First Person with Wayne Shepherd
Wayne Shepherd and Dr. Neely look back on fifty years of ministry: pastoring in Chicago, nine years in West Africa, and training preachers at Moody. He explains what he believes preaching is for.
Thu, 9 October 2025
PREACHER · PROFESSOR · AUTHOR
Dr. Winfred Omar Neely
Fifty years of ministry. Every message straight from the Bible.
A dishwasher led a nineteen-year-old soldier to Christ. Two weeks later, that soldier preached his first sermon.
Since then, Dr. Winfred Omar Neely served nearly a decade as a missionary pastor in West Africa, pastored churches in Illinois, and trained generations of biblical preachers at Moody Bible Institute. Everything here serves one purpose: to help you open God’s Word, understand it, and live it with confidence.
Professor Emeritus, Moody Bible Institute · Former Vice President and Academic Dean, Moody Theological Seminary · Affiliate Professor, Talbot School of Theology · PhD, University of Aberdeen
Heard on Moody Radio, FamilyLife Today, and First Person with Wayne Shepherd
One calling. Fifty years. Two continents.
FREE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTIONAL · PHILIPPIANS 3
Forget. Reach. Press on.
Seven days in Philippians 3, for the believer who has not arrived, and has stopped pretending otherwise.
Paul stands up in the middle of his own letter and admits he has not arrived. Then he says what to do about it. Dr. Neely walks you through Philippians 3 one day at a time.
WHAT ARRIVES EACH DAY
One passage to read in your own Bible
A pastoral word drawn from fifty years of preaching
One question, one thing to do today, and a prayer
Inside: Under construction · The lethal comfort of good enough · Laid hold of · The day you want to quit
Written by Dr. Winfred Omar Neely · Professor Emeritus, Moody Bible Institute · Fifty years of preaching
A soldier’s conversion. Five decades of preaching and teaching.
Dr. Neely came to Christ at nineteen while serving in the United States Army. He began his ministry serving churches across the Chicagoland area and then served nine years as a missionary and pastor in Senegal, West Africa. He returned to the United States to pastor churches in the Chicagoland area. For more than twenty years he taught hermeneutics, biblical studies, homiletics, and pastoral studies at Moody Bible Institute. He later served as vice president and academic dean of Moody Theological Seminary. He holds a PhD from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
He and his wife, Stephne, have been married for more than fifty years. They have four adult children and a growing number of grandchildren. Away from the pulpit, he takes the occasional acting class and makes no apology for loving Star Trek.
Read His StoryRecent Messages
Start with three recent messages: a radio interview that spans his career, a Sunday sermon, and a conference keynote. Each plays in full.
God Is Our Refuge and Strength
Psalm 46:1–3, preached on a Sunday morning at Chicago Tabernacle. Hear how he opens a passage, explains it, and brings it home, the way he taught preachers to do for more than twenty years.
Sun, 18 May 2025
Missions Conference, Closing Session
Dr. Neely, a former missionary to West Africa, closed Moody’s 2026 Missions Conference on the theme “God’s Word for God’s World.”
Fri, 6 February 2026
Dr. Neely preaches and leads workshops for churches, seminaries, and conferences across the world.
Explore sermons, lectures, and interviews in the Library →
Invite Dr. Neely to Your EventCoaching
Bring your ministry questions to a seasoned shepherd.
Maybe a sermon will not come together. Maybe a season has worn you thin, or a call has not yet come clear. Dr. Neely brings fifty years of preaching, teaching, and pastoring to the work in front of you. He shapes coaching around the person, not a curriculum, so every relationship begins with a conversation.
He coaches four kinds of people. One of them is probably you.
Find yourself here.
For Pastors & Teachers
Study a text, shape a sermon, and preach it with clarity, week after week.
He taught homiletics at Moody Bible Institute for more than twenty years.
For Students & Emerging Leaders
Discern your calling and grow into the minister God is shaping you to be.
He served as vice president and academic dean of Moody Theological Seminary.
For Church Staff & Ministry Leaders
Lead people, not just programs, through transition, conflict, and growth.
He has pastored and planted churches across the Chicagoland area.
For Missionaries & Cross-Cultural Workers
Serve faithfully in a language and a culture not your own.
He spent nine years as a missionary and pastor in Senegal, West Africa.
How the call works
- 1.You describe what you are carrying.
- 2.Dr. Neely listens and asks a few questions.
- 3.He tells you honestly whether he is the right person to help.
Choose a Time
Opens his calendar. The call is free.
Books by Dr. Neely
Two books on two forces that shape every believer: love and worry.
A Love to Live By: Rediscovering Agape Love in Scripture
Dr. Neely shows what the Bible means by love, and why it is the church's clearest witness in a divided world. New from Moody Publishers, July 2026.
How to Overcome Worry: Experiencing the Peace of God in Every Situation
A pastoral walk through Philippians 4:6–7 for anyone who lies awake with worry. He shows how prayer and thanksgiving lead to the peace God promises.
Featured
From the Journal
Essays, sermon notes, and answers to readers’ questions about the Bible and the Christian life.
Essay
Read More from the JournalCruciform Love Is the Standard
On the night before the cross, with betrayal already in motion at His own table, Jesus gave His followers a new command. He did not hand them a strategy or a defense. He gave them a love measured by His own.
Read the Essay →PulpitThe Great Becoming
A sermon on John 1:1–18, preached at Chicago Tabernacle: the eternal Word who became flesh and lived among us.
Watch the Message →EssayWorry, Concern, and the Difference That Saves You
Worry and concern look alike, but they grow from different roots. Worry springs from practical unbelief. Concern rests on confidence in the Lord. Peace begins when you can tell them apart.
Read the Essay →Not there yet? Neither was Paul.
“Not that I have already obtained it . . . but I press on” (Philippians 3:12). Walk through Paul’s words in seven short emails, written for believers still on their way.