They're not as ubiquitous as cocktail bars and souvenir shops, but chapels and interfaith prayer spaces, many with full or part-time chaplains, are among the amenities offered by more than three dozen airports around the country.

Some prayer rooms occupy what has, over time, become prime real estate in pre- or post-security areas of airport terminals. Others are tucked away and may be hard to find on mezzanines, down back corridors or in baggage claim areas.

But a recent rise in violence at churches, mosques and synagogues prompted Orlando International Airport to rethink holding religious services at its interfaith chapel and reflection space, prompting some concern about whether other airports will make similar changes.

In 1951, Boston Logan International Airport was the first U.S. airport to set aside dedicated space for prayer. "It was explicitly meant for people working at the airport. A neon light pointed to the chapel," said Wendy Cadge, an expert in contemporary American religion in "A Brief History of Airport Chapels."

Today Logan's appropriately named Our Lady of the Airways is located in the airport's public area. It seats 250, is open around-the-clock and offers mass daily for passengers, airport and airline employees and the general public.

At Orlando International Airport, an interfaith chapel with a Tree of Life stained glass window dates to the airport's 1981 opening. A second reflection space for prayer, with accommodations for Muslim travelers, was added in 2015, as part of a customer service enhancement project.

Both spaces are located post-security and for many years Catholic mass has been offered in the airport's chapel each Sunday morning and during holidays. But, citing increased passenger volume, space allocation and safety, the airport board recently revised its policies. Now, while ticketed passengers and employees are welcome to visit the prayer spaces anytime, organized religious services of any kind are not permitted.

"Every airport authority has to make the decisions that they think are the best for their environment and location," said Susan Schneider of the Interfaith Airport Chapels of Chicago, which offers religious services and passenger support services at both O'Hare and Chicago Midway airports. "If Orlando feels this is something they must do at this time, you have to trust the decision. You just hope it's the right decision."

Reverend Rodrick Burton, a pastor in St. Louis, is certain the authorities at Orlando International Airport have made the wrong decision.

"I believe Orlando's actions are stunning in their shortsightedness and in an effort to be politically correct or to misinterpret the constitutional right of freedom of religion," said Burton, who serves as president of the St. Louis Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy, an organization that has offered "prayer, religious services, spiritual guidance, empathetic listening" and other assistance at St. Louis Lambert International Airport for more than 33 years.