Cecil Murray, a minister who turned a struggling church in Los Angeles into one of the country’s largest congregations, then made it a base to combat the many ills facing the city’s Black population — most notably during and after the 1992 riots — died on Friday at his home in the View Park-Windsor Hills section of Los Angeles. The death was announced by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, where he had taught after retiring from the church. When Mr. Murray arrived at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1977, it was both storied and troubled: It was the oldest Black church west of the Mississippi, but it was loaded in debt and attracted just a few hundred congregants. Mr. Murray, known as Chip, brought new life to the church. Within a decade he had retired the church’s debt and brought attendance up to about 7,000.

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Persons: Cecil Murray, —, Murray Organizations: Center for Religion, University of Southern, First African Methodist Episcopal Church Locations: Los Angeles, Windsor, University of Southern California, Mississippi