How precious, how selfless, how great is the love of our God. How gracious, how constant— it reaches us right where we are.
These are lyrics to the song Beloved from the new album “New Things EP,” released by a worship group called NEWLIFE. NEWLIFE is a group of worship leaders from NewLife Wesleyan Church, one church with several locations in the Washington D.C. Metro area.
NEWLIFE began writing songs as individuals and a group in late 2018 under the direction of Josh Hilson and Hannah Gable. The "New Things EP” was inspired by the stories and prayer requests from within the congregations in the NewLife Network of Churches.
“We dedicated ourselves to being a part of the prayer circles at our churches, praying over them and learning the needs of our congregations,” says Hannah (Oberlin) Gable, NewLife’s worship coach and Indiana Wesleyan University alumna.
Two more IWU alumni, Josh and Alexa (Bungato) Hilson, joined Gable and four other worship leaders from the various NewLife congregations to create the "New Things EP.” Ignited with a passion to help their congregations engage with God through worship, NEWLIFE spent months writing and producing the album.
The seven worship leaders came together to create a worship album that spoke to the hearts of the people in their congregations. “We write songs for the people in our church— the victories they’ve had, the victories they need, and the truth they need to hear,” says Gable, who graduated with degrees in songwriting and business administration.
True to its name, the “New Things EP” is a testimony and reminder of the new things God is doing in the NewLife community and church body. “It doesn’t matter where you are, who you are, or what you’ve done, God can make you new and do new things in your life,” says Josh Hilson, one of the album’s songwriters.
In January of 2019 the first original song, Wastelands, was presented to NewLife Church during their worship service. From there God has moved through the music in powerful ways, and NewLife’s congregations are experiencing worship like they have never seen before.
“Our goal in songwriting is to help the congregation know God in a more intimate way. It doesn’t matter what we do, it matters what God does through our team and through our congregation,” explained Gable. “There’s nothing more important we can do as a team than help people encounter God through worship. God has to be at the center.”
The album was released on Aug. 23rd, 2019. Over 1,200 people came out to a concert celebrating the release. NewLife Church believes that God is writing a special story within their community, and is excited to see that story grow and spread to other churches.
“In the dark or light as I’m walking through this life He has overcome through the power of His blood. Oh how He loves.”- Beloved
“This song was written to be restoring. When we feel empty of love, value, or goodness, this is a reminder that God loves us. He loves you,” says IWU alumna and fellow songwriter, Alexa Hilson. “No matter the pain or circumstances you go through, God loves you. It speaks to my testimony and how God fills this emptiness when others can't.”
Beloved is one of the six songs featured on the “New Things EP.” Listeners can find the whole album on Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora.