The Rev. Rance Allen, a Toledo pastor and nationally known gospel star, will be consecrated a bishop Monday in the Church of God in Christ denomination.
“In our church, to be consecrated bishop represents a preacher’s crowning moment for all of the years that you may have worked,” Mr. Allen said from St. Louis, where the ceremony will be held during the denomination’s annual convocation.
“I have literally been working in the church since the age of 5, singing and preaching, and now at 62, almost 63 in another week or two, I get elevated to the position of a bishop! I’m trying to figure out how I feel about it, because right now I still can’t believe it.”
He was nominated and approved by the General Board of the historically African-American COGIC denomination, which has 6.5 million members.
Pastor of New Bethel Church of God in Christ on Vance Street since 1985, Mr. Allen will start out as a bishop overseeing 14 churches in Michigan.
In other news, the bishop-designate and The Rance Allen Group have been nominated for four Stellar Awards, gospel music’s equivalent to the Grammys, for the album The Live Experience II: Celebrating 40 Years of Music and Ministry, on Tyscot Records.
“When I found that out, I was just elated!” Mr. Allen said. “I couldn’t believe we were nominated in four different categories.”
The 27th Annual Stellar Awards ceremony will be Jan. 14 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
The Rance Allen Group, featuring Rance and his brothers Tom and Steve, received a Bobby Jones Legend Award at the 2009 Stellar Awards and have been nominated three times for a Grammy Award.
In 2003, Mr. Allen performed on the Grammy-nominated album, Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan.
First Published November 5, 2011, 4:30 a.m.
