The widely accepted assumption that the ecclesiology of the Pastoral Epistles is shaped by the experiential world of the ancient oikos (“oikos-ecclesiology”) has recently been challenged for two main reasons: first, the oikos terminology would only be profiled in 1 Tim, indeed the thesis that the three letters constitute a pseudepigraphic corpus would not stand up to the diversity of the three letters. Secondly, it is no longer the oikos but the polis that is the social context of the three different letters. In this diffuse debate, the article aims to contribute to a more nuanced judgement. (1) A close linguistic analysis of the oikos word field confirms the consistent, metaphorical use in all three letters; (2) meanwhile, the local church is publicly perceived as a separate entity in the polis, distinct from the synagogues; (3) the polis reference of the ekklesia does not exclude that the oikos influences the life of the ekklesia, as the latter conversely stabilizes the life in the oikos. The article offers three examples to illustrate this: the role of women, the ideas of church leadership, and the handling of money and wealth.