Fuerbringer was born in 1903 in Saint Louis. After attending Concordia Seminary there, he was ordained and served parishes in Oklahoma and Kansas. He was president of Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University Nebraska), Seward, Nebraska, for twelve years before becoming president of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis. After retiring from the presidency, he became the director of continuing education for the seminary, serving until 1974, when he left for Christ Seminary-Seminex and joined what would become the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC). He was also a founder and president of the Foundation for Reformation Research in Saint Louis. Fuerbringer died on 26 February 1997 at Norman, Oklahoma.