Murray died Friday night following a series of recent health struggles, relatives told media outlets.
The Rev. Dr. Cecil Murray, who spent 27 years at First African Methodist Episcopal Church and played a key role in quelling the L.A. riots, sees serious trouble for America but has hope for change, in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 22, 2018. The Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, who served as pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church for 27 years and was noted for his calming presence during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, has died at age 94.
During his tenure at FAME, the city’s oldest Black church, from 1977 to 2004, Murray helped grow its congregation from 250 to more than 18,000 members and attracted high-profile visitors including former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, along with multiple governors and Los Angeles mayors.
“We are not proud that we set those fires, but we’d like to make a distinction to America this morning about the difference between setting a fire and starting a fire,” he told his congregation on May 3, 1992, the day the unrest ended. “We set some of those fires, but we didn’t start any of those fires. Those fires were started when some men of influence decided that this nation can indeed exist half slave and half free.
“We were able to create 4,000 jobs,” Whitlock, now a pastor at Reid Temple AME Church in Maryland, told PBS in 2020. “We developed real estate extensively throughout South Central Los Angeles. He is a remarkable leader. He’s 90 years old, but his legacy continues through many of the real estate projects. He was the spiritual leader, the voice that moved the city and kept the city peaceful.”
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Cecil Murray, First AME pastor who calmed LA after '92 riots, dies at 94The Rev. Cecil L. 'Chip' Murray, who served as pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church for 27 years and was noted for his calming presence during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, has died at age 94.
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