Using His Talent to Impact the Kingdom

There have been a half dozen times where I’ve been this close to auditioning at Summit to sing or play with my awful musical talents. If only I could somehow be a part of that very magical Summit band community. Admittedly, I’m really interested to know what actually happens in that mysterious green room backstage. My interview with Trey Colson, one of Summit’s talented musicians, takes place on a windy, cold day outside of a Starbucks. Two minutes in, I’m freezing, it’s raining, and I’m fairly certain I won’t be able to hear Trey’s voice on my recorder. He is quite soft-spoken, which I later learned matches with his personality and his role as a drummer for the three bands he is in at Summit: The Quints, Soul Miners, and Waving Flag. Trey leads us around the corner and into a hallway where we end up sitting on the floor. I gathered pretty quickly that Trey is both easy-going and unassuming, with nice manners and a knack for encouragement.

My queries lead me to discover that Trey has been around Summit for a little over seven years and has been volunteering for just as long in worship bands and as a niceSERVE leader. He and his wife, Rachel and their young children Everett and Millie rotate campuses. “We’ve become nomads,” he says. “But in a way it’s been a very good thing. It’s nice to be able to recognize faces no matter where we end up each Sunday.”

Over the years, Trey would sometimes play every Sunday—that’s about nine hours in one day (not to mention allotting time for band practice that week). His drive to give away his time stems from growing up in an environment where people continually encouraged and poured into him. To Trey, volunteering is a way to thank the men and women who have impacted his life—he wants to do anything to help others hear more clearly the good news of Jesus.

With all the talent that exists in each band, you’d think there would be an undercurrent of competition. However, Trey explains that it is actually the opposite: “These are people who have become my best friends, who continuously encourage me not just spiritually but musically, too. Everyone is doing their best but not trying to be the best.”

Playing alongside the high-caliber musicians in an honor for Trey. “They are all people I really look up to.” Trey says. “And playing with them means I get to keep time and hang out in the background and let them be really good. I am much more of a backstage person, but if there is some need I can meet, then I’d like to do that.”

I let that sink in for a moment, and while I’m silent (unusual for me), Trey explains that volunteering at Summit is very much a team effort. Everyone is there to achieve a goal and every person is necessary. The friendships he’s made and the opportunity to worship Jesus with the gifts he’s been blessed with isn’t something he will soon give up. It’s much too important to him. “It really is a magic thing for me to hear people sing along to songs and worship to God,” he says.

This is where I finally find my voice and interrupt with, “Did you just say a magic thing?”

Trey laughs at himself for a bit before saying, “Yes. I would say magic. It is such a good word. I think God is real life magic. I like using the word magic to talk about God.”

Isabel Davis is a long-time Summit Partner as well as a volunteer writer for SUMMIT MAGAZINE. She is the founder and owner of 9th Letter Press in Winter Park, Florida.