Ours is a story of what the grace of God can accomplish through persons who will hear the call of the Holy Spirit, walk in faith, and cooperate in love and humility. In or around 1955, a precious woman of God sensed the call of the Lord to begin a Vacation Bible School in the Mossy Head community and sought help in bringing that to pass for two years. This effort evolved into a Sunday school offering in the community. About this time, the pastor of Southwide Baptist Church in DeFuniak Springs began investigating the possibility of beginning a mission preaching station. A site was procured and services began.
As time moved on, the Southwide Baptist congregation recognized that it was not able to continue undergirding the mission financially, and so the First Baptist Church of DeFuniak Springs, discerning the need in the community, moved to continue the mission and relieve Southwide Baptist of the financial burden. In 1959, the Mossy Head Baptist Mission was constituted and the work grew from there. In 1961, the mission erected and dedicated its first building, that which currenty serves as our student ministry center and classroom space.
The people of Mossy Head mission were full of vibrant activity, actively engaging the community and growing together in love and grace. A number of ministers served the mission as it continued to thrive in Mossy Head until in 1977, after 18 years of operating as a mission of First Baptist Church of DeFuniak Springs, the congregation voted unanimously to constitute themselves as an autonomous congregation known as First Baptist Church of Mossy Head with 73 charter members. They did so with the blessing of the mission committee of FBC DeFuniak Springs and were immediately welcomed into the Graves Association (now the Walton County Baptist Association.) Rev. Rufus Frazier, who had been pastoring the mission, was called to serve as the first pastor of the newly constituted church.
Over the years, the Lord has grown the church both in membership and in its physical plant. An education building (currently the fellowship hall) was built in 1980, and then an addition of classrooms and offices was added beginning in 1984. A while later the current education building was completed. Most recently a new sanctuary was erected on Roberts Road East and the fellowship hall was completely remodeled. The facility God has provided has come a long way and continues to be adequate to meet the needs of the ministries the Lord entrusts to us.
In 1983, just six years after organizing, the Lord led and allowed our church to sponsor a mission, much the same way we began. For eighteen months the church undergirded the Westside Baptist Mission.
Many things have changed in our community over the years, and many things have changed in our church as well; one thing has not changed, however, and that is our commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this community. We are blessed to have a number of our charter members still with us, anchoring us to the godly vision that began our church and the mission to which the church committed herself in the beginning. Still, the Lord continues to bring new souls into the kingdom and into our congregation as a constant reminder and motivation to follow the leadership of the Lord into the future.
We are thankful beyond words for what the Lord has done at First Baptist Church of Mossy Head, and we are excited to see what the Lord has in store as we continue to faithfully follow Him. It may sound cliche, but it is nonetheless true: "the best is yet to come!"
