I grew up playing piano and guitar. By the age of 14, I had stopped attending anything to do with the ecclesia, and I was off following my other interests. For those four or five years I did not have any real connection with Christadelphian meetings—my parents both went to the ecclesia regularly, but I had always found it so boring!

Music is a God-given tool for our spiritual walk. We can use it to express adoration and thankfulness to God and to draw us closer to Him in reverent and heartfelt communion. Music can motivate, teach, comfort, exhort, remind and inspire.

When I was younger, I had the opportunity to travel to many countries and stay with Christadelphians along the way.

Hymn singing in Mozambique is raw and powerful. Although elders who can call songs are respected for their musical abilities, there is no sense of performance.

Why do we have music? Hopefully, we can all acknowledge that when looking at spiritual songs, the words are the most important. So then why even bother putting it to music? Many passages tell us to sing, but why did God tell us to sing? He knows everything so there must be a reason why He knew we would need it.

Before I start this article, I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Kristin Atwood. I attend the Verdugo Hills Ecclesia in California and I am excited to be the new Music Section Editor. Throughout my life in the Truth, I have been involved with music in a variety of ways.