Nearly 23 years ago, a new church plant in Shelby Baptist Association called Allan Murphy as its pastor. Before he came, a small group of people and an interim pastor were meeting for worship at a local shopping center.
But it wasn’t long before the congregation grew and moved into a vacant building. That site would later host four other congregations under North Shelby’s care, including a Vietnamese congregation that meets there now.
These days, North Shelby Baptist Church meets on Double Oak Mountain. Membership tops 900. And on Jan. 31 when Murphy retires, the church will say goodbye to the only full-time pastor it’s ever known.
“We’ve had a lot of blessings over the years, a lot of opportunities to grow and develop,” he said of the church.
Murphy, who was ordained at 19, first served at Shady Grove Baptist Church, Selma, then as pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Georgiana, and Sardis Baptist Church, Greenville. He also served Philadelphia Baptist Church, Birmingham.
He earned a bachelor’s degree at Samford University in Birmingham and a graduate degree at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Before coming to North Shelby Baptist, Murphy and his wife, Mary, and their four children served as International Mission Board missionaries. The couple has four grandchildren. (TAB)
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