Collaborators for the partnership for Cancionero Nuevo Amanecer are: (L-R) The Rev. Canon Anthony Guillén, Dr. Luisa Bonillas, Day Smith Pritchartt and the Rev. Yuri Rodriguez

The Episcopal Evangelism Society (EES) is pleased to announce a partnership with Latino/Hispanic Ministries of the Episcopal Church, to produce Cancionero Nuevo Amanecer: A New Songbook for Latino/Hispanic Episcopal Congregations. The cancionero will be an affordable, accessible, bilingual songbook that will meet the musical and spiritual needs of Latino/Hispanic congregations as well as the wider church. The collection will include honored treasures of the past, along with new songs that acknowledge and affirm who Latino/Hispanic Episcopal congregations are and who they are becoming.

“When I attended the Nuevo Amanecer conference at Kanuga in June, I was swept up in the joy and spirit of the worship music. I also observed that the need for a songbook was raised frequently in workshops and small group discussions,” said Day Smith Pritchartt, Executive Director of EES. In conversation with the Rev. Canon Anthony Guillén, Missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries at The Episcopal Church and organizer of Nuevo Amanecer, she came to believe that the cancionero will be an essential tool for evangelism and continued church growth because it will give voice to the unique Latino/Hispanic theological perspective and will help form an Episcopal ethos among Latinos/Hispanics. Guillen noted that the EES partnership will allow his office to bring this longed-for project to publication. “Countless volunteer hours have gone into evaluating the songs and hymns for inclusion in the Cancionero,” said Guillen. “This partnership will allow us to hire several individuals to pull together all the work that has been done to date and prepare the Cancionero for publication.” The Cancionero will be published by Forward Movement.

About the Episcopal Evangelism Society

EES supports innovative evangelism by awarding grants for projects that will share the Gospel in new and exciting ways, and support the formation of grantees as innovative evangelists. Any Episcopalian in any accredited seminary community or local formation program (ie. diocesan school, Iona Collaborative) is eligible. This includes students, faculty or staff or the Episcopalian spouse or partner of a student, faculty or staff member. Contact the Executive Director or the Multi-Cultural Missioner for coaching with your application. Get contact information, read about the grant work others have done, and download the application at www.ees1862.org.