John Murray (minister)

John Murray (December 10, 1741 – September 3, 1815) was one of the founders of the Universalist denomination in the United States, a pioneer minister and an inspirational figure.

His father was an Anglican and his mother a Presbyterian, both strict Calvinists, and his home life was attended by religious severity.

In 1760 Murray returned to England and joined George Whitefield's congregation[1]; but embracing, somewhat later, the Universalistic teachings of Welsh minister James Relly he was excommunicated.

In 1770 he emigrated to "lose himself in America", and preached, as a Universalist minister, his first sermon in Good Luck, now Lacey Township, New Jersey, September 30, 1770, residing there with his patron and friend Thomas Potter until 1774, itinerating from Virginia to New Hampshire.

Murray suffered a debilitating stroke on October 19, 1809, which compelled him to give up preaching, and he died in Boston, Massachusetts on September 3, 1815.