Meet The Reverend Quincy James Rineheart

About The Reverend Quincy James Rineheart

The Reverend Quincy James Rineheart is a historian of Black religious thought, a Rustinian scholar, academic activist, and teacher. He is a Doctor of Philosophy Candidate at the Chicago Theological Seminary. He is writing a dissertation titled “Recovering Bayard Rustin: The Black Quaker Spirituality of a Civil Rights Architect.” He specializes in Black historiography, Black Religious History, Black Queer Theory, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Black Masculinity and Cultural Studies.

Reverend Rineheart earned a Bachelor of Arts in Literature (cum laude) from Wilberforce University, a Master of Divinity in Ethics and Theology with a certificate in Black Church Studies from Emory University, and a Master of Sacred Theology in Theological Studies from Chicago Theological Seminary. His master’s thesis at CTS was titled, “Mitigating Black Homophobia: Theologies of Masculinity in the Black Charismatic Church Tradition.”

Reverend Rineheart’s doctoral research on Bayard Rustin has enabled him to present at renowned institutions such as Harvard University, the Oxford Symposium on Religion at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford, England, Morehouse College, Governors State University, McCormick Theological Seminary, Lutheran Theological Seminary, the University of Chicago, the University of Memphis, Rice University, as well as various church and academic panels.

Reverend Rineheart served on the Covenant Cooperation Partnership Advisory Board, the Community Advisory Board at Emory University, and as a member and Secretary of the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus Board of Directors. He was also part of the Black Male Research Institute Internal Advisory Board, an Advisor to ADODI, and an Associate Campus Minister as well as an Adjunct Professor of Africana Studies, where he taught Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies and the Black Queer Peace Activist: Pauli Murray and Bayard Rustin course at Morehouse College. Additionally, he has served as an adjunct professor at Eden Theological Seminary, Chicago Theological Seminary, and Payne Theological Seminary. Reverend Rineheart has been the recipient of numerous accolades and fellowships. He received the 2022-23 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the Forum for Theological Exploration, was designated a “2023 Presidential Award Honoree” of The President Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award and was honored with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. His forthcoming book chapter, entitled “Bayard Rustin: A Paradigm for Rethinking Sexuality and Religion on HBCU Campuses,” is slated for publication in an edited volume authored by Dr. Anthony B. Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities at Rice University.

Reverend Rineheart serves as the Associate Dean of Chapel Relations at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. Prior to his return to Morehouse College in February 2025, he held the position of Chief of Staff to the President at Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio.