Where did the old social barriers break down at the coming of Christianity? In homes. Where did practice join theology to break down the division between rich and poor or Jew and Greek, so that they ate together? In the hospitality of house church hosts and hostesses. What happened to the barrier between slave and free? Gone when they prayed together. The intense reserve between men and women? Dissolved as hosts and hostesses served the friends who entered their door. Paul saw this, admired and praised the house church leaders, and planned on homes to grow the gospel.

Beulah Wood, BD (Melbourne), DMin (Gordon-Conwell), has published over thirty books in New Zealand, India, and the UK. She now divides her time between writing in New Zealand and teaching half of each year at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore, India.