[3] She earned a Master of Arts degree with honours in classics and French from the University of Otago,[4] and later worked as a teacher, parliamentary researcher and producer of radio hymn programmes.

[5] She married John Stewart Murray in Cambridge, England, in 1954,[5] returning with him to New Zealand when he was appointed a Presbyterian Church minister.

[2][4] Colin Gibson described Murray's hymns in 2009 as "distinguished by their inclusive language and their innovative use of Māori, their bold appropriation of secular terms and their original poetic imagery drawn from nature and domestic life, but equally by the directness with which they confront contemporary issues.

[10] In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Murray was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a hymn writer.

[15] A biography Peace is Her Song: The life and legacy of hymn writer Shirley Erena Murray was written by Anne Manchester and published in 2024.