Keith & Kristyn Getty: Music, Faith & the Story Behind the Hymns

Unbelievable?

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Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2025

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In our inaugural episode of Premier Unbelievable: The Interview, host Luke Martin sits down with modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty—the duo, alongside Stuart Townend, behind the global hymn “In Christ Alone.” From Belfast roots to life in Nashville, Luke explores their craft, calling, and why congregational singing forms the grammar of belief. The Gettys reflect on the partnership of poetry and melody, the tension between emotionalism and depth in worship, and the growing hunger among Gen Z for meaning, beauty and a faith that shapes real life. They also share details of their new hymnal project and preview their Christmas concerts in Glasgow, London and Belfast. Whether you’re a pastor, musician, worship leader or thoughtful listener, this conversation offers practical insight and rich encouragement for shaping beautiful, theologically robust worship in the local church.

Get Home For Christmas tickets here: https://tix.to/vRm4Ug

Getty Sing! Hymnal: https://amzn.to/4omSm1A

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction 01:25 – Who are Keith & Kristyn Getty? 05:10 – Why Congregational Singing Matters 09:20 – Writing Hymns: Poetry, Melody & Partnership 14:45 – Worship: Emotion vs Depth 19:30 – Gen Z’s Search for Meaning & Beauty 24:55 – The New Getty Hymnal Project 30:10 – A Global Movement of Hymn Singing 35:40 – Advice for Church Musicians & Worship Leaders 42:00 – Christmas Tour Preview (Glasgow / London / Belfast) 47:25 – Closing Thoughts

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Sunday the 16th of November is Safeguarding Sunday, a campaign from the Christian Safeguarding Charity,
0:06.8	318. Together, churches across the UK are taking a stand for safer communities. It's a day
0:13.2	to celebrate what's being done and to keep the conversation alive where it matters most. Add
0:19.1	your voice, show your support and share how your church is playing
0:22.9	its part. Sign up today to receive your free digital resource pack at safeguarding sunday.org.
0:30.3	Hello and welcome to Premier Unbelievable the interview, the show where we go beyond the headlines
0:36.6	and take a deep dive into the lives
0:39.0	and ideas shaping our world today. I'm Luke Martin and I'm joined today by Keith and Kristen Getty,
0:46.4	the modern hymn writers behind the popular song in Christ alone, champions of congregational singing,
0:52.6	and Northern Irish natives now based in Nashville.
0:57.0	We talk about craft, calling, and why what we sing shapes what we believe.
1:04.0	Plus, we hear a little about their UK Christmas concerts and their new hymnol.
1:16.9	Keith and Kristen Getty, welcome to Premier Unbelievable.
1:18.9	Thank you so much, Luke.
1:22.5	Thanks, looks great to hear your accent as well to hear properly good accents.
1:24.9	Where are you joining us from?
2:00.9	We're here in Nashville, Tennessee, which is where we live most of the year, and then every year we get to escape to Northern Ireland for a couple months of the summer. So, and the Christmas. I'm so excited for that. All right, good. Some would say, why do you go back to Northern Ireland in the summer? Because it'll be raining all the time, but it's hard to explain, but if you're from Northern Ireland, you love it even when it's raining. And you can, and you, there's always, there's always, there's always good weather every day. The rain, the rain never lasts for long. Exactly. Exactly. And it's home and nowhere else is. And we're sort of landlocked here in Tennessee. It's beautiful. We love being here, but gosh, being by the ocean all the time. Brilliant. Indeed. There's nothing like the North Coast of Northern Ireland, where we're both
2:05.8	from, which we covered before we started. Excellent. So, and you're coming back to play at Christmas.
2:15.3	Is that right? Yes. Last year we came home for Christmas,
2:19.0	celebrate Keith's 50th birthday. I look a lot younger in person. It was a great opportunity to get
2:24.7	to come home and do the Christmas show, which we've been doing Christmas concert for the last 20
2:28.9	years, but I'd never done the Christmas concert in Northern Ireland. So I did that last Christmas
	...

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