Meet Reverend Quincy James Rineheart

Bio

The Reverend Quincy James Rineheart is a historian of Black religious thought, a Rustinian scholar, an academic activist, and a teacher. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree, with distinction, in religion from the Chicago Theological Seminary. His dissertation was 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.

Dr. 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.”   

Associate Dean Rineheart’s doctoral research on Bayard Rustin has enabled him to present at renowned institutions such as Harvard University Divinity School; 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; and Rice University, as well as various church and academic panels.

Dr. 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. Currently, he is a member of the board for Interfaith Atlanta, the co-advisor to ADODI, and the host of the Bayard Rustin Crown Forum at Morehouse College.

Associate Dean 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 book chapter, “Bayard Rustin: A Paradigm for Rethinking Sexuality and Religion on HBCU Campuses,” was published in ‘Saving’ Education: Religion and/in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, edited by Anthony B. Pinn, PhD, Rice University, USA, and published by Emerald Publishing. His forthcoming book chapter, “Reading Against the Archive: Bayard Rustin and the Queer Black Religious Tradition” will be published in an edited volume tentatively titled Black Queer Religious Studies, edited by Ahmad Greene-Hayes, PhD, Harvard University. In 2026, Associate Dean Rineheart was inducted into the Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College.

Dr. 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.