George Campbell (1576-1578)
Formerly the minister of Dundonald, Ayrshire and presented to the church by James VI, or by Regent Moray on his behalf. Why he was not presented by the baron of Cumnock, Sir Patrick Dunbar is unclear. Perhaps the baron was unwell, for he died in 1577, to be succeeded by his son Sir James Dunbar. 

William Hammiltoun (1578-1595)
Notable for opposing the King's command to participating in appointing  a new Bishop of Glasgow in 1582. Branches of the Hamilton family held lands throughout the parish of Cumnock including Borland (Old Cumnock); Garclaugh, Garrieve and Craigdarroch (all New Cumnock; but there is no records to show William Hammiltoune was a native of the parish, indeed in 1595 he left for the parish of Dalry St. John's Town, Kirkcudbrightshire, where he died ca. 1634.

George Dunbar (1599-1608)
Dunbar held the lands of Pollosch (New Cumnock) and was probably another member of the Dunbar family that still held the patronage of the church, in this case Sir Alexander Dunbar who has succeeded his father as Baron of Cumnock in 1588.  'Dunbar was a member of the Assembly in 1602, and again in 1605. In 1608 he was translated to the first charge in Ayr, where he succeeded John Welsh, the son-inlaw of Knox, who had been banished from the Kings' dominions. The call to take the place of Welsh marks Dunbar as a man of ability.'

James Cunningham M.A. (1608-1644)
Translated from Dunlop, Ayrshire. The last minister to be ordained to Cumnock Kirk under the patronage of the Dunbars of Cumnock. Charles I succeeded to the throne following the death of his father James VI in 1625, and was hell-bent in Anglicising the Scottish Kirk, most notablyt through the introduction of the Anglican Prayer Book in 1637. Tables, or committees, comprising of members from the nobility, barons, burghs and the church were established to oppose such innovations.  Cunningham was chosen as a representative of the ministers, residing in Edinburgh, 'to watch the progress of events in the interest of Presbyteriansim and the Church' .On the 28th February 1638, the National Covenant was first signed in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, and Cunningham's name well adorn one that original document, although there are no records to confrim this, nor sadly has the copy signed by his parishioners of Cumnock survived. 

Cunningham attended the General Assembly held in Glasgow in November 1638, indeed his name had been mentioned as a possible candidate for moderator, if  the rules of the Assembly had prevented Alexander Henderson from accepting that chair.

Towards the end of the Assembly, Cunningham raised a personal matter "Mr James Cunningham, wearying of his patron my Lord Dumfries, his injuries and not able to undergo his wonted labours in his spacious paroche required liberty to transport when he might have occasion".  These remarks reveal  a change in patron. The Dunbars had been selling of their Cumnock lands for some time and disposed of the last of these in 1612. The barony apparently passed through a number of hands in quick succession. In 1630 William Crichton, Viscount of Ayr (elevated to 1st Earl of Dumfries in 1633) became Baron of Cumnock . Accroding to Warwick he retained the barony until January 1638, at which time it passed to the Earl of Queensberry, who held that title until 1643.  Although Queensberry was the Baron of Cumnock at the time of the Glasgow Assembly, it appears that Dumfries still held the patronage of the church. Cunningham's remarks also show his concerns of ministering a 'spacious paroche', the majority of which lay in the Southern Uplands. He finally secured a move to Hamilton, a parish more befitting his aspirations, but for some reason he never went to his new charge.

John Halkheid (1644-1646)
Ordained on the 6th August 1644 and presented to the parish by James Crichton of Abercrombie.
According to Warwick, Crichton was the Baron of Cumnock, whilst Steven considers him only as the patron of the church. 

John Cunynghame (1647-1650)
Ordained on the 7th September 1647 and was also presented to the parish by James Crichton of Abercrombie, on the advice of  William, Earl of Dumfries. 

In 1650 the parish of Cumnock was sub-divided into the two new parishes of Old Cumnock and New Cumnock. The existing parish church became the parish church of Old Cumnock and Cunynghame became the first minister of the parish of Old Cumnock, serving that parish until his death in 1668.