Murray Presbyterian Church

We are a diverse group of Christians with a wide variety of views. On the whole we tend to be more conservative theologically than many within our denomination. We believe that the Bible is trustworthy and true on matters pertaining to Christian faith and life. We believe that Jesus Christ is truly our Savior, whose death on the cross was a sacrifice for our sins, and who truly rose from the dead to give eternal life to all who place their trust in him. We believe we are called to demonstrate our Christian faith in how we live our lives each day. We believe we are called to share the saving love of God in Christ with others both by sharing the Good News of salvation in Jesus and by offering a helping hand to people in need whenever the opportunity arises.

DEMOGRAPHICS

We are a church that for its first century was a farming community church. Now, only two church families are active in farming (though a number of retired farmers hold membership in the church). The majority of the congregation lives at a nearby lake development named Beaver Lake. The remainder live in the village of Murray, the city of Plattsmouth, and the surrounding rural areas. The membership is a mixture of families with children in the public schools, “empty nesters” and retired people.

THE NAME

Both the village of Murray and subsequently the Church are named for a significant pastor of this church, George R. Murray, pastor from 1880 to 1890. George Murray was able to remain for a good number of years at what was at that time a “mission” church, because he had the means to purchase 120 acres of land south of town and farm it to support his family. Therefore he was not dependent upon his salary alone for his sustenance, when the majority of his salary was often not paid until November when the fall harvest was completed. His presence, activities and leadership impressed the town “fathers” sufficiently, that they honored George Murray by changing the name of the town from Fairview to Murray in 1890. Subsequently the church decided it was only right to change the name of the church from Fairview United Presbyterian Church to Murray United Presbyterian Church. The church still maintains contact with descendents of its namesake. The word United fell out of the church name at the time of the denominational merger of 1984.