other · 61 · Colossae
Colossae is the one letter to a congregation Paul had not founded and had never seen; Epaphras founded it, and the letter says so twice. The closing paragraph is the interesting part for this dataset, because it is a roll call. Tychicus carries the letter and is told to report everything in person. Onesimus travels with him and is described as one of you, which is where the letter to Philemon fits — the two documents go in the same bag, to the same town, and the second asks the recipient to take the courier back as a brother. Then the greetings: Aristarchus, Mark the cousin of Barnabas, Jesus called Justus, Epaphras always struggling in prayer, Luke the beloved physician, and Demas, who is named without comment here and has deserted by the time 2 Timothy is written. It is the closest thing to a photograph of the apostolic circle that survives.
To answer a church Paul had never visited, and to send two men home to it.
The fullest surviving list of who was actually with Paul in prison.