Priscilla and Aquila: The Couple Who Turned Their Home Into a Church

Greet Priscilla and Aquila… also greet the church that meets at their house. (Romans 16:3-5)

When Paul sends his greetings in Romans 16, he doesn’t start with another apostle, a pastor or a church building. The first people he names are a married couple, and then the church in their front room.

A home they weren’t supposed to have

Priscilla and Aquila first appear in the Bible in Corinth. They had been expelled from Rome when Claudius ordered the Jews to leave (Acts 18:2). They arrived as refugees with nothing but a trade. They made tents, and when Paul turned up with the same trade, they took him in and worked beside him (Acts 18:3).

It’s so difficult to even consider how they had lost their home, their city, and probably most of their belongings, and the first thing recorded about them is that they opened a door, even if it may have only been a tent flap.

A church that met around their table

The Book of Acts tells us that Priscilla and Aquila traveled to Ephesus with Paul (Acts 18:18-19). And later on Paul writes that “the church that meets at their house” sends greetings (1 Corinthians 16:19). They are back in Rome years later, and Paul says the same thing about believers meeting in their house (Romans 16:5). Wherever they went, whether it was Rome or Ephesus, a church formed around their table.

Scripture doesn’t tell us whether they served anything or what they served. But a gathering in a first-century home church usually meant the breaking of bread, a shared meal, and people who stayed long enough to be fed after being taught. The early church wasn’t built mainly in sanctuaries, but in kitchens and courtyards.

Hospitality as a ministry, not a favor

The Apostle Peter tells us to offer hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9). That “without grumbling” is a reminder that it’s work. It means cleaning up, cooking for more than you planned, and giving up a quiet evening. Martha would have been very good at this. Just saying.

Priscilla and Aquila also did more than feed people. When the gifted preacher Apollos came through Ephesus knowing only part of the story, they didn’t correct him in public. They took him aside and explained the full meaning of Christ’s sacrifice more accurately (Acts 18:26). That’s the other half of a good table; a place where people can be taught or corrected gently, without an audience.

A few notes from the household

An unofficial report, filed from Ephesus

Seating: Twelve people arrived for dinner, and the room fits eight. Aquila has declared this “an opportunity for fellowship.”
Shoes: The pile by the door has become a landmark. Visitors give directions by it.
Aquila’s workshop: Half the guests now know how to sew goat-hair canvas. Nobody remembers agreeing to this, but they are thankful for the added skills.
The leftovers: Priscilla would like it noted that “just a small gathering” has never once been small.
The theology: It has been explained properly, over bread, and nobody was embarrassed. This is the one item she’d like to keep.

What this means for us

You don’t need a bigger house or a better kitchen. You need an open door and someone to hold it. The couple Paul called “co-workers” (Romans 16:3) didn’t have a platform, but they had a table.

If you’ve been thinking I’d have people over if my home were nicer, remember that as a couple Priscilla and Aquila moved from Rome to Corinth to Ephesus and back. But wherever they went, they simply shared their trade, their room, and maybe a pot of stew on the fire. If you’re praying to be sent out with someone, a shared table is a good place to start.

Abba, open my door and my table. Show me who’s standing at the edge of the room, so I can let them in. And let my kitchen become somewhere You can work.

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