The Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray is second vice-president and a member of the Praesidium of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). He was elected fifth vice-president in 2010 and re-elected and ranked as fourth vice-president in 2013. In 2016 he was re-elected and ranked as second vice-president.
He represents the church’s West-Southwest Region. He also currently serves as senior pastor of Memorial Lutheran Church, Houston, TX where he was called in 1996.
Previously, Murray served St. Paul Lutheran Church, Cobourg, Ontario, Canada (1983- 1985), and Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA (1985-1996). He served on the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations — as a member from 1995 to 2001 and as a vice-chair from 1998 to 2001. He also served on the board of the Lutheran Education Association of Houston from 2001 to 2007. He has served as an editorial associate for Logia, a journal of Lutheran theology, and he was chairman of the Board of Directors of Luther Academy from (2012-2015), an organization that promotes confessional Lutheran theology.
Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Murray graduated with a B.A. from Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1980 and earned a M.Div. from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1983. He also holds a M.A. from Loyola University and a Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Murray writes a devotion every weekday called “Memorial Moments,” which is based on the church fathers. He also is the author of Law, Life, and the Living God (Concordia Publishing House, 2001), A Year with the Church Fathers (Concordia Publishing House, 2011), has edited a number of books including The Gates of Hell (Concordia Publishing House, 2018) and has written numerous journal articles.
Murray and his wife, Maryann, live in Houston. They have two daughters.