On Sunday, March 28, 2010, Keith and Kristyn Getty will conclude their current 8-month-long, U.S. tour at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The concert starts at 7 p.m. and will feature songs from their new album, Awaken the Dawn, as well as some of their older songs. According to Keith, the concert "will have a very distinct Irish flavor."
Released in March 2009, Awaken the Dawn has been nominated for a Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Praise & Worship Album of the Year. The album features many songs that are already well-known and loved by Parkside's congregation such as "By Faith," "Still, My Soul Be Still," and "Come, People of the Risen King."
Truly Gifted
The Gettys are world-renowned modern hymn composers and musicians. An accomplished guitarist, flautist, and pianist, Keith has also composed and arranged music for over 200 projects that include recordings, concerts, theater, television, and film. Keith has also had a successful collaborative partnership with British songwriter, Stuart Townend. "In Christ Alone" was the first project for Stuart and Keith and has been recorded by more than 200 different artists.
An acclaimed vocalist, Kristyn is also an accomplished songwriter having written a children's musical for the African Children's Choir as well as numerous modern hymns with her husband, Keith. Kristyn has also been featured with Christian music's Margaret Becker and Celtic artist, Joanne Hogg.
Erin Go Bragh, by Way of Cleveland
Keith and Kristyn, who both hail from Northern Ireland, have made Cleveland their home since 2006 and are lovingly known to Parkside's congregation as the church's "musicians-in-residence." After accepting an invitation to make Parkside their church home while performing in the United States, the Gettys embarked on what was intended to be a two-year tour to introduce their music to new audiences. Two years became four, and a domestic tour turned international including a visit this past fall to Ecuador as a part of their partnership with Compassion International, a Christian child advocacy ministry.
"We are so thankful for our time in Cleveland and at Parkside," says Keith and Kristyn. "Having a church home is essential, and yet it can be awkward to feel really part of things when you're touring, but Parkside has been great. Whether it's been meeting at church, or with Alistair, or with other pastors or friends in the church, it has genuinely been a refuge for us. It has also been somewhere we have been able to learn from and give to."
Teaching the Faith
With very specific goals in mind, the Gettys write songs to help teach the faith, and to create a timeless musical style that every generation can sing. "In congregational singing," explains Keith, "there have been two major concerns -- one is the content of what is being sung and the lack of commitment with which people sing. The first informs the second, but both are serious concerns for the spiritual health of a congregation."
"We have tried as much as we can to keep [these concerns] to the forefront of our minds when writing and leading the hymns," adds Kristyn, who also noted in an interview for the winter 2009 edition of the Leadership Journal that "[Keith and I] look for songs that bring people of all ages together because singing is an act of unity. You join the same melody line, the same words. Music, like air, connects us. We're all breathing the same melody."
How You Can Pray
As Keith and Kristyn prepare to catch their breath and bring their season of touring to a close, they are thankful for your prayers as they look forward to some much needed time to rest and write. "We go home to Ireland for a month or two at the end of March, so we're very excited about that," notes Kristyn. They also ask for your continued prayer to meet the daily challenges of glorifying God with the little actions of the common day.
Mark Your Calendar
Please join Keith and Kristyn at Parkside on March 28 (Palm Sunday) at 7:00 p.m. for a special musical evening featuring the songs that will "take you on a lyrical journey of grace and hope for all the nations." For more information on the Gettys, visit their website.
Article by Julie Hahn.
