Until the 4th century (under Constantine's rule), community Christian worship took place entirely in house churches. These were Christians' private homes that were made available to the local Christian community for worship. Initially there were no dedicated dwellings that were solely used for congregating, but by the end of the 3rd century it appears that some homes were completely turned over to the Christian community. Still there were no church edifices, no dedicated church buildings designed and built for worship -- until Constantine launched a church building program in the 4th century. As churches moved from the home, which traditionally was women's domain, to the elaborately built Roman church edifices, women in the church became further marginalized.

Even today Christian worship in many localities throughout the world is conducted in house churches. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Christianity survived -- and even thrived -- entirely in house churches.

Related resources:

• "LEADERS OF HOUSE CHURCHES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT" at http://www.bibleresourcecenter.org/vsItemDisplay.dsp&objectID=D5E70498-844F-4134-9F735EC052B8F675&method=display.
• "Constantine's influence on Christian theology, practice, and church organization" at http://www.bibletexts.com/topical.htm#constantine.
• "House churches and church weddings" at http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/churchweddings.htm#weddings-and-edifices.
• "Lydia's role in founding the church in Philippi" at http://www.bibletexts.com/verses/v-act.htm#lydia.
• Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, especially, pages 175-184, "The House Church," and pages 285-342, "The Patriarchal Household of God and the Ekklesia of Women."
• Everett Ferguson's Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Second Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993), especially pages 70-73, "Place of Women."
• Karen J. Torjesen's When Women Were Priests : Women's Leadership in the Early Church and the Scandal of Their Subordination in the Rise of Christianity (NY: HarperCollins, 1993), especially pages 76-80, "House Church Leadership: Managers of the Household of God;" pages 80-82, "From Household to House Church: The Leadership of Women;" and pages 126-127.
• Robert J. Banks' Paul's Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in Their Cultural Setting, Revised Edition (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994)
• Robert J. Banks' Going to Church in the First Century (Jacksonville, FL: Christian Books Publishing House, 1990). This is an intendedly fictional account that informatively portrays first century worship.