Editor’s note: Jim Murphy has been active in Southern Baptist work for much of his life. Before retiring from denominational work in 2007, he had served for 21 years with the North American Mission Board and seven years with South Carolina Woman’s Missionary Union. The following story is excerpted from the Greenwood Index-Journal and is reprinted with permission.
If you ask Greenwood’s Irene Murphy about her husband, she’ll tell you this: “I married a Jim – and a gem.”
Jim Murphy, retiring executive director for the Food Bank of Greenwood County, has spent his career serving others, a calling grounded in his Christian faith.She’s been married to Jim Murphy, executive director of the Food Bank of Greenwood County, for 44 years and describes him as a “man of integrity.”
She first met Jim when his mother was asked to be the pianist at Harris Baptist Church, where she and her family attended. Her brother and Jim were best friends, so she was always around him, and their dates were centralized around church functions.
“His word is his bond,” she said. “He’s kindhearted to a fault. He is a cool, calm person. He’s soft-spoken and thinks things through before he speaks, but he’s going to speak the truth when he does.” Whatever mission he takes on, he will give it his all and more, she added.
This dedication to service is echoed through Jim Murphy’s co-workers. John Moore, administrative assistant for the Food Bank, said Murphy is someone who is always there when someone needs – well, anything. “It doesn’t matter what it is,” Moore said. “You could be stranded 40 miles away with your car broken down, and he’d probably find a way to come help you out.”
The people who know Murphy can’t say enough about his passion, part of the Christian mission that has led him to a career of service.
Murphy, 68, is originally from Greenwood, but has spent most of his career in other cities and states. He began in the teaching field as a professor of sociology at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., for five years. Then he was a professional scouter for the Boy Scouts of America for seven years.
But soon it was time for a change.
“My whole life has been grounded really in the Christian faith,” he said. “We were active in our churches and ministries of various kinds. My wife and I felt that we needed to do mission work, so we went to the Home Mission Board, which is now the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They interviewed us and sent us back to South Carolina.”
The Murphys moved to Anderson, where he applied his sociology training as a church social worker within the Saluda Baptist Association, meeting the needs of the community for the next 21 years.
“I was kind of a liaison between the churches and the community,” he said. “I was not the instigator, but I was part of helping start the free clinic, the Good Neighbor Cupboard, and I was on the original board for Habitat [for Humanity].”
While in Anderson, he was instrumental in forming Anderson Interfaith Ministries, which enabled the consolidation of services the various churches offered to serve people more efficiently.
He took early retirement in 2000, but moved to Columbia, where he worked with South Carolina Woman’s Missionary Union. He again took retirement and moved back to Greenwood in 2007.
“After being gone 41 years, it’s great to be back,” he said. “I’ve told people my work with the Food Bank and any work I do in Greenwood is kind of payback for what Greenwood did for me when I was growing up – the schools and the churches.”
Since January 2008, Murphy has filled the executive position for the Food Bank, all on volunteer status, but he’ll be retiring from the position Aug. 15, although he plans to continue his involvement with the Food Bank. He’ll also look forward to spending time with his four grandchildren.
“As I look back over my life, everything has been a stepping stone for something else that I would say God has prepared for me,” Murphy said. “[My faith] gives me a reason for doing something – a purpose. I see my education giving me direction, but my Christian faith gives me purpose in why I do it.”
That fulfillment is an ongoing process for Murphy. “When they put me in Greenwood Memorial Gardens, I hope to have fulfilled – but right now, while I’m still here, I’m still fulfilling,” he said. “I keep learning. I keep finding new ways to fulfill my Christian faith.”