Looking at some of the earliest writings of the Church, such as the Didache (~70 AD) and the 1st Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians (~92AD), as well as the New Testament writings, it would appear the church by that time had a fairly uniform organizational & liturgical structure. This included bishops (episkopoi, “overseers”), priests (presbuteroi, “elders”) & deacons (diakonoi, “servants) By the mid 2nd century, the basic NT Canon had been established, as noted in the Muratorian Canon (~160 AD).

So within about 70 years after the Resurrection, there was an organization communicating across the Mediterranean. Not the type of an organization waiting for the end of the world.

While the persecution by Nero was bloody, it was thankfully brief. So from about 70 to 90 AD, no persecutions are noted, until for some reason Domitian initiated a series of persecutions.