Fun Facts About Pat Murdock
Occupation: Pat Murdock is the executive director of the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center in Philadelphia. The center is set to open around Thanksgiving of this year.
Favorite bible verse:
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Hometown: Murdock was born in Lubbock, Texas, and grew up in Hobbs, New Mexico.
Favorite part about the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center: Murdock is most excited about the museum’s new interactive technology that will personalize the experience for each visitor.
Hobbies: Murdock enjoys cooking, community service and spending time with his six children.
Meet Pat Murdock
Pat Murdock’s path to the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center was not a straight line. It instead turned in unexpected ways, allowing him to see the power of God behind his every move.
“There were stepping stones to help prepare me as I went,” said Murdock, executive director for the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center. “When I started in the corporate world, I was an introvert stepping into an extrovert world. It didn’t make a lot of sense on paper. God blessed my work, and I was productive. It caused the company to transfer me to bigger responsibilities along the way.”
For 21 years, Murdock worked in sales and marketing before being called to join the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as managing director of development.
“I got a call out of nowhere from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,” said Murdock. “My wife and I prayed about it. I felt like I had met people along the way in the corporate world that had prepared me for that switch.”
This first venture into a faith-based career led to a four-year stint as co-founder and executive director of a think tank called the Issachar Initiative. This organization aggregated data on what the global church needed help with to spread Christianity most effectively.
“I was drinking from the firehose again and trying something completely new,” said Murdock. “This time it was about global missions and how to get in front of leaders with the data to clarify what was the unfinished work of the church.”
In 2015, Murdock began yet another career transition. This time, he would look to the birthplace of America for inspiration.
“The president of the American Bible Society told me they had a piece of property in the middle of Independence Hall,” said Murdock. “He asked me to figure out what to do with that space.”
Murdock assembled a team to come up with 100 different ideas for how the space could capture the attention of some of the 4.7 million visitors that come each year to Independence Hall.
“One of my mentors said that you don’t just build it and hope they come,” said Murdock. “Find out what people are looking for and how you can add value to their journey that ties into your vision.”
After much research, Murdock and his staff developed the concept for the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center. Scheduled to open around Thanksgiving, the museum will reveal how faith and the Bible influenced the founders of the country and how the Scriptures continue to have an impact on America’s policies today.
“We gathered information from Pulitzer Prize-winning scholars to make sure every bit of the content in the museum is authentic and that there is no stretch of the truth,” said Murdock. “We didn’t want people to think it was a Christian Disneyland. We didn’t want to pitch a storyline that wasn’t true.”
The $60 million museum will not just deliver the facts; it will also use technology to create an immersive, interactive experience.
Each visitors gets an interactive digital device at the beginning of the tour. “It will allow you to virtually collect any piece of content in the museum that you find interesting,” said Murdock. “You are adding it to your own personalized website that you can revisit and share with family and friends.”
While planning and executing this vision, Murdock drew from his previous career experiences in marketing, research and management. With God’s help, his winding career path converged to make him the right man for the job.
To find out more about the upcoming museum, visit faithandliberty.org.
Tips for visiting Philadelphia:
- Don’t miss the amazing complimentary history attractions and historical sites on Independence Mall and in Old City Philadelphia.
- If your schedule allows, add the Faith and Liberty Trail and its portable digital guide to supplement your trip to the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center. This extended experience includes a visit to Christ Church, where George Washington and other founding figures worshiped.
- Take advantage of Philadelphia’s tremendous eating establishments, including historic City Tavern.
