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Rance Allen was born in
1948 in Monroe, Michigan, one of 12 children. At the age of
five he began his preaching ministry and by age nine was
preaching throughout Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. He was
licensed to preach at age 12 and has since carried the Word
of God throughout the United States and abroad. In 1978 he
was ordained an Elder by the late Bishop John Seth Bailey
and subsequently served six and a half years as associate
pastor of Holiness Temple Church of God in Christ in Monroe,
MI.
In 1985, the late Bishop
Gilbert Patterson founded New Bethel Church in Toledo and
installed Rance Allen there as pastor where he served until
his death. He served many years on the board of the
Neighborhood Improvement Foundation of Toledo, Inc, a
community organization whose mission was dedicated to
improving inner-city environments. In recognition of his
dedicated years in ministry the Urban Bible Institute of
Detroit bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity
in 1995.
In September 2011 Rance
Allen was elevated to the office of Jurisdictional Prelate
of Michigan Northwestern Harvest in Detroit, succeeding the
late Bishop Alfred Knight, Jr and was consecrated a bishop
on November 7, 2011 during the 104th Holy
Convocation in St. Louis, Missouri. He has also been blessed
with the opportunity to preach the main message to thousands
during the 90th, 96th and 105th
International COGIC Holy Convocations.
A gifted musician and
gospel singer, Bishop Allen and his brothers Tom and Steve
formed the Rance Allen Group in 1969 and began to invade the
world with a new contemporary and innovative gospel sound.
Bishop Allen’s
incomparable vocals are as much sought after by the industry
and have been heard on the projects of various gospel
greats. In 2009 he was celebrated as one of the Great Men of
Gospel by The Black Academy of Arts and Letters and has made
a name for himself as an actor by appearing in several
gospel music stage and on-screen productions.
Bishop Allen was married
to Evangelist Ellen Marie Groves since December 1970. The
calling on her life has been an enormous blessing to Bishop
Allen as she has helped him take his ministries to a greater
level in God. While there are no natural children born to
this union, they share their love and support to many of
God’s children.
Bishop Allen always
expressed himself in the words of his favorite scripture –
Romans 8.28. “And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to His Purpose.”
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