By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal and Guide
Rev. Dr. Robert G. Murray, 81, the 19th senior pastor of Norfolk’s Historic First Baptist Church of Bute Street for more than three decades, died on October 31, according to his family.
Dr. Murray served as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church Bute Street from 1983 until he retired in 2022.
During his tenure as pastor at the Historic First Baptist, Dr. Murray emerged as one of the most well-known and respected clergymen in the State of Virginia, according to civic leaders, fellow clergy, and
members of his congregation.
He was also known for being a staunch advocate and activist for Civil Rights for all people, especially his fellow African Americans.
In 1983, according to lifelong church member, Lula Sears-Rogers, her sister, the late Dr. Evelyn
Sears Peevy, headed the search committee to find a replacement for the outgoing pastor, Rev. Levert Taylor.
“We were blessed to find a man like Rev. Robert G. Murray,” said Sears-Rogers. “He was so full of humanity, and during his 38 years, he was a true pastor and leader who attended to the spiritual needs of the congregation in a way that many pastors don’t do these days.”
In 2021, when Rev. Murray announced his retirement, Sears-Rogers in a GUIDE article said, “I didn’t know anyone who could have come to First Baptist at that time. He brought a soothing — calm and peace to our church. He is thoughtful and smart. He knows everyone and their families in their church. Yes, he has been faithful to the end.”
Rev. Dr. Geoffrey V. Guns has been the senior pastor of Norfolk’s Second Calvary Baptist Church for over four decades. He was a Doctoral Student at Virginia Union University’s School of Theology when he first met Rev. Murray, who was a pastor at First Baptist Westwood, in Richmond.
Guns arrived at Second Calvary at the same time that Murray was selected as the leader at First Baptist.
Both pastors were members of a community of Black clergy who allied with political figures to address a myriad of issues related to civil rights, education, and economic disparities facing the Black community in Norfolk.
“He was always very well-liked and respected,” said Guns. “Robert G. Murray was a strong denominational leader and a champion for social justice.”
Murray’s work and tenure at First Baptist earned him the distinction of being the dean of the members of the Tidewater Metro Baptist Ministers’ Conference. He was once president of that collective of the area ministers of all faiths.
Guns said many of the activists-clergy of the 80s and 90s have passed on like Murray or retired, like another of his long-time colleagues and friends, Rev. Anthony Paige, former Pastor of First Baptist Lambert’s Point.
Guns and Paige were classmates at Virginia Union School of Theology in 1982, when the two first met Murray.
Before coming to Norfolk, Rev. Paige was Senior Pastor for nine years at Mt. Nebo Baptist Church at West Point, Virginia. Paige said that Rev. Murray convinced him to seek the leadership at Lambert’s Point “because he thought I was the right person for the job.”
Shortly after Murray and his young family, arrived in Norfolk, the school board proposed a plan to end bussing of elementary school students.
Murray, Paige, Guns, Rev. Milton Reid, Rev. Levi Willis, and other clergy, the NAACP, and political leaders like Father Joseph Green, then a councilperson, and activists like Evelyn Butts, formed Norfolk Coalition for Public Education in 1986.
The alliance filed a lawsuit to stop the city’s plans, but it failed.
But Murray and his allies did not give up their fight for quality education for Black children in Norfolk, according to Guns and Paige.
One day in the early 1990s, Rev. Murray, Rev. Paige and GUIDE Publisher Brenda H. Andrews led a five-mile protest march featuring Black elementary school students and other civic leaders from Berkley, across the Campostella Bridge.
The hike ended in front of the Norfolk School Administration Building, where Murray and others delivered speeches citing the disparities in the city’s public schools impacting Black and poor students.
“Authentic,” said Rev. Paige, to describe Rev. Murray’s legacy.
“He was never involved in anything that he was not fully and truly committed to,” said Paige. “This included his family, church, and community. He would give his whole self to anything he believed in.”
In a 2021 article related to Murray’s retirement, Rev. Dr. Keith I. Jones, the former Senior Pastor of the Shiloh Baptist in Norfolk, said he first encountered Rev. Murray when he was the Youth Pastor at Quioccasin Baptist Church in Richmond.
“He was the Senior Pastor at Westwood, and he allowed me to deliver a sermon,” said Jones, who retired as Shiloh’s pastor two years ago. “This was my
first sermon away for an afternoon program. That was meaningful to a young preacher.”
Both Guns and Paige said that Murray’s vision at the now 226-year-old First Baptist Bute Street was not only focused on the spiritual but the economic uplift of the Black community, especially downtown Norfolk.
Murray was involved in the massive and still ongoing St. Paul’s Quadrant Redevelopment Project.
First Baptist Bute Street and three other Black historic churches sit in the heart of the development near some of the city’s largest public housing communities.
Murray led the effort to build the 38,000-square-foot Murray Center, which contains the READY Academy Christian School, the Taste ‘N See Banquet Facility, the Renew Counseling Center, and the church’s Administration Wing.
The Ready Academy is in its second decade of operation and educates children from kindergarten to 6th Grade.
Rev. Murray was replaced in February 2024 by Rev. Rev. Jerry L. Holmes, the church’s 20th pastor.
Holmes, a longtime member of the congregation, was Youth Minister under Murray for two decades.
He said at that time he was replacing a figure who was a faith and civic icon in Hampton Roads.
“He always believed in keeping the faith,” said Holmes. “He was a class person. He was more than a pastor and father figure. He was a role model in doing the work of Christ. His shoes will be hard to fill.”
Rev. Robert G. Murray was born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where hegraduated from Atlantic City High School. He received his Bachelor’s Degree fromHampton Institute (now Hampton University), and earned both his Masters and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Boston University School of Theology.
He served as an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in the department of African-American Studies and Religious Studies. He taught Social Ethics and Homiletics at the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia.
Dr. Murray, the former President of the Baptist General Convention of Virginia, initiated a $1 million funding drive for the Baptist General Convention Foundation.
Dr. Jones said this contributed to the
construction of the Convention’s headquarters in Richmond.
Murray, for two decades, served as Recording Secretary and Vice President of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Missionary Convention.
For four years, he was chairman of the Board of Directors of the William A. Hunton YMCA, the oldest African American YMCA in America. For ten years, Dr. Murray was a freelance columnist for the New Journal and Guide Weekly Newspaper. His Church School Commentary, “Notes for Your Notebook,” was widely read. Dr. Murray was the Series Editor of the Baptist General Convention’s evangelistic five-volume book series entitled, “Empowering the Church for Kingdom Readiness.”
He was married to Amanda Battle Murray since 1970, and the father of three adult sons, Chioke, Yohance and Osaze, two daughters-in-love, and five grandchildren.
Services
The Celebration of Life Service is Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at The Historic First Baptist Church, 418 East Bute Stree, Norfolk, VA 23510. Other services are The Public Viewing, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., at The Murray Center, 455 Brambleton Ave, Norfolk, VA 23453; and The Viewing, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., at The Historic First Baptist Church.
