Two churches in Arlington Center represent the challenge to Congregational hegemony after the Revolution. The First Parish Church was taken over by Unitarians in 1828. The dissenters who remained true to Congregational doctrine constructed the Orthodox (later Pleasant Street) Congregational Church, still an impressive Greek Revival structure despite alterations. More impressive and intact is the Universalist Church, an 1841 frame building that was moved back from the street and enlarged in 1860 by Universalist minister and prolific church architect the Reverend Thomas W. Silloway. The entrance pavilion and tower (minus a steeple destroyed in a hurricane in 1938) distinguish the main elevation of what became the St. Athanasius Greek Orthodox Church.

Both churches are now occupied by other congregations. In 2005, St. Athanasius relocated to the former St. James the Apostle Roman Catholic Church at 4 Appleton Street. Its previous location at 735 Massachusetts Avenue is now home to the Highrock Covenant Church. Pleasant Street Congregational Church is now home to the Boston Church of Christ, which uses the building as one of its satellite facilities.