Michael C. Murphy was the founder and pastor of St. Stephen’s Community United Church of Christ in Lansing, Michigan and a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. Murphy graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor's degree, from Michigan State University with a master's degree in counseling, and from Chicago Theological Seminary with both a master's degree in divinity and a doctorate of ministry. Ordained by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1984, Murphy held dual standing with that church and the United Church of Christ. He founded St. Stephen's in 1987 and served there until being called to the People's Congregational United Church of Christ in early 2009 where he was senior minister.