Stephen Neill’s parents served as medical missionaries to India. He joined the Church Missionary Society in 1928 and was ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England. A strong advocate of church unity, he was elected the bishop at Tirunelveli in 1939.

After returning to England, he became the assistant bishop to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He worked for the World Council of Churches from 1947 to 1954. From 1962 to 1967 he was a professor of missions at the University of Hamburg. Later he served as a professor of philosophy and religious studies in Nairobi.

Neill is best-known for his book A History of Christian Missions (1964). Other books include The Interpretation of the New Testament 1891 – 1961 (1964), and Christian Faith and Other Faiths (1961). At the time of his death in 1984, he was working on his magnum opus History of Christianity in India.