The Sing! Hymnal Review: A Contemporary Church-Worship Tool Worth Owning

If you've encountered the Getty Music "Sing!" conferences or the Getty\–Townend hymn tradition, this hymnal will feel immediately familiar. The Sing! Hymnal, Lay-Flat Edition with Chords, published by Crossway, pulls together the contemporary hymn corpus that has reshaped many evangelical and Reformed-adjacent churches over the past two decades — songs like "In Christ Alone," "The Power of the Cross," and the broader Sing! repertoire — alongside a selection of traditional hymns and service music. You can expect solid hymn scholarship and the practical musician features the Getdys' publishing is known for.

The lay-flat binding is a genuine quality-of-life feature if you'll be using this in a worship band, small group, or on the road. Pages that stay open without weights or bookmarks make a real difference in live settings. Chords are included, which widens the book's usefulness beyond piano-led environments — guitar players, worship leaders, and congregants who follow along will all benefit. The typeface and layout appear clean and readable, consistent with Crossway's typical production standards.

Theologically, this hymnal sits within the modern hymn movement: Christ-centered, cross-focused, and doctrinally sound in the evangelical mainstream. It will resonate strongly with churches influenced by the Getty\–Townend style or the broader "Singing the Faith" tradition. If you come from a more liturgically formal background or prefer a heavier weight of older hymn texts — think Fanny Crosby, Charles Wesley, or the Psalter tradition — you'll find the selection here lighter. That's not a flaw; it's an accurate reflection of what this book is.

The primary trade-off is scope. This is a curated collection rooted in a particular movement, not a comprehensive cross-tradition hymn book. You won't find the breadth of something like the Baptist Hymnal or a more eclectic evangelical songbook. Buyers looking for breadth across centuries and styles should know that going in. Similarly, the pricing for a specialty lay-flat edition sits above basic pew hymnals, so budget-conscious small groups or families should factor that in.

For worship leaders, home-group leaders, or congregants who want a single songbook that reflects where a lot of modern church worship has gone — and that stays open on a music stand — this is a practical and well-made choice.