The New Brunswick southern gospel quartet has signed a recording agreement with Chapel Valley of Knoxville, Tenn.
The Ascensions
New News!!
January 2012
BRIAN FREE and ASSURANCE in concert # 1
One of the greatest quartets to ever minister from a stage, Brian Free and Assurance, will be in the first of 2 fantastic concerts with The Hyssongs and The Ascensions on Wednesday night, May 9th, 2012 at Crandall Hall, Crandall University, 333 Gorge road, Moncton, NB. The start time is 7 PM. If you are anywhere near the Moncton, PEI, NS areas, and, you are going to attend only one concert in 2012, please make it this concert. You are guaranteed to have the greatest time and hear the best of southern gospel music. These guys are fantastic with their harmonies and of course, the greatest tenor of all southern gospel music,Brian Free himself, will be there.Tickets are $25.00 at the door and $20.00 in advance from Reg Lewis of Gospelfest in Moncton or any member of The Ascensions. Call 506-466-0788 for info.
BRIAN FREE and ASSURANCE in concert # 2
Brian Free and Assurance’s second awesome concert in this tour along with The Hyssongs and The Ascensions, is on May 10th at the Capital Community Church, 71 Downing St., Fredericton, NB. This concert will start at 7 pm also. Get out to the most exciting concert to be in the Fredericton area in 2012.Tickets are $25.00 at the door and $20.00 in advance. The tickets are available at The Lighthouse Bookstore, CJRI radio front office, Capital Community Church and of course, any member of The Ascensions, Lance, Peg, Matt or Burrell. There are 25 limited, $50.00 ticket available which entitles you to a gift bag, a light lunch and a meet and greet with pictures at 6 PM with Brian Free and Assurance, The Hyssongs and The Ascensions. There are only a few of these left. Call 506-466-0788 for info.
November 2011 ~
Well sir, what a time was had at The Ascensions/Echoes Of Eden concert at Gateway Cathedral in St Stephen on Nov 19. It all started with a great, young band, Echoes of Eden opening the concert with their first set. You could feel God’s spirit as they ministered to a fantastic crowd. People were entering in, with their hands raised and were being blessed as these three guys sang. The spirit was so real there, that when The Ascensions hit the stage, they received a standing ovation on their first song “Ain’t That What It’s All About”. Praise the Lord!!! The Ascensions continued on with several songs off of their current set list and they also debuted a few new songs. Pastor Gord told The Ascensions after the concert, how a person was touched by God as they were ministered to with the song, “I’ll Be Alright”. What a powerful song. There were several testimonies of how the Lord touched people during the concert. Several of the fans said “ this was one of the best concert’s we have been too in quite a while”. Of course Rylee Matheson took everyone’s attention when she came to the stage and was backed up by The Ascensions on a great song entitled “He Bled, He Died, He Rose”. There wasn’t one person there, that didn’t enjoy this treat. We think Rylee has a great future in Southern Gospel music. During the second half Echoes Of Eden again demonstrated that they have the ability to take old hymns, refresh them with a new sound and bless people. The Ascensions came back with a focus on salvation. Matt did a great job with his invitation to receive Christ. The concert ended with a rousing “Carried Away” with both The Ascensions and Echoes Of Eden on stage. What a blessing that evening was, to all who attended. Be looking for Echoes Of Eden or The Ascensions in concert somewhere close to you. You can do this by getting on our websites.
God bless you all.
October 2011 ~
October 14th
October 13th
What an incredible time everyone had in the Lord at the Capital Community Church in Fredericton Oct 13th with The Ascensions great friends, the Hyssongs, and their very special guests, Greater Vision.
The concert started with folks that had the V.I.P. passes, going to the green room 1 hour early, for refreshments, sandwiches, and sweets. At that time each V.I.P. could have their picture taken with each group. Also they got to meet and greet the other V.I.P.’s and mingle with the groups ministering and ask them questions and make new friends. This was a time that they will never forget.
The Ascensions, Hyssongs and Greater Vision sang with such an anointing, that God’s spirit was felt church wide. Everyone was in tears at one time or another. Hands were raised continually during the concert. The groups complimented each other with their ministry, with the songs that were sang.There have been people that have told The Ascensions, since the concert, that they were healed in some way, during the singing. Others proclaimed that a jericho march almost took place. The folks were on their feet several times and a lot wanted to march around the church for the Lord.Rodney Griffin gave a short testimony as to a throat problem he had a while ago, which was very emotional and yet showed God’s concern for each and every one of us. Two people in the audience are going through a similar situation and they know that God will take care of the problems.
A great friend of The Ascensions, Norman Raynes, from Saint John, was Emcee for the evening and did a fantastic job at the introductions and announcements. He is very well suited for this job.The Ascensions have had multiple messages on Facebook and emails that say “this was the most spiritual concert that they have ever attended”. That is what they like to hear for testimonies from their concerts and CD’s. This is what The Ascensions are all about. Their goal is to show God’s love, spirit and power to all of the folks they minister too.
The Ascensions love and appreciate all of the fans that attended and showed support for this concert and each concert The Ascensions have or take part in.
Lance, Peg, Matt, Burrell
October 14th
A beautiful Joey Knight Tribute gospel concert was held at Calvary Temple church in Saint John on Oct 14th/11. Joey was a great friend of The Ascensions for the short time they had known him. He was an encourager to each and every artist that he met. There were no strangers to Joey, just friends he hadn’t met yet. His legacy lives on in a young country singer from the Fredericton area, Steve Waylon. Steve was a close, personal friend of Joey’s and Steve is taking on the task of Emceeing each tribute concert held in Joey’s memory.
Several artists such as Steve Waylon, Golden Harmony and more took part in the concert and the spirit of the Lord was all over those folks. The Ascensions sang 4 songs but changed one of their songs because they felt someone needed to hear it that evening. This was God’s timing. When The Ascensions hit the last chorus of “Midnight Cry” folks literally jumped to their feet because of God’s anointing power that was felt by all.
Thank you to all of the fans, brothers and sisters in the Lord who attended this concert. Please keep praying for The Ascensions as well as the other artists here in New Brunswick as they minister each time.
October 13th
What an incredible time everyone had in the Lord at the Capital Community Church in Fredericton Oct 13th with The Ascensions great friends, the Hyssongs, and their very special guests, Greater Vision.
The concert started with folks that had the V.I.P. passes, going to the green room 1 hour early, for refreshments, sandwiches, and sweets. At that time each V.I.P. could have their picture taken with each group. Also they got to meet and greet the other V.I.P.’s and mingle with the groups ministering and ask them questions and make new friends. This was a time that they will never forget.
The Ascensions, Hyssongs and Greater Vision sang with such an anointing, that God’s spirit was felt church wide. Everyone was in tears at one time or another. Hands were raised continually during the concert. The groups complimented each other with their ministry, with the songs that were sang.There have been people that have told The Ascensions, since the concert, that they were healed in some way, during the singing. Others proclaimed that a jericho march almost took place. The folks were on their feet several times and a lot wanted to march around the church for the Lord.Rodney Griffin gave a short testimony as to a throat problem he had a while ago, which was very emotional and yet showed God’s concern for each and every one of us. Two people in the audience are going through a similar situation and they know that God will take care of the problems.
A great friend of The Ascensions, Norman Raynes, from Saint John, was Emcee for the evening and did a fantastic job at the introductions and announcements. He is very well suited for this job.The Ascensions have had multiple messages on Facebook and emails that say “this was the most spiritual concert that they have ever attended”. That is what they like to hear for testimonies from their concerts and CD’s. This is what The Ascensions are all about. Their goal is to show God’s love, spirit and power to all of the folks they minister too.
The Ascensions love and appreciate all of the fans that attended and showed support for this concert and each concert The Ascensions have or take part in.
Lance, Peg, Matt, Burrell
November 2010 ~ "The White Knight?"
The Ascensions have travelled in a Ford Explorer for the past several years. There is now, a strange noise in the rear-end of this truck. We baby it as much as we can. We have prayed on many a trip, that the truck will last.
Now comes the explanation of how God answered our prayer for a group vehicle. We were scheduled for concerts in South Carolina on Nov 13th and 14th of 2010. We were leaving the morning of Nov 11th. We had prayed about it, and sent out a bulletin, months earlier, to our E-mail and Facebook partners, to see if anyone knew where we could find a van to purchase. In October we had rented a van for this particular trip.
On Monday night, Nov 8th, we received a Facebook message from a cousin from Dartmouth, NS, asking if we were still looking for a van. In a response to this message, we said “yes, we definitely are, but we are busy with this trip for the next week or so”!! We realized this may be God speaking but we already had the rental van.
On Tuesday afternoon, Nov 8th, we called the folks with the rental van to make sure it was good to go and there was U.S. insurance on it. He told us “I’ve got good news and bad news”. Oh no Lord, here it comes!!! “The good news is the van is insured for the US. The bad news is the rear brakes are gone and the parts will not be in until Nov 12.” Knowing that the rental van couldn’t go………our truck may not make it there and back, and…………. the problem, with the room it would take for all of our sound gear, we knew that we had to call our cousin to see if their van could make it to S.C., also, what shape it was in, the year, the mileage, etc. Once we were told it was a 2000, 15 passenger van, and they wouldn’t be afraid to take it across Canada, just the way it was, we decided to buy it, if we could. Our cousin made us such a deal that we all knew right away this was God’s idea. The deal was so good, we considered it a gift to this ministry. We asked if we could send Burrell down on Wednesday morning to pick it up and they said “we’ll bring it to you tomorrow night”. Once again,God is good!!
We met at 9 pm Wednesday night to get the van from them, in St George, and looked it over as much as we could. We loaded it at 7 am on Thursday morning, Nov 11th and headed for South Carolina. Praise the Lord!!!
We had 2 tremendous concerts in S.C. and the people were very responsive to our ministry. They had never had a Southern Gospel group in their church, until a friend set up our first concert we had there. They really enjoyed the presence of the Lord they felt as we sang.
We drove the van 3000 miles that weekend and it had great oil pressure. It maintained the speed of the traffic for hours with no hitches or problems. We were astounded by the fuel mileage!!! It has had a couple of issues since we have been back. That’s just a test for us, we guess. It needs some bodywork and a paint job, but it is still running like a top. Look for the “White Knight”(may be blue soon) when we come to your area. God is so good!!!
June 2011~ New Lead Singer!
Chapel Valley recording artist and ECMA winner, the Ascensions, are excited to announce the addition of Matt Linton to the position of lead singer. Matt will be joining Lance, Peggy and Burrell, effective June 1/11. Everything happens in God’s time, not ours!!! Matt brings extensive experience to the group, having worked as a solo artist, and having released 2 recording projects while working out of the Texas, Arkansas and Ontario for the last 4 years. Expressing his excitement about having the opportunity to “sing in a gospel quartet”, we know that all our friends will be excited when they hear his anointed vocals. Matt, who has a degree in Theology and his wife Cynara have 2 great children, Malaki and Selah with a third child expected late this summer. They have filled multiple ministerial roles, while building his music ministry, which include, youth pastor, associate pastor, international evangelists, and served time on the mission field in Guatemala.
December 2010 ~ Dec 4-11, 2010 CHRISTMAS IN THE SMOKIES
What a time we had in Pigeon Forge, TN. God is good!!! There were southern gospel concerts, shopping, shows, food. It was almost paradise!!! We loaded up a bus and took 40 of our great friends with us and travelled to Tennessee. Richard Stieh, our bus driver/owner of Fundy Trails Tours was the best!!! He helped folks on and off the bus, took us wherever we wanted to go in Pigeon forge and was a very cautious driver. We had stops along the way for meals and stretch breaks. We sang, played games, had delicious food and most of all met new friends in the Lord that we previously didn’t know. What a time we had!!! Each night we ended at a great hotel and some folks went for walks, some for coffee and other things. We got up early each morning and we were on the road by 7:30 am. We arrived in Pigeon Forge and checked in to the Mainstay Suites. It was a beautiful hotel. The whole atmosphere in Tennessee is awesome. People are very friendly. That evening everyone attended the first of three concerts sponsored by our record company, Chapel Valley Studios. The owners, Paul, Jetta, Shane and Travis were great. The kept asking if we needed anything. There were several groups and soloists in the concerts. Of course, we had our own cheering fans!(a full busload) Lol Lots of folks went shopping during the days or took in some of the shows that were going on downtown Pigeon Forge. On two of the days there, the singers waited tables for their fans at dinner. We had 3 days of the best time a person could have, this side of Heaven!!! After shopping, concerts, shows, and everything else, we finally headed home. Everyone was a little quiet as we left, but that soon changed as the morning progressed. It was an awesome trip!!! All who went, wanted to know if we were going to do it again. We told them yes!!! It is planned for Dec 3rd through to Dec 11th of 2011. Please e-mail or call us to get more info. Seats are being bought up already.
February 2011~ Devin has made a Decision!
It is with regret that we announce the resignation of Devin Cooke from the lead position of The Ascensions. He brought a great sound to The Ascensions over the past three years. He is a great guy and a great friend. We wish him well in his endeavour to proceed with a solo career. We know that God will use his music and his testimony for great things. We’ll be praying for God to richly bless his ministry.
September 2010 ~ And the Nominees are.........
We are very excited to anounce that our album "No Greater Love" has been nominated for "Southern gospel album of the year" and our title-cut song "No Greater Love" has been nominated for "Southern gospel song of the year" for the 2010 Canadian Covenanat Awards!!! Thanks to God, and all of our family and friends, for all of His Blessings on us this past year!
We are very excited to anounce that our album "No Greater Love" has been nominated for "Southern gospel album of the year" and our title-cut song "No Greater Love" has been nominated for "Southern gospel song of the year" for the 2010 Canadian Covenanat Awards!!! Thanks to God, and all of our family and friends, for all of His Blessings on us this past year!
September 2010 ~ NQC , Louisville, KY
WE'RE BACK!
The National Quartet Convention was an experience of a lifetime! Our record company, Chapel Valley, treated us royally! We are very excited to be welcomed in to the Chapel Valley Family!! With running our booth, meetings, radio interviews, singing at two showcases, making new friends and renewing old friendships, the week was very busy.
Occasionally, we slipped in to hear some of the great groups of gospel music, such as The Easters, The Hoppers, Legacy Five(with Gus Gaches who produced our latest album), Gold City, Jason Crabb, and the Gaither Vocal Band, just to name a few. Our good friends, Golden Harmony, had a booth next to us and we shared many laughs, (and candy when we run out! )throughout the week.
Lance gave away most of their Canadian pins! Ha!ha! Thanks to CJRI and Gerald Rushton, for setting up several radio interviews to help keep everyone informed of all the things going on down in Louisville, KY. Thanks for everyone's prayers for safe travels!
Lance, Peggy, Burrell & Devin
WE'RE BACK!
The National Quartet Convention was an experience of a lifetime! Our record company, Chapel Valley, treated us royally! We are very excited to be welcomed in to the Chapel Valley Family!! With running our booth, meetings, radio interviews, singing at two showcases, making new friends and renewing old friendships, the week was very busy.
Occasionally, we slipped in to hear some of the great groups of gospel music, such as The Easters, The Hoppers, Legacy Five(with Gus Gaches who produced our latest album), Gold City, Jason Crabb, and the Gaither Vocal Band, just to name a few. Our good friends, Golden Harmony, had a booth next to us and we shared many laughs, (and candy when we run out! )throughout the week.
Lance gave away most of their Canadian pins! Ha!ha! Thanks to CJRI and Gerald Rushton, for setting up several radio interviews to help keep everyone informed of all the things going on down in Louisville, KY. Thanks for everyone's prayers for safe travels!
Lance, Peggy, Burrell & Devin
The Daily Gleaner May 15th 2010
By Wilfred Langmaid
In a superficial sense, you could call it an overnight success story for a musical group that has been active for more than three decades.
On the heels of multiple East Coast Music Awards in recent years, the New Brunswick southern gospel quartet The Ascensions has signed a recording agreement with Chapel Valley of Knoxville, Tenn.
Bass vocalist Burrell Cross, of Fredericton, and fellow former Emmaus Road lead singer Devin Cooke joined The Ascensions two years ago.
The Ascensions were a trio for 31 years before this move, and the different lineup was the capper in the wider acclaim that has now come.
The blend of the husband-and-wife team of Lance and Peg Matheson, Cooke, and Cross is shown to great effect on their latest album, No Greater Love. So, too, is the rare gift that Lance Matheson has as a writer of inspired, original material.
Chapel Valley's marketing and artist director Richard Hyssong said last month, "The Ascensions are very talented individuals who have a strong commitment and desire to see people come to Christ. Chapel Valley is excited to work with the group because our record company is all about producing artists that want to make a difference and see lives changed."
However, Lance Matheson has his feet as firmly planted on the ground and his eyes as fixed upon his Savior as ever. He said this week, "Our goal is to see lives changed for the better and for them to find a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the most important thing about our group. The album, the East Coast Music Award, the record deal would all be for nothing if it were not for God."
Matheson said that the group was approached because one of the owners of Chapel Valley, Shane Roark, heard No Greater Love. Upon hearing the quartet, he wanted to bring them into his international team of recording and performing artists.
"They have several venues which we can be part of. They have the largest number of artists at the National Quartet Convention in Louisville. We may be part of that this fall. They want us to record a new album with them this fall also, and then they have compilation CDs and can track our radio airplay.
"There are 30 or so artists in the Chapel Valley family of artists. We are very excited to take a trip down and do a new project with them."
Peg Matheson added, "We do what we call full-time/part-time ministry, meaning, we still work regular jobs but travel and sing usually two or three weekends a month and periodically do tours around Atlantic Canada, Ontario, and the Eastern United States."
With such an arrangement, Cross commutes from Fredericton as needed. The other three members live in Charlotte County.
Peg Matheson said, "Having Burrell come on board with us with his smooth bass voice opened up so many new possibilities for us. Even our old songs have been given a refreshing twist with Burrell on the bass line and with Devin's phenomenal singing voice in lead, tenor and baritone parts."
Cross is just happy to be part of this endeavour. "It was a huge honour to be asked to join the Ascensions to create a quartet after 30 plus years as a trio. I promised two years ago to do whatever I could to help Lance and Peggy make a successful transition and the results have been very exciting and much more than we expected. It is very humbling to experience this recognition for doing something we just love to do.
"With a recording contract and the increased exposure that this can bring, I am looking forward to helping to take the group on to the next level."
The Ascensions have several concerts booked for the summer, including the Glorybound Gospel Jubilee in Trenton, Me., and the Market Square concert venue at the Saint John waterfront on July 4.
March 7th 2010 ~ ECMA AWARDS
If you haven't heard by now, YES WE WON!!!! We are so excited that we won "Gospel Recording of the Year" at the East Coast Music Awards!! The award ceremony was held in Sydney, NS this year and all those involved did a great job. We would like to say thank you to Gus Gaches our producer, The East Coast Music Awards, Sonicbids, Bell Aliant, our Family, Friends and our Fans for making this night possible. We are so blessed to able to sing about the one who gave His life for us. John 10: 10 "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
Recently Paul Heil called Ross Ingram
at CJRI in Fredericton CLICK HERE to
Listen to what Ross had to say!!
January 14th 2010 ~ Our New Website!!
Alot has happened this past year, we hope you will spend some time checking out our new website. We have samples from our new albulm "No Greater Love" we have some new pictures and some new links for you to check out. God Bless all of you and may 2010 be filled with Joy!!
January 7th 2010 ~ Passing of Burton Matheson
St. George, NB - Burton Lester Matheson, Father of The Ascensions manager/owner, Lance Matheson, passed away on unexpectedly Thursday, January 7.
He was 70 years old. He was a wonderful Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather!! He will be dearly missed for more infomation click here to go to
St. George Funeral Home
December 2009 ~ ECMA Nomination
We are pleased to announce, that our newest CD, "No Greater Love", has been nominated for gospel recording of the year, with the East Coast Music Association for 2010.
November 2009 ~ New Home
We have now settled into our new home in St. Stephen. We already love living so close to the border and of course our beautiful Grandaughter!! If you are trying to reach us by phone our new number is (506) 466 - 0788
February 2009 ~ Nashville Trip
We have just returned home from Nashville TN, we had a great time working on our new recording. We are very excited about how the group is sounding!! Be sure to check out our music section for samples of our newest Album "No Greater Love"
June 2009 ~ Telvision Broadcast for Soul's Harbour Ministries
On June 6th we had the honor of recording some songs from our new Album for Soul's Harbour Ministries. We had a wonderful day of fellowship with Pastors Ronnie & Rick Libbey and their great camera crew. Be sure to be watching in July for The Ascensions' apperances!!
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