If you arrive in a city where you do not know anyone and no-one has heard about Jesus, how do you go about starting a church? Acts chapter 18 tells the story of Paul’s arrival in Corinth. First of all he found a Jewish man called Aquila – someone with a similar cultural background whom he was likely to be able to understand and get along with. Aquila had only recently arrived in Corinth, and it is easiest to make friendships with newly arrived people when you are newly arrived, because their friendship capacity is not yet “full”.
Another thing that Paul had in common with Aquila was his trade – tent making, so they decided to go into business together and share accommodation. No doubt Paul got plenty of opportunities to talk about Jesus with Aquila and his wife Priscilla during week days, and then on Saturdays he spoke in the Synagogue. It seems as if some of the people in the synagogue believed what he had to say, while others did not.
Paul’s church-planting mission moved up a notch when Silas and Timothy arrived, and he moved on to full-time evangelism. Things started getting a bit unpleasant in the synagogue, so he moved into the house next door to the synagogue, and broadened his mission so that he was now speaking to non-Jews. Paul stayed in Corinth for a bit over 18 months, then moved on to the next place to start another church, taking with him a couple of members of the Corinth church.