Pastor Marquis Cooper joined the Otter Creek Community Church as the Senior Pastor in 2019. Pastor Cooper is a 1994 graduate of Lee High School in Marianna, AR. He obtained the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts degree from Philander Smith College, and a Master’s degree in Counseling Education from UA Little Rock. He is a licensed counselor for grades K-12 in the states of Arkansas and Tennessee. Presently he serves as the school counselor at Martin Luther King Elementary School in the Little Rock School District.

Pastor Cooper is an accomplished author as well. He has written and published Guidance ~N~ Action in 2008, Sista Let Me Tell Ya, Bruh if You Only Knew in 2010, and R.E.N.E.W (Removing Every Negative Emotion & Word) in 2012. R.E.N.E.W is a curriculum designed for middle, high school, and college students. His next curriculum, “Behind Closed Doors: REACHING & RENEWING MEN FOR THE KINGDOM” is scheduled to be released late summer/early fall of 2019.

Pastor Cooper coined the phrase, “If you leave and grow, you can come back and plant.” He is the youngest of 22 children in his family. Pastor Cooper has served in ministry for more than 20 years. Pastor Cooper and his wife Karmen have three children: Marquis, Cobie, and Kalia.