Keith and Kristyn Getty could've met in a teacher's lounge in Northern Ireland. Keith chuckles, "My mum's big hope was that I would manage to get my degree so I could get a teaching job."
Similarly, Kristyn grew up wanting to be an English teacher. She wasn't just raised in a Christian home; she grew up in a new church plant. "My parents very much lived their faith. The excitement and inspiration they'd get being involved in something like planting a church — something bigger than themselves — was a huge part of understanding living faith."
Congregational singing was an integral part of Keith's home. His family sang grace at dinnertime — "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow" — in four-part harmony. His mom was a piano teacher, and his dad played the organ. In Keith's house, he listened to a broad base of congregational music like Handel, Bach, and Bill Gaither.
Ultimately, Keith and Kristyn didn't meet in a teacher's lounge. Kristyn's uncle introduced them. Words met music. Lyrics wed melody.
Stanza One: Across the Lands
For both, family served as the training ground for ministry. Kristyn came from a more contemporary church that sang some of the hymns, but typically everything was done with guitar. From early on, she was actively engaged in the music. She eventually caught on to a folk style. Keith and Kristyn each grew up with supportive and encouraging parents - even when Keith switched from music lessons with his mom to learning to play guitar. He studied classical music and spent most of his 20s arranging.
Following their engagement, Keith and Kristyn became involved in the church where her dad served as pastor. When it was time to move to Nashville, their concern was finding a local church. God's providence led them to Jim Thomas, pastor at The Village Chapel. The couple has always felt blessed because of their personal experience with the local church.
Keith considers his pastor to be a great influence in his life, "because he's the one you talk to. So much of our practical theology is shared day-to-day. It's every little decision. For example, as musicians we have to attend parties. When I asked Jim how to handle those situations, he told me to always be myself, always be more interested in the other person than in anything you would tell them about yourself, and no matter if the conversation lasts five or 15 minutes — no matter how funny and light it is — try to talk about your soul in every conversation."
Despite his friendship with his pastor, the greatest theologian in his life is Kristyn. She and Keith also have had access to brilliant persons of faith: John Lenox, Don Carson, J. I. Packer, John Piper, Alistair Begg, Tim Keller, and John Stott have spoken deeply into their lives.
The Gettys compose congregational music. Christian music, whether hymnody or not, should draw people to Christ in its beauty, wonder, and magnificence. "Christians have to be excellent in the arts, consumed with the magnificence and the urgency of the gospel, and compelled to spread the gospel the same way Wilberforce, Bach, and Tolkien did it," challenges Keith. He's also encouraged that there are more churches than ever before and that the Bible is in more places and in more countries than it's ever been. "In creating hymns, we can create a new generation of songs that help build people up in their faith and help plant those truths intellectually and emotionally into people's lives."
Stuart Townend, another strong influence in the Gettys' lives, is both co-writer and hymn teacher. The lyrics he penned for "In Christ Alone" reach countless non-Christians at western funerals and weddings each year. Whether it's cradle hymns, liturgical hymns, Christmas hymns, or hymns for the Christian life, Keith drives the ideas. Stuart serves as a filter, helping Keith see the good and bad in his melodies.
Kristyn now collaborates with Keith. When asked about completing a song she sighs, "You never quite finish. You just decide to stop." Smiling, Keith follows, "You just give up." They begin with a melody that people can sing, whatever their generation. Keith drums out as many melodies as possible. Kristyn prefers to spend months thinking about lyrics, doing lots of devotions, journaling, and talking with people until Keith has the melody. "Then I live in the notes for however long I have until I have to first sing it."
Behind the melody runs a coherent thought: "A song is to be about something, not just a collection of biblically phrased lines. It reaches into your life in a significant way. So when we approach a song, we do a lot of study around a topic."
Keith and Kristyn's daughter, Eliza, is growing up hearing a mixture of styles. Keith and Kristyn are surrounded by a wonderful band, which represents both the sounds of their homeland and their new home in Nashville. "These are Eliza's people."
However neither Keith nor Kristyn will push their children into choosing music as a career, primarily because neither of their parents did that. Kristyn reflects, "They were ultimately concerned that we were involved in local church. And whatever we would do, that we would do it for the Lord."
When they moved to Nashville, neither Keith nor Kristyn anticipated connecting with the bluegrass community more than the Christian music community. Two or three times a year, though, they host a mix of musicians in their home. After praying together, the group enjoys an improvised session. As in the Irish folk world, they just start playing. "It's fun to watch Eliza interact. She loves to dance. Those are late nights. We're not strict on bedtime on those evenings," Kristyn apologizes.
Stanza Two: Before You I Kneel
In many ways Kristyn and Keith are teachers: to the people who learn the hymns, to their community, and mostly to Eliza. There's nothing like waking up to a preschooler jumping on you early in the morning crying, "I want porridge."
Both Keith and Kristyn attest to having had wonderful parents. In some ways, they parent differently; in other ways they mirror their individual upbringing. They're building Eliza's life around the local church and putting her in the path of real Christians. They acknowledge that a time will come when she won't listen to them the way she listens to others. The people with whom they choose to surround themselves are critical. "Our situation is somewhat unique. We have the local church, and we also have this musical life and traveling-band world. So we try to surround ourselves with not only brilliant musicians, but with people of excellent character. We know that they're already influencing Eliza's life," says Kristyn.
Kristyn adheres to her father's advice to beware of anyone who can "squeeze parenting into one line." She and Keith are constantly learning. "Some days we feel like we're getting little successes, and we celebrate those. Then there are days we look at each other and say, ‘We're totally failing.' We want Eliza to behave, but we also want to know what is going on inside of her, too. We care about her heart."
Since becoming parents, they've become aware that their words, priorities, and even spending are all feeding into Eliza's mind. She's at the age where she copies everything. They're helping her understand what it means to have a devotional life. They pray with her in the evening. They want the gospel to be as attractive as possible to her at church and at home. They parent with intentionality.
And they've become more focused. They average 12 weeks a year on the road, which means that for the other 40 weeks, they're home. They spend the summer months in Ireland with their family in a small home on the sea — and make great use of their access to Eliza's grandparents.
Kristyn admits, "We don't know what we did before we had Eliza. We're running out of time constantly." They take a nanny on the road, but Kristyn doesn't leave Eliza until sound check. At 4 p.m., she's at sound check and then back on the bus by 5 p.m. The concert is at 7 p.m. "Some might say the bus could be a bit of a luxury because you've got 24-hour childcare, you don't have to do laundry, and you don't have to cook for yourself. So I actually look forward to going away. Somebody decides what we have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. It's great. I didn't understand the benefit of that until I had Eliza."
"Eliza thinks it's like going camping," Keith chimes in. "Charles Wesley had to go by horseback to teach his hymns … we prefer a bus." Kristyn sighs.
Stanza Three: My Hope Rests Firm
When Keith and Kristyn think about their legacy, they share the same desire: "That the work of our hands has a value — eternal value — and should be enjoyed and given to Him. ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,' has little to do with human accolades.
"We're more concerned with Eliza's soul, and our own souls, than how many songs we write." Looking toward some unseen but certain place on the horizon, Kristyn marvels, "The wonderful hymn of praise at the end of Jude says, ‘Now to Him who is able to keep us from falling.' I find it challenging, but also incredibly comforting that we can fall and stumble in many ways, but the Lord is sufficient to keep us from fatally falling away from Him. The constant motion of the Christian life is my confidence in the God who keeps me and understanding the call to persevere."
This article courtesty of HomeLife magazine.