pastor

  • Senior Pastor, Mt Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church
  • Ex-Officio Board Member, Mt Zion Human Services
  • Advisory Board Member, Pinellas Community Foundation

Rev. Murphy has dedicated his pastoral career to kingdom building, inside and outside the walls of Mt. Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, where he was installed as Senior Pastor in 1999.  Murphy entered the ministry with a life-long track record in secular leadership, as a one-time Drum Major for the world-renowned Florida A&M Marching 100, as a former non-commissioned Marine Corps officer, in procurement management roles with Florida Power Corporation and the St. Petersburg Times, and as a four-year District Executive for the West Central Florida Council of Boy Scouts of America.

Under his guidance, Mt. Zion Progressive has grown to become the largest African-American congregation in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, while paying off the $2.1 million church mortgage 13 years ahead of schedule, and opening the Mt Zion Christian Academy, serving children in grades K through 5.

His unwavering focus on effective community change has placed Mt. Zion on the leading edge of economic and spiritual renewal in the City’s most impoverished areas. Rev. Murphy’s community leadership roles have included service as a founding board member of Urban Development Solutions (which built the 47,000 square foot Tangerine Plaza shopping center in Midtown), as Co-Chair of the Power On! Campaign, which was credited with helping to produce a record black voter turnout in south St. Petersburg, as founder of Seven x 7, a movement of 30+ South St. Petersburg churches hosting a week-long annual revival, and as a 2020 Plan Core Team member, leading a collective plan to reduce poverty by 30% in South St. Petersburg by the year 2020.

Rev. Murphy has also served as a board member with the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg and Mt Zion Human Services, as an advisory council member for the Community Foundation of Greater St. Petersburg, and as a member of over 25 years with the Kiwanis Club of Greater St. Petersburg.

Recognition for his service and leadership include the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award by the Boy Scouts, the NAACP President’s Award, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Citizen of the Year Award, the St. Petersburg Bar Association Liberty Bell Award, and the WBTN Radio Ministry Recognition Award, among others.

A native of Florida, Rev. Murphy continued his studies at Florida A&M University and the University of Central Florida.  He received a B.S. in Business Administration from Hawaii’s Chaminade University, while serving in the United States Marine Corps.