Tag Archive for: Pittsburgh

Church of the Assumption

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I visited the Church of the Assumption in Bellevue, Pa., on Saturday and was amazed by the beauty of this Roman Catholic church.  It’s easy to see from the church’s exterior that it is a beautiful church, but I did not realize how breath-taking it really is until stepping inside.  

sanctuary

My footsteps echoed in the large sanctuary. I can only imagine trying to keep children quiet during a service, because whispers are easily audible in this vast space. I found myself tiptoeing to keep from making too much noise.

Organ

This beautiful organ and stained glass window shine brightly at mid-day.

assumption-3

Column

One thing that struck me about this church is that it had deposit boxes built into the walls with hand-painted letters that read, “For the poor.” They were located near all exits. It was surprising in such a grandiose building and comforting all the same.

Bellevue Christian Church

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Bellevue Christian Church is a non-denominational community of believers with a heart for outreach.  The church recently started an annual turkey give-a-way in which hundreds of frozen turkeys are given away several days prior to Thanksgiving.  They do this with “no strings attached” as a way of reaching out to the local community and demonstrating Jesus’ love.  That is just one of the many efforts of the church.  It also owns and operates The Shepherd’s Door, a book and gift store that sells Catholic and Protestant items and donates 5 percent of sales to a local organization each month.  The store also offers a meeting room for use by organizations and groups that align with the mission of the church.

Here are a few photos of the church’s interior.  The church recently renovated its sanctuary and fellowship room with a blend of traditional and contemporary decor.  The beautiful stained glass window and mosaic mirrored cross are uniquely modern elements compared to some of the other church interiors I’ve photographed for this project.  

Stained glass windowView from the aisleWide view of the sanctuaryWindow by the choir risersMosaic mirrored cross

Epiphany Catholic Church

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Epiphany Catholic Church was my last stop of the day.  It’s the big church by the Mellon Arena at the edge of Pittsburgh’s Hill District.  This church was in danger of being torn down to make space for a new casino and arena, but was saved as it’s designated as a National Historic Landmark. One unfortunate thing about this church is that it smells like a fish fry, or at least it did while I was there—during lent on a Saturday, so it’s likely that it just needed to be aired out from the previous day.  A very kind member of the church showed me how to get up to the organ and choir loft.  This staircase to the loft has nice directional light and graceful curves.  I think it was my favorite find in this historic church.

Stairway vertical

Stairway horizontal

Epiphany's sanctuary

St. Paul’s Cathedral

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I arrived at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland after the scheduled time for confessions and prayer in the sanctuary as planned.  I was concerned when the lights were turned off and I saw a priest leaving the building.  I asked the priest if the lights could be turned on again and he was not willing because no one would be around to turn them off again.  This was a bummer because I would have scheduled at another time when I knew the lights would be on for sure.  Despite the low light, there were a few photos that worked out better than expected.  I was taking high dynamic range photos again and I think that really helped because I could bring out some of the detail in the shadows when tone mapping the merged images.  

Crucifix behind prayer candles

Organ

Heinz Chapel

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When I arrived at Heinz Chapel on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus in Oakland, there was a memorial service that was just coming to a close.  The chapel is non-denominational and a popular site for weddings, that in most cases, requires bookings very far in advance.  It’s easy to see why, the chapel is very dramatic in neo-Gothic style with gorgeous stained glass windows and an intricate, carved stone structure.

Latern

View from hallway