Somewhere in the no man’s land between traditional hymns and contemporary praise choruses, there’s something a little different.
It’s a breed of music that a number of Alabama Baptist churches are finding pierces the heart of their congregations with deep lyrics and a poetic picture of real life, of real grace. It’s contemporary music. It’s hymnlike words — with multiple verses and little repeats. It’s a lot Scripture. And a little bit Celtic.
Meet Keith and Kristyn Getty. Originally from Northern Ireland, she sings and he plays the piano and adds harmony occasionally. They both write.
You might know them already and just don’t realize it.
“In Christ alone my hope is found; He is my Light, my Strength, my Song.”
Modern hymns — That’s what “In Christ Alone” and others like “The Power of the Cross” and “By Faith” are labeled.
But Keith seems not to be too concerned about the “modern” part. “Timeless” seems more like his goal.
“We wanted simply to write hymns that every generation could sing,” he said in an interview with The Alabama Baptist. “We try and fail many times but that’s the aspiration.”
Those present at the Tuesday evening session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting at Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, might say he’s being too humble.
Dozens of youth were on their feet in fervent worship as the Gettys led music, and pastors more than three times their age stood singing Scripture with their hands outstretched.
Style didn’t seem to be an issue.
Molly Katherine, a youth at Whitesburg Baptist, posted on Twitter, “The Gettys are amazing! So inspiring!”
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, posted that the Gettys are a “gift from God.”
“I am not a musician but love the music of Keith & Kristyn Getty,” his post on Twitter said. “Make God’s Word come alive in song!”
One song plunged into the depths of what a relationship with Christ is like in the midst of pain. The next encouraged pastors to be faithful in preaching the Word. Another painted a picture of the power of Christ on the cross to free believers from death.
“In the Church, the purpose of singing is to express the community we have as the body of Christ,” Kristyn said, according to the Gettys’ Web site, www.gettymusic.com. “To try to search for the melodic ideas and song structure that might bring more people in — that’s what we’re trying to investigate. Is there a way to bring everyone together musically?”
That’s what the couple are attempting to do as they travel extensively from their home near Cleveland.
The Gettys recently released a new album, “Awaken the Dawn,” and they’re in one or two cities each weekend, leading worship for groups like Alabama Baptist convention messengers.
“These are wonderful events to be a part of — to be with fellow leaders of the Church,” Keith said.
His heart was gripped by the modern hymn years ago when he began to question why “hymns weren’t being explored in the breadth and depth they could be,” he said. By college, he already had a love for the classic songs, from Celtic tunes to Gershwin.
Then a yearlong study of the life of Christ melded the two, and songs came as an outpouring of God’s grace in his life.
And when he met and married Kristyn, an accomplished vocalist and the daughter of a church planter, she quickly developed the same passion.
“What we sing affects how we think, how we feel and ultimately how we live, so it’s so important that we sing the whole scope of truth the Bible has given us,” Keith said, adding that they want to “create a more timeless musical style that every generation can sing, a style that relates to the past and the future.”
For more information, visit the Web site. For samples of songs, click on “Hymns & Lyrics.”
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