The First Missionary Baptist Church of Morehead City was organized on July 10, 1873. Ten members, eight women, and two men, made up her original membership. The charter members were Mrs. Eliza Webb, Mrs. Rachel Arthur, Mrs. Susan Davis, Mrs. Frances Piver, Mrs. Sarah M. Willis, Mrs. Nancy Bennett, Mrs. Susan Styron, Mrs. Sarah A. Wade, Rev. Jacob Utley, and Mr. Asa Piver. Meetings were held in the public school building on the corner of 9th street. The records tell us that brother Ivey preached an able sermon from Luke 5:5, which reads as follows: “And Simon answering said unto Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.’”

The little band, constituting the new church, that day let down the net and launched into the deep.