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Ir a la iglesia es una costumbre muy antigua.

Ir a la iglesia es una costumbre muy antigua.
Going to church is a very old custom.
From Lesson 157:Habitual actions (soler)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ir a la iglesia es una costumbre muy antigua.

Why does the sentence start with the infinitive Ir instead of a gerund like Yendo to mean 'Going'?
In English, we use the -ing form to make a verb the subject of a sentence, like 'Going to church.' In Spanish, you must use the infinitive form, so 'Going' becomes Ir. Using the Spanish gerund Yendo here would be grammatically incorrect.
Why is it a la iglesia and not just a iglesia like 'to church' in English?
Spanish requires definite articles (el, la, los, las) when talking about certain institutions or places in a general sense, such as la iglesia (church), la escuela (school), or el trabajo (work). English often drops the article in these everyday phrases.
Could I use vieja instead of antigua to say 'old custom'?
You would be understood, but antigua is a much better fit here. Antigua is used for things that are ancient, traditional, or have existed for a long time in history, like a custom. Vieja usually describes something that is physically aged or worn out.
Since this lesson teaches soler (to usually do something), how could we express this habit using that verb?
To say 'People usually go to church', you would say La gente suele ir a la iglesia. Notice that soler changes its stem from o to ue in the present tense (suele), and is always followed directly by an infinitive like ir.

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