Discipleship at its Best: Rev. Rob Fuquay, Honorary Doctor of Divinity Recipient

 

When Rev. Rob Fuquay looks out from the pulpit at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis—one of the denomination’s largest congregations—he sees a group of believers who are being challenged.

“Issues of race, political divisions, coming out of a pandemic—our church represents that as much as any church,” says Fuquay. “We’re a church that prides itself on being a ‘big tent’ church, and we can make room for varieties of opinions. It only gets prickly when some of those opinions are counter to the values of the church.”

Not that he views the word “challenged” with a negative connotation. Quite the opposite, actually.

“We should be challenged all the time,” says Fuquay.

Fuquay found Christian Theological Seminary not long after he moved to Indianapolis in the summer of 2011 to pastor St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. What he found was more than an institution: it was an institution focused on issues of justice, the same issues he preached about on Sundays. The same issues that left his congregation challenged—in a good way.

“Some people get uncomfortable hearing about justice from the pulpit,” says Fuquay. “But this is our call. CTS offered me a way to align with more faith leaders on issues of justice.”

But before stepping out to speak about justice, Fuquay realized he needed to pay more attention to his—and his congregation’s—spiritual formation.

“You can’t talk about justice work and not talk about how you care for yourself and deepen your spiritual formation,” says Fuquay. “And in CTS I found leaders of spiritual formation for communities of faith.”

His focus on justice led him to join the Faith & Action Advisory Board. In his time on the board, he’s most proud of how Faith & Action has first joined with faith communities, then creating a bridge between those communities and non-profits to work more closely on issues of poverty.

“We had a lot of organizations attacking causes of poverty, but not in the same way,” says Fuquay. “Now, we’re positioned to have a more effective approach to eradicating poverty. I want to see us merging resources, stepping beyond turfdom—and Faith & Action is well-positioned to be the convener of that work.”

The author of four books and multiple studies and video sessions, Rev. Fuquay will receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree at the May 2025 commencement. It’s fitting, since one of his prized possessions is his CTS library card.

“It’s a deep honor to be considered for an honorary degree because the seminary takes a risk when they choose people to confer a degree upon—they’re staking their reputation on me,” says Fuquay. “It’s a deep honor to be associated with what CTS stands for and has done to focus on developing leaders for local churches and helping the church stand up for what it’s called to be in the world today.”

In many ways, through Rev. Fuquay’s church leadership, he’s also helping the church stand up for issues of justice. Beyond that legacy and leadership, Fuquay was instrumental in bringing a Professor of United Methodist Studies to campus in 2024. The United Methodist Church requires seminaries who produce United Methodist pastors to have a full-time faculty member devoted to United Methodist studies. Most years, the second largest reported denomination among seminary students is United Methodist.

“It makes sense for Methodist pastors to find an educational home at CTS,” says Fuquay. “Our bishop just last week talked about how when we stand in the gap for the disenfranchised, we are not shifting the focus of discipleship, we’re representing what discipleship at its best means: advocacy for people without a voice.”

That brand of discipleship sounds a lot like Rev. Rob Fuquay’s work with Faith & Action, and Christian Theological Seminary is proud to confer an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree upon him.

CTS’ 2025 Commencement ceremony can be viewed by livestream on Saturday, May 17 at 1:00pm EDT. The in-person ceremony is a ticketed event by invite only.