by Sam Hodges
Nov. 30, 2021 | UM News

The United Methodist Church formed in 1968, but it got rhythm — a lot more of it, anyway — in 1996. That’s when the denomination’s official Spanish-language hymnal debuted.

Mil Voces Para Celebrar introduced fresh translations of English-language hymns, but also a wealth of texts and tunes from Latin America.

These hymns had their own theological points to make. And they were, on the whole, swinging in a way English-language hymns weren’t. The selections even included a tango from Argentina.

Raquel Martinez edited Mil Voces (the hymnal’s shorthand name) and recalls introducing it to an Anglo church in rural Nebraska. The small congregation included an elderly man famous in the pews for never singing.