The “lists” in scripture are always there because God intended to teach us something by the list, perhaps a lesson of genealogy, or perhaps something about the composition of a group. In Romans 16 the list revealed to much about the nature of the church family at Rome, lessons about the diversity of the church, lessons about house churches and the fact the church is not a “building”, but rather a “family”, and the fact that the church is place filled with people facing real life together, gathering for mutual ministry.