Colossae

NT Asia (Roman province)

A church Paul never personally visited, planted instead through his co-worker Epaphras, and best known today as the recipient of the letter defending Christ's supremacy against an early mix of philosophy and legalism -- and as the home church of the runaway slave Onesimus and his master Philemon.

References: Colossians 1:1-2

Named in Scripture at Colossae

Epaphras (M) — founder and minister; also labored in prayer for Laodicea and Hierapolis
Colossians 1:7-8; Colossians 4:12-13
Philemon (M) — hosted a house church here
Philemon 1:1-2
Apphia (F) — member of Philemon's household, addressed directly in Paul's letter
Philemon 1:2
Archippus (M) — "fellow soldier," given a ministry charge to fulfill
The charge in Colossians 4:17 immediately follows a greeting to the Laodicean church, so some read it as directed there instead; Philemon 1:2 places Archippus in Philemon's own household at Colossae.

Philemon 1:2; Colossians 4:17
Onesimus (M) — a Colossian, formerly Philemon's slave, sent back "no longer as a slave but... a beloved brother"
Colossians 4:9; Philemon 1:10-16
Tychicus (M) — letter-carrier sent to this church
Colossians 4:7-9