Songwriter and musician Angie Killian began writing music when postpartum depression set in after the birth of her daughter.
“I was really struggling with postpartum depression and just feelings of worthlessness,” she told me by phone. “I accidentally wrote a song for her one night when I was nursing her.”
When Killian wrote that first song, she said the music itself “wasn’t important.” It was the joy she experienced while writing it. It was joy that she “hadn’t felt for so long.”
“I decided I was going to write songs for my children to teach them about Jesus and his gospel and stories and scriptures,” she said. “And then, a few months later, I made this promise with Heavenly Father that if he would send me music, I would write it down and I would share it with the world.”
She made that promise around six years ago and now she’s a professional musician who writes songs about her faith, like “My Own Sacred Grove” and “Always Remember.”
Killian is a Latter-day Saint musician who writes music for a wide Christian audience. While some of her songs, like “My Own Sacred Grove,” do have Latter-day Saint specific themes, her music is directed toward all Christians.
“Christian music is Latter-day Saint music,” she told me. “We have a few things that are very specific to us, but 90% of what we believe is the same as all Christians. We all believe in our Savior. We all want to share his message and follow his teachings. And that’s what my goal in life is: It’s to share light and love Jesus Christ, and I do that with music.”
While Killian firmly believes Latter-day Saint music is Christian music, not all people share her belief.
On Monday, she says she received a letter from a “very nice man who is a music pastor at a Baptist church.” He told her that after purchasing her music, he did some research on her and discovered she was a Latter-day Saint. He said he could no longer use her music in church because of this discovery due to their theological differences.
In response, Killian sent him a letter saying she is Christian because of her belief in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world.
“I understand that there are differences between every sect of Christianity and I know how important it is to teach doctrine as truthfully as we understand it,” she said.
But, she said, she’s also a Christian.
“I claim to be Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ came to the earth as my savior to redeem us from death and sin.”
If Killian has one hope, it’s to see greater unity among Christians of all different sects.
“I wish that Christians could just unite together and embrace each other and stand hand-in-hand and proclaim truth,” she said. “I mean he (Jesus) doesn’t want us to be divided. So, I just think it’s so important that as Latter-day Saints, we open up our arms to all Christians and all human beings, and just spread goodness as much as we possibly can.”
Killian’s music can be found on her website.