There's a few different strategies involving churches that you can use that are based on medieval development patterns:
Create a large central church in the heart of your community. i like to build mine like a classic medieval cathedral: 2 bell towers at the front flanking an entrance (usually three doors fronting a plaza), 2 core pieces to make a nave, a transept made of rectangular extensions, radiating chapels made of apse ended extensions, another tower in the middle to act as a spire, and finally a big tower where the transept crosses the nave. This church, in addition to being gorgeous and traditional, can house like a 100 followers.
Away from the cathedral, I start building community chapels in residence heave areas (I refuse to exclusively zone residential since that's not how medieval people lived). I have lots and lots of stone churches, and if you've ever been to Europe you will see no lack of them. Medieval people never saw Notre Dame in Paris and called it a day, they built dozens and dozens of churches of varying sizes all throughout Paris while the cathedral was going up. I have churches in towns, neighborhoods, out in the woods. No place is too good for Jesus. Except the markets. They take precedence.