New Haven, Connecticut Ever since its inception, Christianity, and the Catholic Church in particular, has inspired the creation of countless religious organizations, the vast majority of which seek to carry out the work which Jesus of Nazareth charged all Christians with. These have come in many forms, from monastic orders to missionary societies to charitable … [Read more...]
SHAKER VILLAGE MUSEUM
Canterbury, New Hampshire The Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire is probably the best surviving Shaker community in the United States. Founded in the late 18th century, it was one of several idealized religious communities to be established at the time. It is undoubtedly one of the best preserved, with over two dozen of its original buildings still standing and in … [Read more...]
SCHOOLS OF THE BOSTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Boston, Massachusetts The Boston Theological Institute is possibly the largest religious education institution in the world. Not itself a school, it is a consortium of ten of the most preeminent theology colleges and departments in the United States. Some of the oldest divinity schools in the country are part of BTI, including the oldest, Andover Newton Theological … [Read more...]
TOURO SYNAGOGUE
Newport, Rhode Island Around the middle of the 17th century, the first Jewish immigrants began arriving in the American colonies. Although they settled primarily in New York and Charleston, the first permanent Jewish community in America was that of Newport, Rhode Island. The Touro Synagogue of Newport has the honor of being the oldest synagogue still in use in both the … [Read more...]
HISTORIC CHURCHES OF BOSTON
Boston, Massachusetts In the middle of the 19th century, Catholic immigrants, mostly from Ireland, began swarming into New England. Over the course of a few decades traditionally Protestant Boston found itself bustling with a large Catholic population, and a renaissance of church construction overtook the city. Some of the finest Catholic churches and cathedrals in Boston … [Read more...]
OLD NORTH CHURCH
Boston, Massachusetts The Old North Church in Boston is among America’s most historic churches in the actual “historic” sense, as it played a direct and crucial role in one of the most important battles in American history. One of Boston’s tallest and most prominent colonial era churches, its steeple was chosen as the signal point to warn the nearby American militia units … [Read more...]
OLD INDIAN MEETING HOUSE
Mashpee, Massachusetts The Old Indian Meeting House is the oldest Native American Christian Church in the United States, as well as one of the oldest churches in America still in use. Constructed for the use of the Wampanoag tribe in the 17th century, it was not only the first center of Native American Christianity but also, sadly, the center around which the Wampanoag … [Read more...]
FIRST BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE
Providence, Rhode Island The First Baptist Meeting House, also known as the First Baptist Church of Providence, is both the oldest Baptist church in the United States and the oldest Baptist congregation. Founded by Roger Williams, the famous religious leader in exile from Puritan Massachusetts, this was America’s first truly home-grown church and therefore. The First … [Read more...]
PURITAN HERITAGE SITES OF PLYMOUTH
Plymouth, Massachusetts In the 1620, the first refugees to flee the religious persecutions and wars then raging in Europe arrived in the Massachusetts Bay area of New England. After a brief interlude on Cape Cod, they established the Plymouth Colony. Although Jamestown in Virginia predated the Massachusetts settlement, it was Plymouth that established the tradition of … [Read more...]
