Rev. John Cummins Jr. | Kind and Humble
The Rev. John Robert Cummins Jr. died on March 21. His family invites all to an in-person memorial service at Joppa Road Church in Maryland at 11 a.m. on June 5.
Born on March 19, 1937, Cummins grew up in a Christian home with a solid Baptist heritage with many relatives heavily involved in Baptist churches and ministry. He attended University Baptist Church and greatly valued Dr. Vernon Richardson’s influence in his life. Richardson pastored University Church in the ’50s.
Mathematical and Military Acumen
Cummins attended the all-boys military McDonough School from kindergarten and graduated in 1955. Later, while attending the University of Richmond, he fell in love with and married Eveline Ann Lewis in 1959.
Due to his keen mathematics acumen, NASA representatives attempted to recruit John, but he obeyed God’s call to full-time ministry. He graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
John served in ministry for 58 years, 54 at Joppa Road Baptist Church. His first pastorate was First Baptist Church of Damascus in Maryland from 1964-1966.
Missions
John and Eveline together had a heart for missions, serving on trips to Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and multiple trips to Israel. John developed a love of Israel and shared his passion with his family and church.
God also opened the door for the couple to minister to immigrants. John’s daughter Heather Cummins Mendez remembers her mother and others meeting Vietnamese immigrants in Baltimore, befriending them, and eventually inviting them home. Those new friends later began a Vietnamese church now located in Silver Spring.
Humble
John was also a veteran, serving in the United States Army as a First Lieutenant, Chaplain. Heather said while in seminary, her father would travel back to Aberdeen for necessary military training. “Daddy was humble.” She said he was a great math teacher but never boasted about his mathematical accomplishments or military career and medals. Her father, she shared, had many opportunities available to him for worldly success but obeyed the Lord’s call on his life.
“He was an amazing person,” Heather said.
The Rev. Cummins is preceded in death by Eveline. He is survived by two sons, John W. Cummins and wife Kelly of Lutherville; and David P. Cummins and wife Kristin of McClean Virginia; and daughters, Amy Cummins and Heather Cummins Mendez of Perry Hall. He is also survived by his grandchildren Zachary, Courtney, Olivia, Cadence, Grant, Everett, Collette, Havilah, Hadassah, and Judah.
