Allen Carson

Rev. Allen Carson is an Evolution Foundation consultant and currently serves as the Pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Durant, Oklahoma. He has served United Methodist Churches across Oklahoma the past 33 years as children, youth, and family minister, and as senior pastor for the past 23 years. Reverend Carson earned his undergraduate degree in Family, Marriage Relations, and Child Development from the University of Central Oklahoma and his Master of Divinity Degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

As an Oklahoma foster care alumni, Allen has spent the past three and half decades working with children, youth, and young adults in foster care and juvenile justice programs. He has tutored and mentored in juvenile detention centers and alternative schools, and currently serves as a trainer for with Oklahoma Systems of Care focusing on strengthening community partnerships, with an emphasis on partnerships with social service agencies and faith communities.

Allen leads independent living workshops and training sessions for youth and adults. His work within the church has emphasized building churches' relationships with people at the margins to offer spiritual, emotional, and material resources. As an Oklahoma foster care alumni, he is asked often to speak on issues related to the foster care system, share ways communities can help youth and young adults with transition services, behavioral and mental health issues, and share his personal story. The church, teachers, and mentors had a profound impact on Allen's journey from foster care into adulthood.

Allen's personal interests include spending time with family, cheering for the Sooners and Chiefs, working on cars and car stereos, going to car shows, and binge-watching Netflix and Disney+. Allen and his wife Katharine have two adult sons, Cal and Alex (Michayla), and one daughter, Molly Grace.