Consistency is a Superpower
If you’ve attended a service at Summit Orlando in the last decade, Barbara Cooper has likely been a part of your story whether you know it or not. As a member of our Worship Tech Team, Barbara has been running slides in our tech booth in the back of the sanctuary once or twice a month, consistently since 2012! She also has been coming in on Wednesday mornings for almost as long to load visuals and proofread lyric and scripture slides ahead of Sunday.
Barbara is a superhero to us in the Worship Department, but when I sat down to interview her, she took a humble approach. “People should volunteer because nothing I do is significantly difficult. In worship, we are always well-prepared for the tasks ahead of us. I consider myself an anxious person, but I eventually realized that pulling off this production level isn’t scary, and we have a very professional team here. We’re in good hands.”
Barbara’s story at Summit goes like this…She and her husband, Tommy, started attending in 2010, and soon after, she became pregnant with Gracie, the first of her two daughters. She worked full-time until she was six months pregnant before deciding to leave her job and become a stay at home mom. Though she knew it was the right thing to do for this new family she and Tommy were starting, she would soon feel stuck being at home so much.
“A year into motherhood, I had to do something to give my mind a break, and I needed to develop a new skill. I needed something to work at.”
Soon, a friend would invite her to a meeting for prospective volunteers. With Tommy being a musician already involved with Worship at Summit, Worship Tech seemed like an excellent fit for Barbara.
“I had to learn a little bit, and I’ll be honest. I was intimidated at first.”
She pushed through and soon became one of our most leaned-upon volunteers. When one of our techs calls out because they’re sick or another extenuating circumstance, Barbara is often the first call. Her consistency is an inspiration to our staff and our team. She even asks to serve on Christmas Eve!
Now, I’ve worked at a few different Summit campuses, and I can tell you that it’s hard to find enough volunteers most Christmases to fill out a roster and make those services happen. At our old Waterford Campus, I’d often ask volunteers, musicians, and sometimes even family members to jump in just for one of our four or five services so that we could have coverage to run our lighting board and slides. Barbara asks to serve on that day, and she asks to do every service. She might even be upset if we took it away from her.
“Tommy and I decided early in our marriage that we didn’t like that Christmas was so often about consuming. We wanted it to be about giving back. We really love serving on Christmas Eve and that we’re at church all day with our family and our church family, too.”
As I talked with her, Barbara continued to stress how pivotal Summit had been to her experience of being a parent.
“Being a mother is such an important job, but if you’ve been invested in a career or just don’t find it easy to be home full-time, it’s normal to feel stuck sometimes. Summit has been such a great support through these years, though.”
Her role in our worship services gave her those skills to work on and a team to build camaraderie with weekly, but she also had a lot to say about how other ministries at Summit helped her on her journey, too.
“Summit’s children’s ministry and Base Camp team has served my daughters, Gracie and Pearl, so well, and now even Gracie is volunteering at Summit too. What a blessing that we’re able to serve together! We really think she’s starting to see how her serving affects the next, younger generation.”
When I asked her why she’s stayed with this volunteer role for so long, she said, “In 11 years, I’ve never had any drama. The church has had ups and downs. Some services have been harder than others, but I’ve always enjoyed this team. It’s a very professional and gracious atmosphere. I can make mistakes, but I’m still respected and trusted that I’m doing my best. Everyone is so respectful and encouraging to me.”
When asked what she sees as her purpose behind volunteering in this capacity, she told me that “Music in worship gives us the ability to reach people in ways we don’t even understand. It opens up pathways that words can’t. Ultimately, though, just serving God in this way brings me joy. That’s why I keep coming back.”
If Barbara’s story inspires you and you decide you want to see what opportunities there are to serve, please don’t hesitate to reach out! On our website, you’ll find a number of opportunities to serve, but even if you don’t find what you’re looking for, contact us anyway! Summit wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for volunteers, and we’d love to see how we can help you be part of someone’s story, too!