According to the Stanly Baptist Association, Mission Baptist Church in the Locust area originally began as a series of prayer meetings held at the home of W.T. and Elizabeth Swinson. Six charter members decided to form a church, so in 1883 they organized the Elizabeth Baptist Church. The first services were held under a brush arbor. They were later moved to an old school building. In 1895 the church members sold the school building for $5 and applied that to the cost of a new church building. That same year they changed the name to Mission Baptist Church. The new building wasn’t completed until 1910. The church continued to grow so a new building was constructed in 1924. A parsonage and educational building were added in 1956, followed by a fellowship hall in 1962. The current church building was built in 1971 and a large classroom addition was added in 2003. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}