Staff

Pastor Allen Fluent, Intentional Interim Minister

The Rev. Dr. Allen Fluent was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Knox College (BA), Eden Theological Seminary (BD, D.Min) and the University of Missouri, St Louis (MA in Sociology), and was ordained to the Christian Ministry in 1965. Prior to his retirement, he served as a pastor in UCC congregations in Missouri, Ohio, and New York, and as Area Conference Minister in the Penn Central Conference. In the past 14 years, Allen has worked as an intentional interim minister with seven
congregations in times of transition (in Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio), and served for two years as the Acting Conference Minister for the Missouri Mid-South Conference.
Allen and Nora have been married for 53 years. Nora is an art educator who studied for her BFA and MA degrees at the University of Cincinnati, when they lived here in the 1970s and 80s. In 2019, they returned to Cincinnati to be closer to their two daughters, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren who live nearby.

Dr. Brandon Stroup, Minister of Music

DR. BRANDON A. STROUP has over 20 years of experience as a music educator. Currently he teaches at Peebles High School and Shawnee State University. Prior to moving back to Adams County in 2022, he led a 300-voice high school choral music program in Yuma, Arizona. A first-generation college graduate, Brandon holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Music Education, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting, and a doctorate in Music Education.

Dr. Stroup was Teacher of the Year in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2013. Stroup was also nominated for the Yuma Arts Council Helios Award (2013), the Grammy Foundation Music Educator Award (2011 and 2016) and the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award (2013). In 2016, Dr. Stroup was one of the youngest persons ever to receive the Tribute of the Muses award, given by the Yuma Arts Council, in recognition of the significant contributions he made to the arts in and around the city of Yuma.