What it Means to be Human
Rev. Dr. Neichelle Guidry

Dean of the Chapel at Spelman College, Rev. Dr. Neichelle Guidry, asks questions core to our faith and humanity, including why it can be hard set limits, embrace rest, and extend grace to ourselves after failures and mistakes.

Rev. Dr. Neichelle R. Guidry currently serves as the Dean of the Chapel and the Director of the WISDOM Center at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a spiritual daughter of New Creation Christian Fellowship of San Antonio, Texas, where the Bishop David Michael Copeland and the Rev. Dr. Claudette Anderson Copeland are her pastors and where she was ordained to ministry in 2010. She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University (2007, BA, Lambda Pi Eta) and Yale Divinity School (2010, M.Div.), where she was the 2010 recipient of the Walcott Prize for Clear and Effective Public and Pulpit Speaking, and the 2019 recipient of the William Sloane Coffin Alumni Award for Peace and Justice. She is also a graduate of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (2017), where she completed her Doctor of Philosophy in the area of Liturgical Studies with a concentration in Homiletics. Her dissertation is entitled, "Towards a Womanist Homiletical Theology for Subverting Rape Culture." She is the creator and host of Modern Faith, a podcast and digital platform that exists for the spiritual nourishment of Black women everywhere. She is an inducted member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and a 2021 inductee to the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel Collegium of Scholars.


She is the creator of shepreaches, a virtual community and professional development organization that aspires to uplift African-American millennial women in ministry through theological reflection, fellowship, and liturgical curation. For six years, she served as the Associate Pastor to Young Adults and the Liaison to Worship and Arts Ministries in the Office of the Senior Pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South side of Chicago, where the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III is the Senior Pastor. She served as the 2016 Preacher/Pastor-In-Residence at the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary. She was listed as one of “12 New Faces of Black Leadership” in TIME Magazine (January 2015). She was recognized for “quickly becoming one of her generation’s most powerful female faith leaders” on Ebony Magazine’s 2015 Power 100 list (December 2015), one of the “Top Five Young Preachers in America” by ROHO (June 2016), and one of “Ten Women of Faith Leading the Charge Ahead” by Sojourners (March 2017). Additionally, Rev. Dr. Neichelle and the work of shepreaches were featured in the New York Times (April 3, 2015). She is a contributor to What Would Jesus Ask?: Christian Leaders Reflect on His Questions of Faith (Time Books, 2015), and the author of Curating a World: Sermonic Words from a Young Woman Who Preaches (self-published, June 2016). She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

More About the Speaker
  • Discussion Guides

    These discussion guides are designed to help small groups, Sunday school classes, Bible studies, and individuals engage the content of each TheoEd Talk more deeply. 


    Click Here to Download the Discussion Guide
By Cole Arthur Riley November 9, 2024
In this talk, Cole explores how individuals can maintain their faith in a seemingly silent God, particularly in times of suffering and distress. Cole delves into the complex relationship between trauma and spirituality. Cole suggests that, rather than losing belief, individuals can engage in practices that foster a deeper presence to both themselves and the world around them, even in the absence of clear signs of God’s presence.
By Dr. Moshe Szyf November 9, 2024
Dr. Szyf delves into the fascinating science of epigenetics and its profound implications for understanding intergenerational trauma. Epigenetics refers to how environmental factors—such as stress, trauma, and life experiences—can influence gene expression without changing the DNA sequence itself. This talk explains how trauma experienced by one generation can leave biological marks on the genes, which may then be passed down to subsequent generations.
By Reginald Sharpe, Jr. November 9, 2024
Rev. Sharpe explores the challenge of overcoming the pressure to please others and the inner conflict that arises when the desire to gain approval occasionally wins. He acknowledges that the need for external validation is a natural part of the human experience, but it emphasizes the importance of not allowing that desire to dictate one’s life decisions or self-worth.
More Talks
Share by: