We continue our series on Melodies of Hope: Hymns From Advent and Christmastide. Each year, our churches sing a familiar rotation of Advent and Christmas hymns, often without knowing their meaning and context. To provide a fresh take on the Christmas carol canon, we’ve enlisted eight worship leaders, songwriters and thinkers from around C4SO to tell us a favorite Advent or Christmas hymn, giving us historical and musical context, and a word of good news each hymn speaks to us today.

This episode’s song is “I Wonder As I Wander,” and our guest is Rachel Wilhelm, a singer/songwriter and the Minister of Music and Worship Arts Apostles Anglican Church in Knoxville, TN. She is also United States Team Leader for a ministry called United Adoration where she leads songwriting and worship arts retreats for local churches and their artists.

She co-founded Roots Worship Collective of Minneapolis during her time there, leading hymn sing events to promote Church unity, and has recorded several albums, EPs, and singles, including her first full-length album Songs of Lament in 2017, and her newest album, Requiem, released March 16, 2021.

You can connect with Rachel on her website.

The recording featured in this episode is Rachel’s own arrangement and recording of “I Wonder As I Wander.”

• Our Cycle of Prayer Spotlight ministry this week is Church of the Vine in Newburg, Oregon, led by the Rev. Sean Flannery.