In the world of modern worship, Keith Getty is unique. Along with the lyrical contributions of his wife and musical partner, Kristyn Getty, and lyricist Stuart Townend, Getty’s hymns are staples in worship services around the globe and are changing people’s views on this historic style of composition. All the while, his commitment to faith and the arts are earning him such esteemed recognition as an honorary doctorate from Lancaster Bible College and being appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. It is a blessed career that is powered by his passion for singing to the Lord.
Brought up in the church in Northern Ireland, Getty came of age with a strong education in classical and Irish folk music. Inspired by the deft use of melody and harmony found in these styles as well as an unshakable belief in the power of congregational singing, he developed a deep love for the traditional hymns of the church and began composing his own. These hymns, including one of Getty’s most monumental works, “In Christ Alone,” have lead to a decades-long career with multiple studio and live albums, awards, and several prestigious performances.
Today, Keith and Kristyn Getty are busier than ever. They have harnessed their passion for deep theology and skilled congregational singing to expand the reach of their ministry. At any point, you may find them performing on the road, writing and recording another collection of hymns, or leading their immensely popular Sing! Getty Worship Music Conference. And they show no signs of slowing down.
When Sweetwater caught up with Getty, he was right in the middle of this year’s Sing! An Irish Christmas Tour. He was gracious enough to take time to discuss the importance of hymns in the modern church, the impact of the Sing! Conference, and why he firmly believes that impassioned congregational singing is vital to a healthy church body.
What initially inspired you to compose for the church?
Growing up, my dad was the church organist, and my mom was a piano teacher. So I got involved in music through them. But I began to write these hymns as my side thing. I really wanted to be an orchestral musician or orchestral entrepreneur. But in the end, the hymns became too important to me and too important to Christians. And, of course, with the first hymn being “In Christ Alone,” it drove itself.
Modern hymnody wasn’t something that was talked about a lot until your music emerged. Do you find it to be a growing movement today?
When we started writing hymns, the only two that were CCLI top 500 were “How Deep the Father’s Love” by Stuart Townend and “Before the Throne of God Above” by Vikki Cook. Today it’s closer to 30. So, it is a growing movement. There’s a lot of different people having that voice now.
Can you explain a little about how you craft your music?
Well, until I have a melody that people desperately want to sing, there’s no point to try and finish the song. So sometimes I will record hundreds of melodies before Stuart goes, “I think we’ve got something here.” So once there’s a melody we like, Stuart or Kristyn puts lyrics to it and finishes it up.
I’d rather work 100 days a year at songwriting to get one or two songs that are useful than just bring 12 songs just to make a record. But it’s all about trial and error. To get to the one or two, you have to finish a bunch.
You are a huge proponent of utilizing a choir in worship. What is it about a choir that has such impact on congregational singing?
I think where choirs help is that they bring expertise and a confidence that really enriches congregational singing. Whether it’s background vocalists, whether it’s gospel, contemporary, or traditional choirs, it’s allowing their harmonies to grab people that gives the whole congregation the confidence to sing.
Today, many churches’ worship services have rock-band-style instrumentation. What can they focus on to translate the doctrine and melodic statements of your hymns to their congregations?
Firstly, I think we have to remember why we sing. We sing to remind ourselves of the big picture of God. The Biblical picture of God is of one who is holy, one who is mighty, one who is omnipotent, and one who is awesome. So we need to be singing songs that are both broad and deep in their subject matter.
Secondly, you have to find a harmonic language that works. “In Christ Alone” was being done at the enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury with the London Symphony Orchestra, and someone asked, “It must be really weird for you to hear that hymn with all those different chords being played on the organ.” And I was like, “Not really. It’s almost like how I wrote it.” It’s the modern interpretation that people use that has changed it. When adopting it to a rock format, it’s important to find a harmonic structure that is simpler and true to the genre.
How do you think today’s worship leaders and pastors could be more effective in leading their churches in congregational worship?
I’ll give you five things. One, people have to understand why they sing. We sing because we’ve been commanded to sing over 100 times in scripture. The second most common command in all of scripture is to sing in praise.
Number two, the importance of building deep believers can’t be separated from congregational singing. And part of how deep believers are built is by singing well and singing deeply to the Lord.
The third thing is that congregational singing doesn’t start on Sunday morning. I remember meeting with John MacArthur once and asking him about raising children. And before he talked about doctrine or teaching or sermons, he said, “Fill your home with songs of the Lord, so your children grow up loving the Lord.” So Sunday-morning worship is like a meal that is prepared during the week that you savor on a Sunday.
Fourth thing is make the first question you ask about the music and the sound each Sunday, “How did the congregation sing?” Then work backward from there.
And then fifthly, remember that congregational singing is and will always be a witness. It’s not just for us or our families or the congregation, but for those who are there who have yet to believe.
Another massive branch of your ministry is the Getty Music Conference that’s held in Nashville. Last year was the first year, and you already had 4,000 in attendance.
That’s right. We’re hoping to host over 8,000 including children this year.
Wow. You also have some extremely well-known speakers and leaders as presenters: John MacArthur, Ravi Zacharias…
John Piper, Alistair Begg, J. D. Greear, Tim Keller. Yeah, it’s an extraordinary conference. But it’s really just about bringing our churches back to the importance of congregational singing.
It takes three values, which are rich theology; number two is passionate local church singing wherever you are in the world, whatever your style of music; and then number three is a higher view of the arts, saying, “How do we raise a generation of people who are deep theologically, that are utterly sold out to their local church, and that are creative, imaginative, curious, artistic people?”
From conferences and royal honors to your music, tours, and books, you are an extremely busy person.
I’m surprisingly unbusy. We do a lot of stuff. But I guess we had a strong vision, and a lot of people have captured that. I’m an ideas guy that collaborates. I’m the weak link of more combinations than you could possibly imagine.
You definitely have had a vision that has expanded wildly. Not bad for an “ideas guy.”
Through college, I was utterly convinced by Christianity and realizing how important singing was to it. So everything from the hymns to the publishing to all the education things we do to all the events we do to all the products we do are really just little extensions of that.
Watch our recent interview with Keith Getty: