Dr. Tony McNeill, affectionately known as "Dr. T.," is a sought-after workshop clinician, lecturer, consultant, mentor, and choral conductor. "Dr. T” currently serves as Affiliate Professor of Worship and Seminary Musician at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. During the summer months, he is a guest lecturer in the newly-developed master’s degree program in Black Sacred Music Program housed jointly at the Arkansas Center for Black Music and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.  He was Director of Choral Activities and Chairman of the Department of Performing Arts at Clinton College in Rock Hill, SC, from 2019-2022. Dr. McNeill also served four and a half years as the Director of Worship and the Arts at Atlanta's Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, “America's Freedom Church.” 

 

Dr. McNeill has held teaching positions at Texas Southern University (Houston, TX), Campbell University (Buies Creek, NC), The Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, GA), and Union Presbyterian Seminary (Charlotte, NC). He has presented lectures for Duke Divinity School, Presbyterian Association of Musicians, Hampton University Ministers Conference, The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, American Choral Directors Association, Shaw University Ministers Conference, and The Association of Partners in Christian Education (PCUSA). Dr. T. led music for the 2022 Montreat Youth Conference and was a service musician and workshop leader for the 2023 Worship and Music Conference sponsored by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. He has curated and led worship for the American Baptist Home Mission Societies’ Space for Grace Conference, the Forum for Theological Exploration, The Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary, Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest School of Divinity, The Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, The National Children’s Defense Fund, and The Montreat Conference Center. In April of 2024, he was awarded the inaugural “National Treasure Award” by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. He is a former member and assistant director of the renowned recording group Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers.
 

Dr. Tony earned a bachelor of music education degree from Appalachian State University, with an emphasis in piano and choral music; a master's degree in choral conducting from Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL); and a doctorate of worship studies from The Robert Webber Institute for Worship Studies (Jacksonville, FL). His dissertation is entitled, “From Funeral to Feast: Renewing The Celebration of Holy Communion Through Congregational Singing in African American Baptist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina.” His article “Lift Every Voice and Sing: Forming Congregations for Justice” is featured in the Augusts 2021 edition of CALL TO WORSHIP: LITURGY, MUSIC, PREACHING, AND THE ARTS, a journal published by the Presbyterian Church USA. He published “Hiding in Plain Sight: A Reflection on Leading Worship” for INSIGHTS: THE FACULTY JOURNAL OF AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN SEMINARY (Austin, TX). He also contributed to “Going to Wait: African American Church Worship Resources—Pentecost through Advent” and “Waiting to Go: African American Church Worship Resources—Advent through Pentecost,” by James Abbington and Linda Hollies (Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, 2002 and 2003). In 2016, Dr. McNeill was also profiled in the acclaimed BET.com documentary, “Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church,” created and directed by Clay Cane. In 2016, he composed an original hymn text, dedicated to the congregation of The Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, entitled, “Our God Who Art in Heaven,” a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer set to the hymn tune NETTLETON.

 

He is a member of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. Dr. McNeill is the Founder/Curator of THE CALL 2 WORSHIP GROUP, an online community of musicians and clergy.  (Updated 8/28/2024)