Our Co-Associate Pastors
Travis and Sydne Allen

At First Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, Travis will be working primarily in youth ministry while Sydne will be working primarily in Christian education.  They will both do some preaching, teaching and pastoral care.

Travis Allen grew up on a ranch in the North Texas town of Graham.  He is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he received a B. S. in Agriculture Leadership and Development in May of 2008.  Travis was raised in the First Presbyterian Church in Graham.  While in high school, Travis was ordained an Edler and served two years on the session.  In college he served on the staff of First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas, as youth director.

Since 2004, Travis has spent his summers working at Mo-Ranch, a Presbyterian camp and conference center in Hunt, Texas.  While his primary responsibility at FPC in Bryan involved teaching Sunday School, leading youth group meetings and Wednesday night Bible studies, Travis was also given the opportunity to lead in worship.

It was during this time that he began to experience a passion for teaching and preaching God's Word to youth and their families.  He enrolled in Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, in the fall of 2008.  During his senior year Travis was selected Senior Class President.  Travis graduated from Columbia this past May with a Master of Divinity degree.

Sydne Allen's roots run deep in the Presbyterian tradition.  Sydne was born, baptized and raised in the First Presbyterian Church of Lexington, North Carolina.  It was in this church family where Synde was nurtured and shown the grace of God and where she first discerned a call to a life of service to and with others.

Sydne attended North Carolina State University where she graduated in 2006 with a B. S. in Business Management.  While in college, Sydne was a member of Anno Domini, an acappela group composed of members from various colleges in North Carolina.  This student-led group shared the gospel musically and through worship and testimonies at college campuses, churches, and events across North Carolina.  Sydne was also active with Campus Crusade for Christ through which she participated in a summer mission trip to Santiago, Chile and also relief efforts in Pass Christian and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Through mission work and one-on-one discipleship, she began to feel a call to full time ministry.  Sydne enrolled at Columbia Theological Seminary in 2007.  While there she served on the Student Coordinating Council and was a member of the nominating committee.  She served summer internships at churches in South Carolina and Georgia.  She was also an outreach volunteer coordinator at a women's shelter which was a mission of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.  She graduated in May of 2010 with a Master of Divinity degree.

Travis and Sydne met while at seminary and were married on October 30, 2010 at her home church in Lexington, North Carolina.