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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2002
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Alvin Summers and VIP ~
"They raised their voices
in praise to the Lord
& sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” |
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Alvin Summers, third gentleman from
the top, and VIP (Voices in Praise). Members of the
group include: Joeneshia Green of Jackson; Melyana
Mykia Thomas, Jackson; Katie Ramsey, Dyer; Lea Anne
Nix, Waverly; Debra Johnson, Union City; Sherry
Martin, Martin; Patrice Boyd, Martin; Crystal Mason,
Clinton, KY; Christopher Barnes, Memphis; Cynthia
Burney, Union City; Brenda Davis, Martin; Chuck
Haney, Paris; Brian Wolski, McKenzie; and O’Dale
Satterfield, Dickson. Instrumentalists include Alvin
Summers on piano; Chuck Haney on alto sax; Brian
Wolski, bass guitar, and O’Dale Satterfield, drums. |
Some 36 years ago in Texarkana, Texas, Alvin Summers
was born to parents Merdie and Nehemiah. As he grew older,
his mother was delighted to find that whenever she
listened to music, baby Alvin would try to snap his little
fingers in rhythm with the beat. Recognizing his talent,
she made sure he had piano lessons early in life, starting
at the age of eight or nine years old.
Merdie's early decision helped develop her son's gift of
music into a special talent that, over the years, became
more than a hobby or even a vocation - by divine calling
he combines his musical gifts and oratory skills in a
ministry that reaches beyond his home church in Martin.
His early years were shaped as well by his family's
devotion to God. "I grew up in a Christian home," Alvin
says quietly, "It was just part of our ethics that every
Sunday morning we'd listen to gospel music on the radio
while getting ready for Sunday School, and we prayed
around the table as a family."
After high school, Alvin attended Henderson State
University in Arkansas where he met his future wife,
Colleen, after a practice session one evening.
Says Alvin, "She came up to me and said, 'Don't I know
you?'"
He laughs, remembering that he found her line cliché. He
was taken somewhat by surprise by her comment, because, he
says, "I'm not an attractive man and my wife is a very
beautiful woman." But, watching her as she walked away, he
thought to himself, "Umm-hmm, I might need to know you."
The two were married about four years later on October 7,
1989. "We married in mid-semester just because I knew it
was time," says Alvin, who is anticipating their 13th
anniversary this year.
Alvin pastored a church in Prescott, Arkansas for a few
years while also performing with the Alvin Summer Gospel
Music Review every Wednesday night. The emcee for the show
was Don Reeves, a minister who told Alvin about the
Memphis Theological Seminary.
With both Alvin and Colleen feeling a calling to go to
Memphis, Alvin says, "We stepped out in faith with no
money in the bank; we just trusted God."
Colleen had been working at the Hilton Hotel in Arkansas
and was promised a job at the Memphis Hilton. Alvin had a
promise of a good-paying job as well. The two set out for
Memphis with $600 in their combined pockets, with one new
car and another, broken down, towed behind the U-Haul.
Once they arrived in Memphis, their plans began to
unravel. Both jobs fell through, and they had just one
working car between them to search for new ones. That
evening, Colleen dreamed about a Toyota dealership, so the
following day Alvin set out with car in tow to the nearest
Toyota dealer. His trust was rewarded when he discovered a
new salesman was on duty. The dealership, anxious to give
their new employee an incentive to keep selling, sold
Alvin a new Toyota pickup for only $25 over their costs.
"Now we had a new truck and a new car all because the Lord
said go to Memphis," Alvin says, enthused.
His hurdles were far from over, however. On Tuesday, he
visited the seminary where Dr. J.W. Heston advised he had
heard wonderful things about him. Still, there was the
question of finances. "How are you going to pay for your
education?" Dr. Heston asked.
"Man, I don't know," Alvin replied, "I'm looking for a
miracle between now and Friday."
That same day, Alvin kept an appointment Don Reeves had
made for him with Memphis Pastor Jimmy Latimer. Alas,
Pastor Latimer said, "Alvin, honestly I don't have a job
for you."
Thanking him for his time, Alvin nevertheless was reminded
of his friend's instructions and said, "Don Reeves told me
not to leave here without letting you hear me sing."
Pastor Latimer obliged his request. Alvin recalled, "On
their Bosendorfer piano I sang 'Mine Eyes Have Seen the
Glory'. When I was finished Jimmy's face was red and he
was ready to cry."
"Don't worry about your seminar education, we'll pay for
it," Pastor Latimer promised.
Treating the story as a lesson to be learned, Alvin says
with deep sincerity, "If God tells you to do something,
then you start doing it because he's got the rest worked
out, because God is faithful." His tuition was paid for
his entire seminary education while love offerings from
the congregation helped buy books.
In the meantime, Alvin worked as a church administrative
assistant, minister of music and lead counselor for "young
folks" at various churches in the region.
Alvin Summers Performs. |
As God's plan unfolded, Don Reeves was called to pastor
the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in McKenzie. He
asked Alvin to sing at his installation service.
"I sang 'Oh, Holy Night'," Alvin recalls. Among those
listening in the congregation was Bethel College President
Bill Elkins, who approached him following the service.
"I think you belong at Bethel College," Mr. Elkins said.
With his foundation classes behind him, Alvin was able to
structure his schedule to attend classes in Memphis on
Mondays and Tuesday, making the drive to McKenzie on
Tuesday nights to work at Bethel Wednesday through Sunday,
traveling on weekends with the Bethel Balladeers.
When he completed his master's degree, he was hired as
Dean of Students at the college after becoming Pastor of
Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Martin earlier in
the same year.
No longer at Bethel, the weekend just past marks Alvin's
fifth year as pastor of Oak Grove. A special celebration
at the church included a visit by his parents from
Texarkana and other family members who traveled to
Tennessee for the celebration. Making the occasion even
more special is the fact that Colleen accepted her own
calling to ministry and now serves as Youth Minister at
the church.
The weekend celebration was the icing on the cake for
Alvin, who remains excited about the recent release of his
CD, "Alvin Summers and VIP - We Worship You Oh Lord."
Over a dozen heavenly voices gleaned from the best talent
Alvin could find mingle on the CD in what Alvin calls
contemporary gospel/upscale praise and worship music.
Alvin himself wrote the music for the CD that is dedicated
to his wife - "a ruby of great price" - his little
daughter Cice, his parents, and his brother and sister.
CDs are available for purchase at bookstores in Martin as
well as the Vineyard Christian Book Store in downtown
McKenzie.
"We go different places, wherever people let us come,"
says Alvin. Composed of singers and musicians from 16
years old to 40-something, VIP has performed in concerts
as far way as Fairfield, Illinois for last year's "Godstock"
celebration and recently performed at the First Cumberland
Presbyterian Church in McKenzie for Relay for Life. Their
next performance is scheduled tentatively for the weekend
of August 11th at the First Baptist Church in Jackson.
Alvin's quiet humility gives way when he is given the
opportunity to give praise and worship to God, whose
calling has brought him so far.
"I am unashamedly Christian," he declares. "I've lived my
whole life trusting God. God won't let me down and I'm
going to stay with him cause he's mighty good to me. My
thing is I just want to be somebody that God can be proud
of," he continues, insisting, "I'm not perfect; I wrestle
with the same male issues the whole world wrestles with. I
just don't want to renege on the investment He made in me.
If I've got a strong enough witness in the way I live and
the way I operate, God will take care of the rest, because
if God is for you He is more than the whole world against
you - He just commissioned me to be the best Christian I
can be."
His brother is Taras Summer of Texarkana and his sister,
Trina Summers, resides in Springfield, Missouri. |
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or Fax (731)
352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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