Cecil Leonard "Chip" Murray (September 26, 1929 – April 5, 2024) was an American

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Early life

Murray was born in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

, the second child of Janie Williams and Robert Murray. After his mother died when he was three years old, Murray's father moved Cecil and his two siblings to

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. There, his father became a principal of a local high school and remarried. During his middle and high school years, Murray became a junior preacher at his church, Payne Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME). As a teenager, he and his brother Edward witnessed his father confront three white men who were harassing Black people waiting at a soup kitchen. In response, the white men attacked their father then Cecil and Edward. After the incident, Murray's father made a blood oath covenant with his sons, swearing that they would always love and defend Black people.

Early career

Murray received a degree in history at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

in 1951. As a student there, he worked for the school newspaper and joined

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

, the oldest Black fraternity in the United States. After graduating college, he joined the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, and stayed there for about a decade, working as a radar intercept officer and a navigator. In 1958, when he was stationed at Oxnard Air Force Base, situated northwest of Los Angeles, his fighter jet crashed on takeoff, pinning Murray in the back of the plane. Although the pilot, a white man from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, was able to rescue Murray, he fell into the burning gasoline, suffering fatal third-degree burns. Despite Murray's best efforts to smother the flames, the pilot died shortly thereafter. Murray then visited the pilot in the hospital before he died; later saying said that this incident "made imknow that ehad to live beyond imself. As a result of this incident, Murray was awarded the Soldier's Medal of Valor.

Pastoral Ministry

After leaving the Air Force in 1961, Murray studied

divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

Claremont School of Theology Claremont School of Theology (CST) is a private graduate school focused on religion and theology and located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the thirteen official theological schools of the United Methodist Church, and also has close r ...

, receiving his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in religion there in 1964. He started preaching at Primm African Methodist Episcopal church in Pomona and later preached at AME Churches in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In 1977, Murray became the pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, the oldest black congregation in Los Angeles. As the church grew, it was able to repay debts and attracted prominent figures such as Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley. Although Murray became a respected religious leader, other ministers envied the funding and attention he received, occasionally receiving death threats. After his retirement in 2004, he was later the John R. Tansey Chair of Christian Ethics at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

until his retirement in 2022. Murray died of natural causes in Los Angeles on April 5, 2024, at the age of 94.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Cecil 1929 births 2024 deaths University of Southern California faculty American theologians Florida A&M University alumni African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy Claremont School of Theology alumni 1992 Los Angeles riots