Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

churches and have used the Twelve Disciples and Ten Commandments contests. He went on to
say, “We used these because of their biblical connotation.” When he sees the trinkets and food
given away on buses or at other churches he indicates that he would not criticize them but that
the Massillon Baptist Temple would continue to be built on its past foundation.
The radio ministry began when Cummons was preaching a revival meeting at the First
Baptist Church in Ashland, Ohio. He felt burdened to get the message out to the entire
missionary field. Cummons had led to the Lord Dave Johnson, a radio engineer at WTOF. As a
young man Johnson wanted to get married and had no church; he called Pastor Cummons who
led both him and his wife to the Lord and later united them in marriage. Johnson was able to
contact other stations and get radio bookings for the church. Today he handles the recording,
copying and all of the technical aspects of the church’s radio outreach to 32 stations.
A number of those first Christians are still with the Baptist Temple, including Dorsey
Davisson, who was Sunday School superintendent for 12 years.
The church follows a three-year Bible course written by Cummons, in addition to a Life
of Christ and Life of Paul outline. A number of other churches have used their Sunday School
literature.
Dr. Cummons states, “I enjoy expository preaching, yet my messages are always
evangelistic, with an invitation given for lost people to receive Christ.” This deep conviction to
teach the Word of God stems from his observation that “many Christian are inconsistent in their
lives because they are not grounded in Scripture.”
Cummons’ preaching is not emotional in delivery, yet the sermon grips the hearts and
minds of his hearers. He is not humorous to merely entertain, but delivers compelling messages,
reflecting his sincerity. He is not a pulpit orator, but a Bible expositor, appealing for decisions.
Cummons has the heart of a pastor. He said, “I never want my church to get so large that
I become only an administrator, instead of a pastor. I enjoy visiting rest homes, hospitals and in
the homes of my people.” He went on to state very simply, “I enjoy pastoring.” However, he
recognizes the fact that he could not keep up with so large a flock without the help of his three
assistants.
CONCLUSION
The church has had a high day of 2,451 and according to Cummons, “I have never set an
ultimate goal. We just want to win souls and to teach the Word of God. However, I see no limit
to our outreach. We have been averaging right under 2,000. We’re going to build because
everything is full, our classrooms are packed and our auditorium is crowded.”
Bruce Cummons is thankful for the influence of a Christian home. His father and mother
had never been immersed, and were among the first to be baptized in the new ministry. His
father spent many years visiting the lost and working as usher, meeting people as they came to
preaching. During the height of the building campaign when Pastor Cummons indicated he
needed his father most, God took him Home via a heart attack. When Bruce asked his mother