NOVEMBER 2, 2026
Remembering a distinguished McCormick professor, ecumenical leader, and lifelong witness for peace and justice.
The McCormick Theological Seminary community remembers with gratitude the Rev. Dr. V. Bruce Rigdon, who died at his home in Chicago on October 19, 2026, at the age of 90. A distinguished member of McCormick’s church history faculty for two decades, Bruce brought intellectual depth, expansive curiosity, and courageous conviction to the work of theological education. His life bore witness to a faith that called him across borders, into difficult conversations, and alongside people working for a more just and peaceful world.
At McCormick, Bruce helped students encounter the church’s history while considering their own responsibility for its future. Through seminars in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union, he opened theological education to communities and experiences far beyond the classroom. His deep relationships with the Russian Orthodox Church and his expertise in Reformed–Orthodox relations reflected a sustained commitment to listening across differences. He invited students and colleagues to see the wider church as a community whose struggles, wisdom, and hopes could deepen their understanding of ministry.
That commitment took courageous, concrete forms throughout his life. As a Yale student, Bruce joined the 1961 Freedom Rides. During the Cold War, he met with dissident pastors in East Berlin; in Greece, he helped dissidents leave the country during political upheaval. He later advocated against nuclear arms, supported gay rights and the ordination of gay clergy, and championed interfaith education through Pilgrims of Ibillin. Across these efforts, a consistent conviction emerged: faith carries a responsibility to stand with others, especially when doing so comes at a cost.
Bruce carried his gifts as a teacher into congregational and institutional leadership, serving as senior pastor of Grosse Pointe Memorial Church and as president of Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, which he guided to full accreditation. Yet the breadth of his accomplishments also leaves room to remember the adventurous spirit behind them—the young man who missed his high school graduation to travel to a World Student Christian Federation conference in Africa, and who returned home with a monkey named JoJo. His was a life of scholarship and service, animated by curiosity and a remarkable willingness to follow where conviction led.
We hold Bruce’s wife of 68 years, Mary, and their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends, and former students in our prayers. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 4, 2026, at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 East Chestnut Street, Chicago. As we honor his life, we give thanks for what he helped make possible at McCormick and beyond: a wider understanding of the church, deeper relationships across traditions, and generations of leaders challenged to put faith into action. Rest in power, Bruce.