Kim Hill once stood on some of Christian music's biggest stages. Now, the singer is opening up about the relationship that changed her life-and the painful process of leaving a world where she believed that relationship could not be openly accepted.
In a revealing conversation on Jen Hatmaker's For the Love podcast, Hill and her partner, songwriter and musician Paulette Wooten, describe how a professional collaboration became a romance, why they slowly unwound their ministry careers, and how they are reclaiming their musical partnership as Americana duo Wooten Hill. Their first full-length album, How Did We Get Here, brings that long, complicated journey into public view.
The interview raises a searching question for the Christian audiences who once welcomed their gifts: what happens when the people leading worship no longer fit the expectations of the platform?
Hill's account begins with genuine affection for her early calling. She recalls dreaming of singing for God, finding success in contemporary Christian music, and later leading worship at large women's conferences. Yet she says doubts about the world surrounding those stages developed well before her relationship with Wooten.
Her divorce challenged convictions she had previously considered settled. She also describes growing discomfort with aspects of the Christian music business and the conservative ministry environments in which she worked. Leaving remained difficult because those settings encompassed her livelihood, community, and understanding of herself.
Wooten came from a similarly immersive ministry background. An ordained music minister, she describes years spent playing, writing, teaching, and working within worship communities. She also acknowledges having absorbed judgments about gay people that she now regrets-making their story partly an examination of beliefs they themselves once upheld.
Their first encounter was musical rather than romantic. At a worship school, Wooten accompanied Hill through a 45-minute set despite barely knowing her or her material. That unexpected connection led to more work together, followed by roughly a year and a half of travel and friendship.
Hill says a trip to South Africa changed her understanding of their relationship. Recognizing that she wanted more than friendship also meant confronting what pursuing that relationship would require of them both.
"I know we have to change our whole lives, but I'm all in," Hill recalls telling Wooten.
What followed was a gradual transition shaped by family responsibilities, professional commitments, and fear of being outed. Hill says she initially wanted to tell everyone immediately, believing that withholding personal information amounted to dishonesty. Two trusted women-one who supported the relationship and one who did not-urged her to consider the consequences for her children and move carefully.
That detail complicates an easy account of opposing sides. In Hill's telling, someone who disagreed with her relationship still offered counsel she believes helped protect her family. She and Wooten emphasize that their eventual approach was particular to their circumstances, rather than a prescription for everyone coming out.
Hill describes slowly changing their lives while navigating bookings that extended years ahead. The interview presents that departure as an extended, uneasy process; it does not identify a single public dismissal or industry-wide decision that ended their careers.
The personal consequences, however, remain painful. Wooten says some people have allowed their relationship to eclipse everything else they know about them. Both women describe the difficulty of maintaining family connections while accepting that others may not change their convictions.
They also acknowledge why those changes cannot simply be demanded overnight: they once shared many of the same beliefs. Their account combines grief over rejection with gratitude for relationships that have survived and hope for further understanding.
For Christian listeners, the interview brings a difficult pastoral question into focus: how do families and churches handle profound disagreement when the people involved have shared years of worship, service, and affection? Hill and Wooten describe wanting to help families respond to children who come out with greater love and acceptance.
Music has become their way of carrying that conversation forward. After pursuing retreats, property renovation, a spice business, and nonprofit work, they have returned to recording with their relationship openly part of the story.
According to the pair, How Did We Get Here came together during a summer stay in Nashville while awaiting the birth of Hill's grandson. Wooten had already been writing songs drawn from their journey; an unexpected recording opportunity gave those songs a home.
"This is the truest art I have ever put out," Wooten says.
Hatmaker's role is openly supportive throughout the conversation. The duo credit her community with providing a welcoming setting in which they could begin sharing their relationship publicly and imagine making music together again. Her interview gives them space to explain their experience, rather than subjecting their theological conclusions to debate.
That makes the conversation a personal testimony with implications extending beyond an album campaign. Listeners hear two former ministry insiders describe the distance between what they once taught, what they later experienced, and the lives they have chosen to build.
For Hill and Wooten, the new chapter means singing with more of their story visible. For the Christian audiences who remember them, it invites a harder examination of what happens to longstanding relationships when someone's life challenges the convictions that once held a community together.
How Did We Get Here is available through streaming services, with CD and vinyl editions offered at wootenhill.com. In the interview, the duo also announce an October 30 launch for their podcast, The Road to Wooten Hill, featuring further stories behind their music and journey.
