Following up on a well-received Christmas project from 2007, award-winning singer/songwriter Ginny Owens returns with another special CD, a 13-song collection titled Say Amen... Hymns & Songs of Faith. Inspired by her family s deep love of hymns and requested by long-time fans, Say Amen features hymns both old and modern. Pulled from the well-crafted traditional songs of the Shakers, the soulful spirituals of the Deep South and the familiar tunes found in every church hymnal, Say Amen displays Owens in her element as an innovative worship leader and song interpreter. To craft this CD, Owens pursued an in-depth education of hymns current and historical, finding surprises all along the way. I read through lyric after lyric of the most amazingly beautiful poetry, prayers, psalms and laments. Such depth. Such magnificent language.  In many ways, being reminded of the ephemeral nature of life seems appropriate in the creation of this album as its title cut was born amidst a life-and-death battle. Owens co-wrote original track Say Amen with Ronell Ragbir, a 20-year-old Trinidad native and cancer patient who was living in Memphis to be close to St. Jude Children s Hospital. An aspiring songwriter, Ronell was introduced to Ginny in the hopes that together the two women could make Ronell s dream come true. The result of their collaboration was Say Amen, a song the new friends were able to perform together several times over the next few months. When Ronell passed away, Ginny sang the song at her memorial service and then, in a sense, buried the song because it was simply too painful to re-visit. However, one year after her first meeting with Ronell, Ginny received news that hit much closer to home: her mom had just been diagnosed with cancer. I could not do my part by writing songs with her, calling to talk or posting the news on my Web site and asking everyone to pray. I had to simply go and be there...right in the middle of it. It was the only thing to do.  It was an incredibly difficult nine months for mother and daughter, full of chemo, surgery, radiation and many, many prayers. Thankfully, the treatment was successful. Ginny s mom is now cancer free and back to her full and active lifestyle.  The fact that she is doing so wonderfully fills me with immense gratitude for God s grace. I ve finally felt like it is the appropriate time to share Say Amen once more. My Mom never heard it when I sang it with Ronell, but now that she knows the lyrics, she says that she wished she could have had it to listen to this time last year.  My prayer is that this song and the rest of the record will bring hope to listeners hearts, and to the hearts of those who might be suffering, Owens concluded. I continue to be in awe of how precious life is and how little control we have over it. In my darkest hours or my brightest moments, I hope that I will always be able to say Amen and encourage others to do the same.  Co-produced by Owens and Kerry Kernan, the album s debut single, a modern interpretation of Just As I Am, released to radio September 25th.