Churches
The first Christians were, like Jesus, Jews resident in Israel who worshiped on occasion in the Temple in Jerusalem and weekly in local synagogues. Temple worship was a ritual involving sacrifice, occasionally including the sacrifice of animals in atonement for sin, offered to Yahweh until Jesus became the final sacrificial offering on Calvary. The New Testament includes many references to Jesus visiting the Temple, the first time as an infant with his parents.
The early history of the synagogue is obscure, but it seems to be an institution developed for public Jewish worship during the Babylonian captivity when the Jews did not have access to the Jerusalem Temple for ritual sacrifice. Instead, they developed a daily and weekly service of readings from the Torah or the prophets followed by commentary. This could be carried out in a house if the attendance was small enough, and in many towns of the Diaspora that was the case. In others, more elaborate architectural settings developed, sometimes by converting a house and sometimes by converting a previously public building. The minimum requirements seem to have been a meeting room with adequate seating, a case for the Torah scrolls, and a raised platform for the reader and preacher.
 F. CHARPENTIER SHOOTING STAR NAKED NYMPH BRONZE STATUE |
 SIGNED BRONZE MAJESTIC LION AFRICAN KING SCULPTURE ART |
 DIRECTV TRIPLE SAT 3 LNB OVAL DISH NEW COMPLETE |
 VINTAGE SIGNED HAT DANCER C. MIRVAL BRONZE STATUE NR |
 PICANULT SEXY SEDUCTIVE GIRL BRONZE SCULPTURE STATUE |
 SIGNED A. GORY NUDE GIRL DANCER BRONZE STATUE |
 39"H Lg Holy Family Figurine, Holiday Decor, Christmas |
 VINTAGE ABSTRACT MODERN ART CAST BRONZE SCULPTURE ART |
 SIGNED NUDE DIANNA BY JOE DESCOMPS BRONZE STATUE NR |
 VINTAGE ROMAN SOLDIER WARRIOR BRONZE SCULPTURE ART NR |
Jesus himself participated in this sort of service as a reader and commentator (see Gospel of Luke 4: 16-24) and his followers probably remained worshipers in synagogues in some cities. However, following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70, the new Christian movement and Judaism increasingly parted ways. The Church became overwhelmingly Gentile sometime in the 2nd century.
The Syrian city of Dura-Europos on the West bank of the Euphrates was an outpost town between the Roman and Parthian empires. During a siege by Parthian troops in A.D. 257 the buildings in the outermost blocks of the city grid were partially destroyed and filled with rubble to reinforce the city wall. Thus were preserved and securely dated the earliest decorated church and a synagogue decorated with extensive wall paintings. Both had been converted from earlier private buildings.
The church at Dura Europos has a special room dedicated for baptisms with a large baptismal font.