Murphy is proclaimed the first black female pastor

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A local individual received an historian honor from Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine for being the city’s first black female pastor.
Pastor Ursula Murphy was presented the proclamation from the mayor during one of her Sunday services at Cornerstone International Ministries on September 16.
“I hadn’t thought about being the first,” she said. “When we got started 22-years-ago, it never really dawned on me. It was mind blowing to know, after all these many years, that I was actually the first black female to step into this call.”
“One of the members brought it to the mayor’s attention that they thought I was the first black female pastor,” Pastor Murphy continued. “She did her research and came to the conclusion that I am the first female pastor in the City of Ville Platte.”
After growing up in Ville Platte, Pastor Murphy moved away with her husband Apostle Sylvester Murphy. The Murphys then answered God’s call and returned to Ville Platte in 1996 to start their church.
“We started in a little building on Main Street,” said Pastor Murphy. “Then, we moved to another location up the road from there. We were there for about nine years, and, then, God blessed us with this piece of property on Division Road where we were able to build.”
For the past 22-years, Pastor Murphy and her husband have been meeting the needs of many in the Ville Platte area through their humanitarian efforts of feeding and clothing those in need through a program called the Kingdom Building Project. She is also responsible for distributing Christmas toys to struggling families on an annual basis.
“We look forward every year to blessing the unfortunate families with the toys,” Pastor Murphy expressed. “That’s something we love doing. We buy bicycles, and some of the church members make donations. We go out into the community, and we bless unfortunate families.”
Pastor Murphy has also taken her ministerial efforts to the streets of Ville Platte with prayer vigils, tent crusades, and street corner ministry.
Her ministry is; however, not just spread to residents of her native city as it is spread to people from other areas as well. Pastor Murphy, in the past, has opened the doors of the church as a shelter to those affected by hurricanes such as Katrina and Ike.
“During the time of Katrina and Ike,” explained Pastor Murphy, “we opened up our facility and had people come because they needed a place to stay, and we fed them. Outreach is something that we look forward to doing.”
Other alien ministries involve humanitarian and philanthropic efforts in Durban, South Africa, where she has set up and funded a food kitchen in the remote area called Welbedacht.
“That was an amazing experience being there for 14 days to contribute to the needs there concerning the unfortunate impoverished kids in the area,” she stated. “We did work there feeding these kids, and we gave financial contributions to help build a kitchen to be able to feed the kids as well.”
“They were really receptive,” she continued. “Anytime you come from America and go to Africa, their arms are wide open. First of all, they know you’re going with something. They received the Gospel because they knew we just didn’t go to preach. They knew we went to help as well.”
Meanwhile, back in Ville Platte, Pastor Murphy is molding the leaders of tomorrow while being a professor of her own school of theology. She is using the media to spread her message through the Keeping it Kingdom broadcasts at 6:30 a.m. on Thursdays.
“We’re covering 59 cities and eight parishes across Louisiana,” said Pastor Murphy. “We’ve been doing that for almost 10 years on the local cable network KDCG. We have an audience, and we get feedback from people that we run across. I went to Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, and they called my name out. I was like how does this prisoner know me. He said they get together on those Thursdays and watch our show.”
She continued, “We’re excited about the television ministry. It’s going out and reaching people who can’t come out of their homes or hospitals or nursing homes.”
Besides the television medium, Pastor Murphy records music and authors books. “I wrote my first book 40 Plus and Fabulous. It was nominated for a Christian Literacy Award in Dallas. I also do a little singing, but I mostly song write. I write music more than anything else.”
Pastor Murphy sees her ministry as being exciting even though there have been challenges to overcome. “When we first got started, the members weren’t into females being pastors or teachers,” she said. “It was a challenge in the beginning, but we are very adamant. We know what God has called us to do. Our job is here is to make the city better. That’s what we’ve been doing these 22 years.”
She continued, “We enjoy empowering people and changing their mindset and getting them to understand they can have more and believe more.”
Apostle Sylvester Murphy added, “We’re just loving what we do, and we’re just giving God the glory and watching the outcome. It was a small beginning, but it’s a glorious ending. The greatest thing is just staying faithful and seeing the outcome of what God is doing.”
He concluded, “We’re seeing the beauty of what we’re doing, and it’s a blessing.”