Messengers from nine Baptist churches, Shady Grove # 1 and # 2, Alvarado, Bethesda, Rock Springs, Hillsboro, Island Grove, West Fork and Union met to organize themselves as an Association on October 29, 1864. The purposes of the Association are to encourage a spirit of cooperation among the churches and to assist the churches in accomplishing their work of fulfilling the Great Commission. Over the years, the Association has been identified by several names, finally named Southwest Metroplex Baptist Association in 2003. From the first meeting, a moderator has been elected annually to preside over meetings and oversee the work of the Association. Today there are 66 churches and missions in the Association, but only First Baptist Church, Alvarado, and Bethesda Baptist Church remain of the charter member churches. The location for an office for the Association was held in a single room in Reverend James G. Payne’s home, who was the first executive director of the Association in 1950. The office moved to a space in the first Baptist church, then to a small building provided by the Field Street Baptist church, and finally in 1992 to a new building in West Cleburne. The Association provides leadership training, demographic studies, church staff development and pastoral counseling for participating churches, as well as financial support to ministries such as the Woman’s Missionary Union, Christian Women’s Job Corps and the Baptist Student Ministry. The Association has also extended its ministry to Canada, Germany, Mexico and Tanzania.