First Timothy marks a new section in the Pauline corpus, introducing a set of letters that were written to individuals instead of churches: to Timothy (twice), Titus, and Philemon. The first three of these letters—1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—are called the “pastoral epistles” because the men to whom Paul writes are serving in pastoral ministry. In the case of 1 Timothy, Paul sent his protégé Timothy back to the church of Ephesus in Asia Minor—a church with which Paul had worked closely in previous years—with the intention that Timothy would organize the life and worship of that community of faith.

Since 1 Timothy is written about the exercise of pastoral ministry, it offers more detail about the structure and administration of churches than do most of the other New Testament texts. Paul warns about the dangers presented by false teachers and urges the church to practice an orderly form of worship, placing special emphasis on the ministry of prayer: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people […]” (1 Tim 2:1). He outlines the qualifications for two church offices, that of the episkopos (“overseer”) and the deacon.