{"id":13967,"date":"2026-05-29T04:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/these-houses-of-worship-are-older-than-america-how-they-outlasted-wars-schisms-and-lawsuits\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T04:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:22:19","slug":"these-houses-of-worship-are-older-than-america-how-they-outlasted-wars-schisms-and-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/these-houses-of-worship-are-older-than-america-how-they-outlasted-wars-schisms-and-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_XPvkGHG031Q?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.1.5\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(RNS) \u2014 On Ash Wednesday this year, about a dozen people attended a noon service at Boston\u2019s Old North Church, founded in 1723. Two days later, a handful of worshippers took part in a Shabbat service at Newport, Rhode Island\u2019s Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763.\u00a0 Congregations participating in sacred rituals \u2014 it is something both houses of worship have been doing longer than the United States has existed.<\/p>\n<p>Such places of worship are rare. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research estimates that of the <a href=\"https:\/\/hirr.hartfordinternational.edu\/fast-facts-on-american-religion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">370,000 religious congregations<\/a> in the U.S. today, only about 1% existed at the country\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n<p>When the country declared independence in 1776,\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/figure\/cnuscns-AND-KEKBERSHIP-RATES-1776_tbl2_259581152\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">there were 3,228 houses of worship<\/a> across the Colonies. The U.S. was already religiously diverse. <span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW34456861 BCX0\">Congregationalists led the pack with about 670 congregations, or just over 20% of the total. Presbyterians<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW34456861 BCX0\">weren\u2019t<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW34456861 BCX0\"><span>\u00a0<\/span>far behind (18%), followed by Baptists and Episcopalians (each about 15%), and Quakers at<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW34456861 BCX0\">nearly 10%<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW34456861 BCX0\">. <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" lang=\"EN-US\" class=\"TextRun SCXW148769348 BCX0\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW148769348 BCX0\">Methodists had a following at 2%, Catholics were just under 2%, and there were a handful of synagogues and more than a dozen Mennonite congregations, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/259581152_American_Religion_in_1776_A_Statistical_Portrait\">sociologists Rodney Stark and Roger Finke<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" lang=\"EN-US\" class=\"TextRun SCXW187080898 BCX0\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW187080898 BCX0\">Most of them dissolved due to internal conflicts, financial strains, aging membership and\/or the impact of war. Many of the places that survived, like Old North Church and Touro, did so by continuing to gather, whether in ornate or simple buildings, or when pews were full or had just a few worshippers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>RELATED<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2019\/08\/01\/from-new-york-to-alabama-blacks-worshipped-in-own-spaces-before-slaverys-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">From New York to Alabama, blacks worshipped in own spaces before slavery\u2019s end<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s how faith, church and faith, is perpetuated \u2014 it\u2019s not, in a way, by big, splashy events,\u201d said the Rev. Matthew P. Cadwell, vicar of Old North Church. \u201cIt\u2019s by people who really want to take the time to reflect on what it means to be human and what it means to be a person of God in a complicated world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Below are portraits of four that have endured.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>\t<\/p>\n<figure class=\"rns-fullbleed-image\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2100\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07.jpg\" class=\"rns-fullbleed-image__img\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07.jpg 2100w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-427x183.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-807x346.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-768x329.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-2048x878.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-1600x686.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations07-600x257.jpg 600w\"\/>\t<\/figure>\n<p class=\"image-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Congregants receive Communion during an Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 18, 2026, at Old North Church in Boston. (RNS photo\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Old North Church, Boston\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h2>Founded: 1723<\/h2>\n<h2>Affiliation: Episcopal Church\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2>Famous for: Lanterns in steeple marked start of Revolutionary War\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>BOSTON \u2014 Cadwell welcomed just about a dozen people to this year\u2019s noon Ash Wednesday service. Knowing there could be some tourists in the pews, Cadwell, the church\u2019s leader since 2020, was careful to offer guidance after the first hymn for those unfamiliar with the standing, sitting and kneeling practices of the Episcopal Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cThere are kneelers in the pews \u2014 they\u2019re exceptionally uncomfortable, and so you will feel penitent, for sure, if you use them,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be kneeling in the front on behalf of all of us, if that works, but kneeling yourselves, if you like, or stand \u2014 whichever, works for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" lang=\"EN-US\" class=\"TextRun SCXW93309659 BCX0\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW93309659 BCX0\">Old North started as something of an outlier \u2014 a Church of England congregation in a city dominated by Puritan-rooted Congregationalists. Today it offers a spiritual space to Boston-area residents and tourists from around the world, including people from the country that once opposed colonists in the Revolutionary War.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re honoring our neighbors,\u201d Cadwell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rns-image-pair rns-image-pair--breakout rns-image-pair--landscape\">\n<div class=\"rns-image-pair__grid\">\n<figure class=\"rns-image-pair__figure\"><figcaption class=\"rns-image-pair__caption\">People attend an Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 18, 2026, at Old North Church in Boston. (RNS photo\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"rns-image-pair__figure\"><figcaption class=\"rns-image-pair__caption\">Queen Elizabeth II visits Old North Church for the bicentennial of the United States on July 11, 1976, in Boston. (Photo courtesy of Old North Church)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Jenifer Miller, a native of Rochester, England, joined Old North Church a couple of years ago. Stepping into the box pews that date to 1723, Miller said she thinks of those who worshipped in the same place centuries ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou imagine all the people that have sat there before and all that, and we all have the worries, we all have the wants, we all have the loves and the sadness all through life,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I enjoyed the thought that this is not new. It\u2019s been around for a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The church\u2019s revolutionary history is undoubtedly a draw for tourists as well as locals. <span data-contrast=\"auto\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" lang=\"EN-US\" class=\"TextRun SCXW209824795 BCX0\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW209824795 BCX0\">It was from Old North\u2019s steeple that two lanterns were hung in 1775, signaling that British forces were advancing by sea \u2014 the moment Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized as \u201cone if by land, two if by sea.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4261577\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 900px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4261577\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations06-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Musicians perform during an Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 18, 2026, at Old North Church in Boston. (RNS photo\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" lang=\"EN-US\" class=\"TextRun SCXW209824795 BCX0\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW209824795 BCX0\">Cadwell, who has a Ph.D. in Anglican history and theology, said the church\u2019s understanding of that night has evolved: It\u2019s now believed that sexton Robert Newman was joined by Capt. John Pulling Jr., a vestry member and friend of Paul Revere, to climb the stairs and ladders and hang the lights from what was then the tallest structure in the city. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>After the service, Carol Ball, a vestry member in charge of ensuring Old North\u2019s brass chandeliers are kept shining, said the church embraces all visitors, whether they come for a tour or choose to become members.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s usually 50-50, I\u2019d say, between congregation and tourists,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very nice mix.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>\t<\/p>\n<figure class=\"rns-fullbleed-image\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2100\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08.jpg\" class=\"rns-fullbleed-image__img\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08.jpg 2100w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-427x183.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-807x346.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-768x329.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-2048x878.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-1600x686.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations08-600x257.jpg 600w\"\/>\t<\/figure>\n<p class=\"image-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">First Baptist Church in America on Feb. 19, 2026, in Providence, R.I. (RNS photos\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>First Baptist Church in America, Providence, Rhode Island<\/h3>\n<h2>Founded: 1638<\/h2>\n<h2>Famous for: Nation\u2019s oldest Baptist congregation<\/h2>\n<h2>Denomination: American Baptist Churches USA<\/h2>\n<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. \u2014 \u201cWhether you\u2019re sober or you wish you were, whether you\u2019re straight or gay or cis or trans, or whether you are a citizen of this nation or not, in this place, you are a citizen in the realm of God.\u201d That is how the Rev. Jamie Washam begins the Communion service at First Baptist Church in America.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her words, she explains, are intentional: \u201cWe all have the same beeline to the divine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentiment is baked into the DNA of the church. <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2024\/10\/30\/we-tried-christian-nationalism-in-america-it-went-badly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roger Williams<\/a>, a Puritan pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, was excommunicated for his views on church-state separation and then gathered a group of worshippers to start a new church in Providence. At a time when Massachusetts had a state religion, the Congregational Church, Williams concluded that \u201cthe only proper form of baptism was believer\u2019s baptism, and so he baptized his congregation, about 20 people all together,\u201d said J. Stanley Lemons, author of \u201cFirst: The First Baptist Church in America.\u201d (Due to Williams\u2019 influence, Rhode Island never decreed a state religion.)<\/p>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rns-image-pair rns-image-pair--breakout rns-image-pair--portrait\">\n<div class=\"rns-image-pair__grid\">\n<figure class=\"rns-image-pair__figure\"><figcaption class=\"rns-image-pair__caption\">\u201cThe Banishment of Roger Williams\u201d by Peter F. Rothermel, circa 1850. (Image courtesy Wikipedia\/Creative Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"rns-image-pair__figure\"><figcaption class=\"rns-image-pair__caption\">Signage at First Baptist Church in America, in Providence, R.I. (RNS photo\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Williams left the Rhode Island church after a few months (though he continued to preach). But it endured, surviving internal divisions and opening its \u201cmeetinghouse\u201d doors regularly, including for historic gatherings.<\/p>\n<p>Standing just a half mile away from the Rhode Island State House, First Baptist occupies a tall, steepled building with columns and box pews in its square interior, influenced by English Georgian architecture and erected in the 1770s. At the time, it was also the only church in New England with a steeple or a bell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was the first building like this for Baptists anywhere,\u201d said Lemons during a February interview at First Baptist. \u201cBaptist meetinghouses prior to this one were quite plain \u2014 places the Quakers would have been quite happy to be in. But this one is much more ornate, designed to impress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In its early years, congregational singing was forbidden because churches affiliated with the General Six Principle Baptists, as First Baptist was at the time, \u201cbelieve that everything should be spontaneous and from the Spirit,\u201d said Lemons. Elder John Manning, a new pastor in 1771, introduced singing in an afternoon service and the practice was retained after \u201ca series of meetings where people came in from the countryside to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The building was the site of the Triennial Convention in 1845, where the North-South divide over slavery led to a formal split among U.S. Baptists. The Northerners decided that foreign missionaries should not be commissioned if they owned slaves. A week later, the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in Augusta, Georgia.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4261590\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 900px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4261590\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations09-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Crowds attend a Brown University commencement at First Baptist Church in America in 1914, in Providence, R.I. (Photo courtesy of J. Stanley Lemons\/First Baptist Church in America)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>First Baptist remains affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA, formerly known as the Northern Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the congregation is predominantly white and includes longtime Baptists, native Rhode Islanders and others from a variety of geographic, ethnic and theological backgrounds, said Washam.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe regularly have people visiting us from all over because they\u2019re Baptists and they want to come to this place,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we know if they\u2019re singing the third verse without looking at the hymnal, they\u2019re probably a pastor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Its community outreach ranges from offering \u201cblessing bags\u201d with peanut butter crackers, bottles of water and socks for individuals in need to hosting baccalaureate services for students of nearby Brown University, continuing a tradition that began when the edifice held a commencement ceremony shortly after its 1775 dedication.<\/p>\n<p>Washam, pastor of the church since 2015, said its missions committee hosts dinners at local restaurants whose fare ranges from South Asian to South American in a show of support for the immigrants and refugees who run them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot swiftly change domestic policy, necessarily, or international policy, but we can, with our dollars and our bodies and our taste buds, show up and meet our neighbors and say we are better because you\u2019re here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><span>\t<\/p>\n<figure class=\"rns-fullbleed-image\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2100\" height=\"899\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11.jpg\" class=\"rns-fullbleed-image__img\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11.jpg 2100w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-427x183.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-807x345.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-768x329.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-2048x877.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-1600x685.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-300x128.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations11-600x257.jpg 600w\"\/>\t<\/figure>\n<p class=\"image-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Interior of Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service\/Public Domain)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island<\/h3>\n<h2>Founded: 1763<\/h2>\n<h2>Affiliation: Orthodox Judaism<\/h2>\n<h2>Famous for: Correspondence with George Washington<\/h2>\n<p>NEWPORT, R.I. \u2014 Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763, is the oldest standing synagogue in the U.S. Located one-tenth of a mile from the Old Colony House, a seat of government when Rhode Island was a colony, the synagogue was built by a Jewish community that included Sephardic Jews, people of Spanish and Portuguese descent fleeing religious persecution in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4261602\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 402px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4261602 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-402x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"402\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-402x640.jpg 402w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-232x369.jpg 232w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-768x1221.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-966x1536.jpg 966w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-300x477.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15-600x954.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations15.jpg 1006w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 402px) 100vw, 402px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">The 1790 correspondence between Touro Synagogue and George Washington. (Image courtesy of Mount Vernon)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe synagogue might have seemed to be a miracle to the people that created it \u2014 I think it\u2019s still a miracle,\u201d said congregant Aaron Ginsburg as he concluded a tour of the Orthodox synagogue in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On a Friday evening in February, four men on the main level and two women in the balcony gathered for prayer, reading in Aramaic as the light faded through the clear windows. \u201cHe creates day and night. He rolls the light away from before darkness, and darkness from before light,\u201d according to a translation.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Orthodox services require a minyan, 10 men who have been bar mitzvahed, in order to say certain prayers. Because there were fewer, the Friday service was shortened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can be difficult, but we make do pretty well,\u201d said James Herstoff, who is secretary-treasurer of the congregation that meets at the synagogue. \u201cAnd even now in the wintertime, we still have tourists coming in, which help make minyan on Friday night and Saturday both. So, services continue on regardless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1790, the year after George Washington became the first U.S. president, Moses Seixas, then the synagogue\u2019s leader, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/education\/primary-source-collections\/primary-source-collections\/article\/to-the-hebrew-congregation-in-newport-rhode-island#:~:text=On%20August%2018%2C%201790%2C%20congregants,in%20newspapers%20across%20the%20country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">presented Washington with a letter<\/a>\u00a0 praising \u201ca government, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.\u201d Washington later became known for those same words though he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/education\/primary-source-collections\/primary-source-collections\/article\/to-the-hebrew-congregation-in-newport-rhode-island#:~:text=On%20August%2018%2C%201790%2C%20congregants,in%20newspapers%20across%20the%20country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">echoing the letter\u2019s words back in a written response to the synagogue<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The synagogue has faced many tests.<\/p>\n<p>Touro was mostly closed for decades after the Revolutionary War as most Jews left Newport, which was\u00a0 economically and physically devastated. Congregation Shearith Israel, a New York Sephardic congregation that owns the Touro Synagogue building, preserved some of the artifacts until Ashkenazi Jews, who were from Eastern Europe, arrived in the area in the late 19th\u00a0century, leading to the reopening of the synagogue.<\/p>\n<p>In 2012,\u00a0 Congregation Jeshuat Israel, then the building\u2019s lessee, and Congregation Shearith Israel began arguing over antique silver bells cast by a Jewish contemporary of Paul Revere, confirmed Herstoff, who is a leader of the new lessee, Congregation Ahavath Israel. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newportthisweek.com\/articles\/ri-supreme-court-upholds-touro-synagogue-eviction\/\">Litigation made its way through the courts,<\/a> eventually resulting in a\u00a0 2025 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision evicting Congregation Jeshuat Israel. The new congregation leased\u00a0 the Touro Synagogue building from its New York-based owner and has kept services running there.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4261601\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 900px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4261601\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Historic-Congregations12-380x253.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I. (Photo by Kenneth C. Zirkel\/Wikimedia\/Creative Commons)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cCongregation Ahavath Israel was formed to be ready to come in should the eviction take place, so that services could continue totally uninterrupted at the synagogue, and that is what happened,\u201d said Herstoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While giving a tour, Ginsburg pointed out the charity boxes donated in 1769 and noted they are still in use. He did not mention the dispute. \u201cThe miracle is not the building. The miracle is that we still worship here, 263 years after our predecessors started to do so, praying to the one above that all will be well with us and we will do good things, both for ourselves and the human community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><span>\t<\/p>\n<figure class=\"rns-fullbleed-image\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2100\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13.jpg\" class=\"rns-fullbleed-image__img\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13.jpg 2100w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-427x183.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-807x346.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-768x329.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-2048x878.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-1600x686.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wideRNS-Historic-Congregations13-600x257.jpg 600w\"\/>\t<\/figure>\n<p class=\"image-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Trinity Church in Newport, R.I. (RNS photo\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island<\/h3>\n<h2>Founded: 1698<\/h2>\n<h2>Affiliation: Episcopal Church<\/h2>\n<h2>Famous for: Three-tiered wineglass pulpit<\/h2>\n<p>NEWPORT, R.I. \u2014 Trinity Church is the only church in the country with a three-tiered wineglass pulpit still standing in the center aisle. Boston\u2019s Old North and other churches have shifted theirs to give clearer sight of the Communion service on the altar, said historian John Hattendorf.<\/p>\n<p>Trinity\u2019s isn\u2019t moving.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is the best place to see everybody in the church and, if there\u2019s people in the balcony, it\u2019s really the best place to kind of be with people on both levels,\u201d said the Rev. Meaghan Kelly Brower, who was appointed rector in August.<\/p>\n<p>The Episcopal congregation dates to around 1698, though its current building was completed in 1726.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Brower, who grew up in the congregation, recalls watching priests ascend the stairs as a child. She said the high pulpit creates an unusual intimacy between preached word and the people. \u201cI honestly think part of my own call to priesthood was actually a call to preach, because I watched people climb up into that pulpit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rns-image-pair rns-image-pair--breakout rns-image-pair--portrait\">\n<div class=\"rns-image-pair__grid\">\n<figure class=\"rns-image-pair__figure\"><figcaption class=\"rns-image-pair__caption\">A sign for where George Washington worshipped at Trinity Church in Newport, R.I. (RNS photo\/Adelle M. Banks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"rns-image-pair__figure\"><figcaption class=\"rns-image-pair__caption\">The Trinity Church steeple in Newport, R.I. (Photo by Kacey Victoria\/Wikimedia\/Creative Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p>George Washington, Queen Elizabeth II and other dignitaries have visited the historic building with its white wood exterior and tall steeple \u2014 described on the church website as \u201ca beacon on the Newport horizon.\u201d But the wooden pews are remnants of a harsher period, when church members were required to purchase pews and enslaved people of color, including Native Americans, were sent to the narrow pews in the balcony, according to Hattendorf, author of \u201cSemper Eadem: A History of Trinity Church in Newport 1698-2000.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That changed in the 19th century but a special box pew \u2014 No. 81 \u2014 remained reserved for visitors considered VIPs. \u201cWhen I first came to the church in the 1960s, the first person in uniform would be seated there,\u201d said Hattendorf.\u00a0 \u201cSo I sat there a number of times when I was wearing my young naval uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brower said she\u2019s preparing for the big moments of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trinitynewport.org\/trinity300\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">church\u2019s tricentennial celebration<\/a> \u2014 including \u201cTrinity Sunday\u201d on May 31 that is set to feature Episcopal Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe.<\/p>\n<p>Though pews are no longer bought, Brower said it can be difficult for the predominantly white and middle-class congregation to shake off its long-held reputation \u201cthat you have to be a certain kind of person to come to church here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery single person is welcome here and we are all just humans trying to survive the world today,\u201d she added. \u201cThere\u2019s no criteria for membership other than a desire to connect with God and one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brower hopes Trinity Church\u2019s\u00a0 central location steps away from souvenir shops and restaurants can be a draw for community members as well as tourists, some of whom visit during a cruise ship stop.<\/p>\n<p>She said the congregation has been working to make the church more welcoming. It provides a community meal a couple of Mondays a month, offers its lawn to a music education program for families with young children in the spring, and raises funds for local nonprofits through a community pumpkin patch on its land in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling how her early involvement in the church influenced her, Brower makes sure that Sunday school students have the opportunity to \u201cbe nice and close\u201d around the Communion table to witness her leading that part of the service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were years where the noise of children was not a welcome addition to a church service, and I think now it\u2019s a really beautiful sign of life,\u201d said Brower. \u201cIt\u2019s that blend that I hope we\u2019re bringing to the table now, of honoring that tradition and finding comfort in the ritual without feeling like we have to be rigid in our alignment with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/20\/ahead-of-the-250th-us-faith-groups-study-founding-texts-in-quest-to-rescue-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Faith groups seek out founding documents in bid to rescue democracy<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/05\/28\/these-houses-of-worship-are-older-than-america-how-they-outlasted-wars-schisms-and-lawsuits\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 On Ash Wednesday this year, about a dozen people attended a noon service at Boston\u2019s Old North Church, founded in 1723. Two days later, a handful of worshippers took part in a Shabbat service at Newport, Rhode Island\u2019s Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763.\u00a0 Congregations participating in sacred rituals \u2014 it is something both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}