People of all faiths, or no particular faith, are among the 500,000 who visit or come to worship each year.
The Energy Star program, which created a certification system for houses of worship a year and a half ago, calculates that by cutting energy use by at least 10 percent, the nation's estimated 370,000 religious buildings could save a combined $315 million a year and reduce emissions by the equivalent of taking 240,000 cars off the road.
Duke University Chapel offers more than 150 opportunities for worship each year.
Potato-based vodka can be distilled in one day, a sacrilegious thought for those who worship 21-year-old single malts.
And a lot of people listen to music as an alternative to organized worship; for years, in the Bay Area, there has been a church devoted to John Coltrane.
They may have been deprived of many of the benefits of civilisation – security, freedom of association and worship – for years under dictatorship, under occupation, under civil war, under Isis.
The 21-year-old white man suspected of opening fire and killing nine people during a prayer service at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been taken into custody after one of the deadliest attacks on an American place of worship in years.
Beer is religion there, and finding the right place to worship requires years of research.
The Fire Department advises temples and other houses of worship with year-round altars to put candles out if they are left unattended.
But perhaps the fretful might breathe a little easier if they could witness those shattered on their knees in prayer or raising their hands in praise, as it may be the first time some of us have participated in corporate worship in years, or at least since the last GCN conference.
