, only about 1% existed at the country’s founding.
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