In 1 Thessalonians we have the oldest surviving Christian document. The original no longer exists (the oldest existing copy was probably made 300 years after Paul first wrote the letter). However, no one questions the authenticity of this letter or the fact that it was probably written about 49-50 CE. This letter provides us with a snapshot of Paul's evangelistic missionary work in the city of Thessalonica.
Scholars debate how long Paul went about his missionary work in Thessalonica before being forced to leave town. Some say several weeks, others say a number of months. Which ever it was, it would seem clear that Paul felt it necessary to leave town before his work there was complete in establishing a group of Christians as a solid local house-church. Even though Paul lists two co-writers (Timothy and Silvanus, who most scholars believe is the same as the Silas mentioned elsewhere), every scholar I know of assumes Paul dictated the entire letter himself (we know from Romans 16:22 that Paul dictated his letters, since the scribe inserts himself into the final greetings). The mention of Timothy and Silvanus does indicate the fact that Paul always had co-workers with him and he was not a lone ranger evangelist. Paul does not mention if there would have been others in the entourage, but there may well have been volunteer personal assistants.
Ehrman is quite sure that Paul mainly used his place of business as the locus of his evangelizing. Ehrman does not consider the Acts of the Apostles historically accurate. However, I think there may be merit in the model that Luke attributes to Paul in Acts - in which he preaches in a synagogue hoping to convert a few Jewish people and especially hoping to convert the non-Jews who attend synagogue services that Acts refers to as "God-fearers." These are people who are impressed by Jewish morality and monotheism, but not willing to undergo circumcision or follow the Kosher dietary rules. Such people would seem to be ideal candidates for Paul's message of receiving the blessings of the Jewish God without living like a Jew. The only requirement is recognizing this Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Another tactic of Paul's from Acts that makes good sense to me is Paul's practice in Acts of converting a wealthy individual who would provide both a place to stay for Paul and especially a place to gather people for meetings instructing them on the ways of Christianity. Only a wealthy person's home would afford sufficient room to gather more than a dozen people comfortably.
Ehrman does a fine job of explaining the content of Paul's message that he would have preached to the Thessalonians (page 205-207). And Ehrman also does a good job of explaining the circumstances of the letter and the main issue that had occasioned the letter (the death of some Christian believers) (pages 210-213), so there is no need for me to duplicate that. As Ehrman mentions in Box 13.1 (page209), private voluntary associations were a common means of socializing in the Greco-Roman world (which would include all the areas evangelized by Paul) and it is likely that many early Christians understood their participation in a Christian house-church as being within that socio-religious model of a voluntary association. However, for the Christians, their affiliation with other Christians may have taken on a more significant role in their lives if these Christians were ostracized by friends and family for adopting this strange new religion. Other Christians may often have been the only real friends they had. Indeed, the importance of "fellowship" among many early Christians may be due to the fact that their local fellow Christian believers may have served as a surrogate family, since joining a strange religious group could easily lead to loss of job, being disowned by one's family, and being socially ostracized. Thus the significance of calling other Christians brother or sister, or referring to a church as the "household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). In other words, the close camaraderie of early Christians may be as much from emotional necessity as a way of living out the faith.
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