This Day in Baptist History

Dr. David L. Cummins

April 26, 1929 - August 13, 2009

Dr. David L. Cummins (DLC). David Cummins served 11 years as deputation director of Baptist World Mission. His ministry consisted of service as pastor, evangelist, and church planter. He co-authored volumes one and two of This Day in Baptist History with Dr. E. Wayne Thompson and also wrote A Brief History of Baptist Missions.

Dr. Cummins went to be with his Lord in August of 2009. He is not only greatly missed by his family, but also by the many whose lives were favorably influenced by this selfless servant.

The following text copied from Baptist World Mission website.

"Dr. and Mrs. Cummins moved to Decatur in 1997 to serve with Baptist World Mission. A board member of the mission since 1968 and long-time friend of former mission board director, Dr. Monroe Parker, and then current director, Dr. Fred Moritz, he assumed his new position as Deputation Director, replacing Dr. Ernest Pickering. Dr. Cummins’ duties included representing the mission at conferences in colleges and churches, preaching, recruiting new missionaries, and guiding missionary appointees through each step of the process to prepare them for their various countries of service around the world. He also traveled extensively to encourage missionaries on their appointed fields.

Ministry is the outstanding heritage of the Cummins family. Dr. Cummins’ grandfather, Christopher Columbus Metcalf, was a circuit-riding preacher in the mountains of North Carolina. He also pastored in Kentucky. Likewise guided by the passion to promote the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, Dr. Cummins embarked in 1950 on a succession of eight pastorates in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, and Wisconsin. He also served for three years as a church planter for an association of churches in Michigan.

It is clear that the Cummins passed their vision on to their children, for they raised five daughters who all married Baptist pastors. The heritage continues in the new generation. Of their 19 grandchildren, 16 have completed ministry training. Two granddaughters currently serve in missions in Asia and South America, and two others are preparing to serve in Wales and Africa. Two granddaughters married Baptist pastors, one whose husband is planting a church in California. One grandson will soon launch a new church-planting effort in Wisconsin. Another serves on staff at a Bible college in Wisconsin, and three grandsons serve on the pastoral staffs of Baptist churches in Michigan and Illinois.

Desirous that his work live beyond him, Dr. Cummins was an advocate of the printed page. His extensive research of Baptist history and seminary lecture notes resulted in three volumes he co-authored entitled This Day in Baptist History. That he might influence the greatest number of fledgling preachers, he served as adjunct professor at several Bible colleges and donated his comprehensive library to Ambassador Baptist College of Lattimore, North Carolina, where they have developed the David L. Cummins Graduate Studies Library."

To add to Dr. Cummins' lineage, Dr. Marty Marriott (Dr. Cummins' son-in-law) will become Maranatha's new president in a March 2010 ceremony.