July 2 Today in OPC History

On this day in 1971, Wilson and Arla Cummings were married. Wilson, the eldest son of Calvin Knox Cummings, Sr., one of the OPC’s founding members, was born about 18 months after the first General Assembly. His late father, the former pastor of Covenant OPC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had the greatest impact on his faith. While in third-grade, he vividly remembers his father telling him and his four siblings that since they ate three times a day, he thought they should have devotions at every meal.

Wilson’s early years at Calvin College were interrupted when he served two years in the Army and later worked in a steel mill. He graduated from Geneva College in 1965 and earned his bachelor’s of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1970. Before his final seminary year, he met Arla, who was teaching at Wilkinsburg Christian School, the school associated with his father’s church. He served the South Philadelphia community from 1970 to 1971 as a pastoral intern under Bill Krispin, pastor of Emmanuel Chapel. Ordained as an evangelist by the Presbytery of Ohio in 1971, Wilson served as a Home Missionary in South Philly from 1971 to 1979 when he was installed as pastor of Emmanuel Chapel.

Wilson’s younger brothers also ministered in the OPC. Calvin Cummings Jr., serves as missionary to Japan and David was pastor of two OP congregations. Wilson and Arla stayed in South Philly after his retirement in 2008. They are thankful their six children all walk with the Lord.

Picture: Wilson and Arla Cummings