CULLMAN, Ala. – A new Christian band has emerged in Cullman, one called “The Dwelling Company.”
The band is made up of six members: Coby Sullins (drummer), Reese Guthrie (vocalist), Hunter Graham (piano), Eli Bryant (guitar), Abby Kelley (vocalist) and Jaiden Philyaw (vocalist), and they all met at a not-so-surprising place.
“I met Abby about five years ago, and everyone else just kind of joined in. We all met each other at Temple Student Ministries up towards West Point. In order, it was Abby, then Reese, Coby, Jaiden and Hunter. That’s how we all became friends and started playing with each other,” Bryant said.
Jaiden and Abby shared how they came up with the Dwelling Company name for their band.
“I had a friend who was studying the Book of Hosea, and I went over there. We’d been praying about finding a name, and I just saw the word dwell. The Holy Spirit just put it in my head: The Dwelling Company. I told everybody else, and we prayed about it and discussed it. We came up with the Dwelling Company,” Philyaw said.
“Everybody pretty much liked it instantly. We were like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s really good,'” Kelley said.
There’s a very special meaning behind them starting this band, and the experience has been so amazing for them.
“Our goal has two parts. The first part is we want to be obedient to God’s calling, and secondly, we want people to be able to worship freely and not have to worry about what people think about them, and worship with us.” Philyaw said.
“The experience together has been amazing, just being able to play with this group of people and being able to use the talents that the Lord has given us to use, not only to just be able to use them, but to be able to worship Him and lead others to worship Him freely and being able to be there and serve the Lord and worship Him, and do what He has taught us to do.” Sullins said.
Several band members shared some of their favorite Bible verses and how much they mean to them.
“My favorite Bible verse is Colossians 3:16: ‘Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.’ I think that verse is super fitting for what our goal is as The Dwelling Company: to not only lead people in worship through our songs, but just living throughout their daily life as well.” Kelley said.
“One verse that I like is 2 Corinthians 5:7: ‘We live by faith and not by sight.’ We put all of our faith in the Lord, and we do what He calls us to do, no matter what may come our way, and be on the path that He puts us on. Just continue to serve Him and follow Him.” Sullins said.
The group began performing around give years ago, when it was just Guthrie, Kelley and Bryant, but added the other two in the coming years.
“We’ve played at Temple Student Ministries at Temple Baptist Church for a majority of that, but we’ve also played at other churches as well before we were The Dwelling Company. We had all just felt a calling on our heart to do more than what we were doing, and for me personally, I’ve always felt that calling on my heart. When I met these guys, and they all felt the same way, God just kind of put the path right in place for us to walk that path and do His will. Now that they we’re starting to play at more churches and get the opportunity to do that, it’s been a blessing for sure. We’re just excited to see what God does with the whole experience.” Kelley said.
Their bond outside of the band has gotten even stronger throughout the years. The group all get together often, whether it’s to grab dinner, brainstorm music or play games.
“The band was never a thought when we became friends. This is something we felt we were called to do. It makes it real easy to be able to do it with people you love, people you care about, and have real strong connections with. We’re a family.” Sullins said.
They gave some advice to those people who are thinking about starting a Christian band themselves.
“Do it. If the Lord’s truly calling you, do it. Take that leap of faith, because in essence, you’re worshiping God.” Philyaw said.
“If God’s calling you to do something, He will provide everything that you need to make it happen. He will make a way. He will bless it, as God has blessed us. Be obedient. Go out there, take the step of faith, and do what God’s calling you to do.” Graham said.
Their strong bond in the band has gotten even stronger through the Lord.
“I’ve spent so much time at Temple with Hunter and Eli, because we still play at Temple Student Ministries together twice a week. We still get together and eat lunch. Last Tuesday, we all went to Abbey’s house and we ate. I see them almost every week.” Guthrie said.
“It’s brought us that much closer to the Lord, because we all go through different things and different trials. Being able to have people that you can trust and lean on, and some that may be a little further in their walk than you are and are helping you get back on track, helps out a lot. It has helped me out a lot, but everybody here in the group has become stronger with the Lord and their faith, just by having people that love them and that will not beat around the bush. They’ll shoot them straight, tell us what we need to hear, and not what we want to hear. Being able to have those people to lean on to and trust, we go on from there.” Sullins said.
“One of the main things with this group is we really need to be here for each other and to hold each other accountable in our walks, because that’s the most important thing: for us to be obedient in our own walks, so that we can then lead others in their worship and in their walk as well. I think we do that as a group well, holding each other accountable, and helping each other through our different paths.” Kelley said.
“One thing that we’re really trying to do to the best of our ability is learn that worship starts in our quiet time at home. That’s another thing that we stress about. Worship doesn’t start at the event. Worship starts a month before, when you’re in your quiet time. Worship starts at home. Worship builds through the week, and then, when we go to these events, we let the Holy Spirit just flow out of us.” Philyaw said.
