Two churches share more than a pastor

Trinity and Spencer Memorial UMCs are two different churches, but they do have some very important things in common.

For starters, they’re both faithful United Methodist churches located in Muskogee. Second, they’re both led by Gwen Collins-Derrick, a local pastor and rising star in the Oklahoma conference.

Collins-Derrick is the only African-American female senior pastor serving an African-American church, according to Rev. Dr. Bessie Hamilton, Associate Director of Connectional Ministry for New Faith Communities and Multi Ethnic Initiatives.

District superintendent Terry Koehn explained, “Both churches are historic in their own ways. Spencer Memorial is a historically Black church, while Trinity has had a presence for well over 100 years on the east side of town.”

Though, according to Koehn, “this is not their first time to work together, as they have had shared events and a combined youth gathering in the past,” this is a hallmark event with Collins-Derrick at the helm.