Chris Tomlin Good News of Great Joy Christmas Album November 6 2026: Songs, Book and Tour

Chris Tomlin wrote the first song for his new Christmas album alone, and that aloneness is the point. “I had time to reflect and write songs while I was out on the road last season, it’s the first time in a while that I wrote songs by myself,” Tomlin says, as reported by iBelieve on 3 November 2026.

The song was “It’s Christmas Time Again,” and Tomlin says it sparked the rest of the album. “The world needs the hope of Jesus,” he says, explaining why he decided to release a new Christmas album at all.

The album is Good News of Great Joy (Christmas Songs of Worship), and it arrives on 6 November 2026, Tomlin’s official announcement reports. It is his fourth full-length Christmas album.

A children’s book with the same title, Good News of Great Joy, written by Tomlin, follows on 10 November, and his “Christmas With Chris Tomlin: Good News Of Great Joy Tour” launches on 30 November.

Tomlin is clear, iBelieve reports, that no matter what season he finds himself in, he is still a worship leader who wants to lead people to God.

Good News of Great Joy Track List Christmas Songs of Worship

The 11-track album features new songs “It’s Christmas Time Again” and “The Manger To The Cross,” a reimagined “Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy),” and the Dove Award-nominated “Holy Forever (Christmas),” Tomlin’s official announcement reports. The full track listing, as published in that announcement, is: “Carol Of The Bells,” “Good News Of Great Joy,” “The Manger To The Cross,” “It’s Christmas Time Again,” “The Angels Sing,” “Day Of All Days” with Terrian, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Comfort And Joy),” “Holy Forever (Christmas),” “Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy),” “No Name Higher” and “The Hope.”

Tomlin explains the title by going back to the first Christmas night, the announcement reports. “The title of the record is Good News of Great Joy. That was the great announcement to the Shepherd’s in the field that first Christmas night,” he says.

“I’ve always said that Christmas started with a song… the announcement of the angels to the Shepherds… praising God and saying ‘glory to God in the highest.’ I can’t imagine what that must have sounded like.”

About the lead single, Tomlin is candid that it stretched him, the announcement reports. “This first one is a bit out of the box for me,” he says. “It’s not a quintessential worship song as I would normally write, but it is what sparked the rest of this album for me.”

“When I was writing It’s Christmas Time Again, I was trying to capture the warm nostalgia of spending the Christmas season with your loved ones. I hope that is what this song makes everyone feel.”

With 600 million global career Christmas streams, Tomlin is CCMG’s highest-streaming male Christmas artist, the announcement reports. That figure is the announcement’s own claim about his catalogue, and this article reports it as such.

Chris Tomlin Childrens Book Good News of Great Joy Tour Dates

The album shares its title with Tomlin’s new children’s book, the announcement reports. Written by Tomlin, the book invites readers to experience the wonder and majesty of the first Christmas night through an inspiring story about a brave, young shepherd. It is illustrated by Scott Ligertwood, the announcement says, and offers families a chance to gather, read and reflect on the story of Jesus’ birth.

The tour then brings the album and the book to life on stage in seperate cities, the announcement reports. The scheduled first night in Birmingham, Alabama, on 1 December at the Alabama Theatre had already sold out, and a second night was added on 30 November, the announcement says. The tour continues through Daytona Beach, Charleston, Pensacola, Knoxville, Newport News, Jersey City, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Cincinnati, with the Cincinnati date on 18 December also sold out, according to the published tour listing.

Tomlin’s career record, as set out in the announcement’s biography section, includes 21 number-one singles and 31 top-ten hits, described as more than any other Christian artist. He has sold more than 12 million albums, with over 8 billion career global streams, the announcement says.

He has won a Grammy, three Billboard Music Awards and 30 Dove Awards, including the most recent win for Song of the Year for “Holy Forever,” the announcement says.

In early 2019, Tomlin and his wife Lauren founded For Others, an organisation that exists to raise awareness and empower organisations working to end the child welfare crisis in the United States, the announcement reports.

Readers can follow other gospel music news in Tye Tribbett V20 First Semester Album November 13 2026: Victory Reimagined After 20 Years and in Kevin Downswell Joy Is Here Album Released October 30 2026. Worship music returns are covered in Hillsong Worship Releases Three New Songs for Holy Is the Name Album February 2027 and in Latest: Banky W Returns to Music With Super Power Gospel Song With Victor Thompson.

When the album arrives on 6 November, listeners will hear first the song Tomlin wrote alone on the road, and then the ten songs that followed it. Whether the record becomes a Christmas staple or a one-season listen is a question no announcement can answer, and Tomlin’s own test for it is simpler than any chart: does it carry the hope he says the world needs, and does it sound, for a few minutes, like the announcement the shepherds heard first. The tour, the book and the album will each give audiences a chance to decide, starting in Birmingham at the end of the month.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.