In Memoriam: Rev. Arnold Rumph

A couple of days before Arnold Rumph’s death, when it appeared he could no longer communicate, a loved one was reading him Psalm 23. When it came to the last verse, Arnold raised his arms and said, “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” He continued to repeat that throughout the day. Arnold, 94, died June 19, following a period of declining health.

Born in the Netherlands, Arnold immigrated with his family in 1951 to Ontario, Canada, where his parents and most of his siblings went into farming. Arnold attended and graduated from Calvin College (now University) and Seminary, was ordained in 1957 and then served Grace Christian Reformed Church in Coburg, Ont. Being fluent in Dutch was a great asset as Arnold could preach to the many new immigrants in their own language. He then pastored Fruitland CRC in Stoney Creek, Ont., followed by a year’s sabbatical at Princeton Theological Seminary obtaining a Master of Theology degree. He then pastored Mount Hope (Ont.) Community Church.

Arnold studied Spanish in Costa Rica and then served in Argentina for six years with Christian Reformed World Missions (now part of Resonate Global Mission), before going on to serve in Puerto Rico and Guatemala. Threats on their lives forced the Rumphs to leave Guatemala and return to the United States in 1981.

After doing post-graduate study at the Overseas Ministry Study Center, in Ventnor, N.J., Arnold went to Mexico City to teach at the Juan Calvino Seminary and later joined the faculty at the International Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. He then pastored Trinity CRC in Chula Vista, Calif., and Trinity Fellowship CRC in San Diego, Calif. He retired in 1994 in Bradenton, Fla., and continued to preach in area churches.

Preceded in death in 2006 by his first wife, Ann Marie, Arnold is survived by the couple’s six children and their spouses, 16 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren, and by his second wife Cathy, her two children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.