To be relevant to the future we have to know our history. Part of the reason the entire modern church music movement is so vacuous is that it ignores the entirety of church history. We can be naïve and we don’t always know what to do with music. Today it’s become a way of getting the most people into church for the short term. It’s almost a PR and marketing tool to grow numbers as fast as possible.

Keith Getty says modern churches should stop mimicking mainstream trends with their praise music.

The Irish songwriter has inspired audiences worldwide since debuting in 2001 with New Irish Hymns. Since then, Keith and his wife, Kristyn, have championed hymns that adore God and amass the genre’s rich congregational history in equal measures. In keeping with that mission, the duo recently dropped Joy – An Irish Christmas, a holiday praise album that pulls from Celtic lore to produce a new collection of hymns, carols and jigs.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Getty provides insight on his Gaelic heritage, musical history and married life. More importantly, the man behind the modern hymn movement makes clear that we should sing God’s praises with our most somber songs.

CP: You were born in Northern Ireland and now live in the U.S. How would you describe the similarities and differences between the two?

Getty: Ireland as a whole is a very small and beautiful country. Everything is green. All of its art, religion and culture have had much influence on me. I go back about twice a year.

America has a faster pace of life here and it’s a newer world. There are also more opportunities for musicians here. We enjoy it very much.

CP: You play music with your wife Kristyn. How do you like performing with your spouse, and how important is she to you?

Getty: Kristyn is the most important person in my life. That rises far above music. She’s my biggest priority every morning I wake up. We’ve been together every night since we were married seven and a half years ago.

Performing together is brilliant too. Both performing and practicing with her is very professional.

CP: Your music is renowned for its goal of bringing back hymns to modern church life. How do you think that mission is going?

Getty: I think it’s been going well. I think the modern worship music movement has been driving the church down a dangerous and sinister path. I think it’s because of the move away from theology and the fact the music itself isn’t congregational. It doesn’t bring people together anymore and the art form itself has been degraded completely.

Alternatively, I’m encouraged by churches that still emphasize the Gospel in what they sing. I’ve seen changes, but artistically and congregationally we have a long ways to go. It’s not converting people to a hymn but confirming them to rich theological truth. That affects music, art and everything beyond it.

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