Demonstrate

William Murphy
William Murphy, III was given a solid foundation in both the church and its music, as his father and grandfather were musically gifted; the elder a Baptist minister and his son a minister and bishop.

"Church is what I've known all my life," he says. "My family is rich in the heritage of the Gospel, in spoken-word ministry as well as music. That was the foundation I grew up on."

Although he had cousins who had been "singing from the cradle", William's talents were later in coming to the fore, as he sang for the first time in front of a congregation at age 14, after having first been active in school musical programs. "I was the late bloomer in the family," he remembers. "I just woke up one morning and discovered I could sing! For a number of years I thought I would just use that gift in my father's and grandfather's church, and that would be it."

His first major step up the ladder of recognition as a worship leader came when he met Bishop Paul S. Morton, the International Presiding Bishop at a national convention of The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship in 1995. William was asked to record a song for the album released from that conference, on which Bishop Long gave a spoken introduction. The two became friends and William was soon after offered the position as the Fellowship's worship minister.

As his presence rose in the fellowship, and word of his immense talents spread ever farther, William was presented the opportunity by Bishop Long to serve at New Birth in 2001. William and his wife and two children moved to Atlanta as he became the church's Senior Minister of Worship, a position he held until December 2005. In January 2006, he and his wife, Pastor Danielle launched the dReam Center Church of Atlanta. The dReam Center Church of Atlanta teaches men to cultivate, strengthen and build their personal relationships with Jesus, their wives, their children, their families and their communities through prayer, worship, family, evangelism, education, wealth development and social action.