 Ephrem, in his late fifties, applied himself to ministry in his new church and seems to have continued his work as a teacher, perhaps in the School of Edessa.Edessa had always been at the heart of the Syriac-speaking world, and the city was full of rival philosophies and religions.Ephrem comments that orthodox Nicene Christians were simply called "Palutians" in Edessa, after a former bishop.