Resolution honoring Don Hinkle for a life of ministry in Southern Baptist journalism
WHEREAS, Donald Edward Hinkle, 68, founding editor of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s newspaper, The Pathway, died in his home in Ashland, Mo., on Sept. 22, 2022; and
WHEREAS, he was the son of Cecelia (Gibbs) Hinkle and the late Tracy Hinkle, as well as the oldest of three children, and grew up in Springfield, Tenn., a small farming community 25 miles north of Nashville; and
WHEREAS, he was a life-long Southern Baptist, being saved and baptized at Grace Baptist Church, Springfield, Tenn., in 1964; and
WHEREAS, he began his lifelong journalism career as a newsman for WDBL Radio in Springfield, Tenn., in 1975; and
WHEREAS, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1977, serving 10 years as a newspaper reporter, editor and consultant for two base newspapers and a major command news service, winning the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1981 as the top news writer in the Department of Defense and being awarded with the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal and was honorably discharged in January 1988; and
WHEREAS, he graduated in 1988 from Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Va., with a bachelor of art’s degree in English, after which he continued his journalism career by working for three major metropolitan daily newspapers; and
WHEREAS, he was called by God into gospel ministry in 1996, was ordained into the ministry two years later, and trained for ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., where he earned his Master of Arts in Christian Education and his Master of Theology; and
WHEREAS, during his years in seminary, he served as a writer for the public relations department at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and as a national correspondent for the Southern Baptist Convention’s news service, Baptist Press; and
WHEREAS, he moved with his late wife, Bernadette, to Jefferson City, Mo., in 2002 to begin his 20-year tenure as the founding editor of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Pathway newspaper, where he served until his death; and
WHEREAS, he also served as public policy advisor for the Missouri Baptist Convention; and
WHEREAS, he served as president of the Association of State Baptist Publications in 2015; and
WHEREAS, he was preceded in death by his father, Tracy, and by his beloved wife, Bernadette, and survived by his mother Cecilia (Gibbs) Hinkle, brother Jeffrey Dale Hinkle, sister Tracy Leann Lamberth (Bryant), niece Hillary Chilar, and nephews Grant Austin Lamberth and Trace Lee Lamberth;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Association of State Baptist Publications, meeting during their annual meeting in Hilton Head, South Carolina, express their heartfelt gratitude to God for the life and journalistic ministry of Donald Edward Hinkle on this date, February 16, 2023.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Association of State Baptist Publications express their condolences to Don’s mother, brother and sister, as well as to his other family members and friends.