Mary Cummings was born in ChaiRyung, Korea as the youngest child of Missionary William F. Hunt and his second wife, Anna Maria Potts Lloyd. Raised in Korea until graduation from high school at 16, she matriculated at Wilson College and after graduation to two additional years at Moody Bible Institute, fully intending to follow in her parents’ footsteps to the foreign mission field. That was, until she met Calvin K. Cummings at a League of Evangelical Students meeting in Pittsburgh. Cal’s friend, Robert Graham, bragged on “Mary Hunt—you ought to meet her!” Cal took his advice, met her, and helped her prepare a talk on the League for college students at the church pastored by Clarence Macartney. They corresponded for four years and married in 1935, believing that future ministry in the United States was where their lives together would “most count for Him,” their Savior. Mom had a warm, open heart that made for a warm open home as she served alongside her husband in Pittsburgh (37 years), Tallahassee, Melbourne, and Chicago to plant and nourish new churches. After her husband’s death, she spent her last fourteen years alongside the ministry of Emmanuel Chapel in South Philadelphia, where her son and my brother, Wilson, served as pastor.
Her ministry through hospitality was a beautiful complement to husband’s energetic, diligent and faithful ministry. She could always rattle a few dishes and somehow come up with enough to feed all five children, foster daughter, and any number of other guests that were invited; the family itself filled the table, yet there was always room for more. Her encouragement of fellowship within the church family and Presbytery, and her reaching out to unsaved women, was perpetual. While her gift for teaching the gospel to women and children was unassuming, it was exceptional—she could be observed holding a class of 75 kindergarteners at rapt attention during Vacation Bible School with her engaging Bible stories, utilizing visual aids and motion songs. She learned to drive a car at age 45 to help redeem the time of other family members in an ever-increasing busy schedule of a growing congregation and newly formed Trinity Christian School.