Pastor Diane Koger
This information was updated on Monday, January 17.
A local event to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will feature several students from the Ottumwa Community School District.
The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Citywide Celebration will be held Monday, January 17 at 7 p.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ottumwa. The program will highlight the non-violent theme King used during the civil rights movement of the '50's and '60's. Students participating include: the Ottumwa High School JROTC Color Guard and the Ottumwa High School Meistersingers.
The theme this year is Let the Peace Begin With Me.The keynote speaker will be Pastor Diane Koger. She is most known publicly in Ottumwa as the Sr. Pastor of Second Baptist Church in Ottumwa, Iowa.
In 2018, Pastor Koger made history by becoming the first African-American female pastor in Iowa. She was ordained as a minster at Saint Timothy House of Prayer Church under the late Pastor George
Simms in Chicago. After relocating from Illinois to Iowa, she obtained an AA degree in Early
Childhood Education from Des Moines Area Community College. She is the owner of Amazing Panda Learning Academy in Clive and author of her new book, A Clergy Woman Standing Alone in My Own Words.
From her ministry in the inner city of Chicago, she evangelized communities, helped the less fortunate, reduced gang violence, and taught principles on empowering women. In addition to being a Christian counselor, Pastor Koger is the founder of Field Workers International, a ministry that focuses on women’s ministry and evangelism. Although she has received several certificates in ministry, she continues to enhance her learning. Recently she was named Second Vice-Moderator of the Central District Baptist Association where she is the first Black woman to hold this office.
