Church of the Ascension

Art Grotto

One of the many avenues for artists to express themselves at Ascensuon is the Art Grotto. At the Art Grotto, generations gather together to draw, paint, sculpt, and create mosaics and other forms of creative expression, through the use of photography, computer art, and stained glass. As a venue for visual artists of all abilities, the “Art Grotto” provides time, space and fellowship for the creative process. Session begin with a prayer, followed by open studio time for group activities, basic instruction, or individual work. For more information, contact Judy Yadrick at (412)621-4361 or email Judy at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ascension's Featured Artist Suzanne Trenney

When I recently came across some really creative mobiles in the chidlren's wing at Church of the Ascension, I inquired about who the artist was that created the peices in question. I was told, "Oh, Suzanne Trenney did those pieces. Aren't they wonderful?" When I recently encountered a series of colorful sketches in a prayer journal located in the back of Church of the Ascension, I suspected that the pieces belonged to Suzanne Trenney, but inquired about their origin anyway. The excited church member standing next to the book, said, "Oh, these were done by Suzanne Trenney. Have you seen the one titled the Black and Gold Calf? It's fantastic." While walking the halls a few days ago, I spotted some paper cut-outs on the wall that where installed to bring attention to our annual stewardship drive. This time, I recognized the handiwork. It belonged to Suzanne Trenney and it was delightful. Suzanne has a way of creating art that can be playful, profound and iconoclastic. I caught up with Suzanne during one of her jounts at Church of the Ascension. She was designing a bulletin board with open hands that looked like they were flowers. Suzanne comes from an artistic family and though she has spent much of her career teaching, creating visual art of many kinds seems to be a natural aspect of her calling as a Christian.

In this featured artist page, Suzanne has agreed to respond to one of the photographs that I have taken of her work. These pieces come from a prayer journal, one of Suzanne's personal sketch pads, and installments done here at Church of the Ascension.

Jay Slocum Church Planter

Suzanne Writes:

The piece behind the leaded glass is entitled, "Empty plate, empty bowl, full wallets" and has a second title, "The Great Omission". In it, a relatively well off couple passes the sparsely filled offering plate. Behind them is a stained glass window with individuals who are potential saints(an elderly woman, a troubled teenage young man, a Muslim woman and a starving African child holding an empty bowl) who might turn to Christ if the parishioners truly gave proportionally. Also pictured is a crutch and shackles both of which can be removed by God.

I drew this around two years ago when I was new to Ascension and had not fully left my former church and was also helping at a church plant. I was really struggling with where to give my offerings. My former church (which was really huge) was able to give over a million dollars annually to missions. The church plant seemed to need the money the most. But I was being fed at Ascension. Although I was disappointed with the level of giving at Ascension after attending my first annual budget meeting as well as the amount of the church's budget which directly went towards fulfilling the Great Commission, God told me that my tithes were to go to Ascension as I had, by that time, begun to consider it my church home. This drawing was made during this period of frustration.

Later, I attended a class at Trinity called "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes" which was taught by Ken Bailey. He told us about how he was once teaching about the parable of the servants who were entrusted with money while their master was away and were later rewarded based on their faithfulness. He discussed how they were rewarded based on their faithfulness-not productivity, but that in each case, faithfulness did lead to an increase. He was asked by a woman about a situation that didn't seem to be addressed in the parable where a servant was faithful but what was entrusted did not increase. Though he did not have a good answer for her at the time, he continued thinking about it and realized that Jesus did not include that scenario because it doesn't exist! We do not possess the yardstick to measure productivity. Just as love never fails, Ken Bailey said that he believes that faithfulness never fails. Rather than attempting to measure the productivity or kingdom value of a church, or its members, I need to be faithful with what I have been given and to that which I have been called. We do, however, need to prompt and encourage one another to faithfulness. We have been blessed in order to be a blessing.

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