Rance Allen

Who is Rance Allen?

Bishop Rance Allen is an American pastor and gospel musician, and the founder and leader of the Rance Allen Group. He has been pastor of New Bethel Church Of God In Christ in Toledo, since its July 1985 establishment. In November 2011, Rance Allen was elevated to the office of Bishop in the Church of God in Christ, for the Michigan Northwestern Harvest Jurisdiction.

Allen was born in 1948 in Monroe, Michigan to Thomas and Emma Pearl Allen. He has eleven siblings, six sisters and five brothers.

Allen founded the Rance Allen Group in Detroit in 1969 joined by his brothers Thomas and Steve. The group's incorporation of rock and soul into traditional black gospel music prefigures the crossover success of such artists as Amy Grant, Andrae Crouch, and The Winans. In 1978, the group had a Top 30 R&B hit, "I Belong to You." The group released Miracle Worker in spring 2000.

Allen is married to Ellen Marie Allen. The two were married on December 1, 1970 and have no children.