Murray was appointed youth pastor at Palmerston North Central Baptist Church in 1985 and served there until 1995. Overseeing a large team of volunteer youth workers caused a passion to develop in him for training and supporting youth leaders. In 1995 he was appointed as the National Leadership Training and Development Co-ordinator for NZ Baptist Youth Ministries, and given the responsibility of training youth workers throughout the country. When BYM established the YouthTRAIN Trust in December 1998 Murray was appointed its first Director. He teaches youth ministry widely, from volunteers through to degree level studies, speaking regularly in both New Zealand and Australia. He leads the Year 7-8 ministry at his local church in a voluntary capacity as well as taking a weekly year 7 & 8 Bible in schools class.
“I’ve been involved in youth work for 14 years but learned plenty of new things at Murray’s training. The wisdom and insights were fantastic! This is brilliant training” (regional youth worker, Otago)