Gateway of Grace

The Rev. Robin H. Hinkle

The Rev. Robin H. Hinkle is Saint Michael's Associate for Mission and Outreach. Formerly, Hinkle was the rector at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Jasper, Alabama where she was called in August 2017. In this position, she has been deeply involved in community efforts to address two major issues: poverty and addiction.

As to poverty, St. Mary’s hosted what became the largest food bank in Walker County, and it was one of the top ten community food banks in Central Alabama during the initial emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic with over $1.5M in food and goods distributions. Robin also began an informal case management program for the families they serve. The opioid epidemic is the other major issue Robin helped to address in Walker County. Shortly before her arrival, the county was declared to be the number one community in the nation for opioid drug overdoses per capita and the epicenter for opioid abuse in Alabama. Hinkle worked with the heads of the Walker Area Community Foundation and the local rural health provider to reflect upon a response to the epidemic in Walker County, ultimately starting a formal coalition that prepared a strategic plan to increase prevention, treatment, and recovery resources in the area. That coalition includes members from the University of Alabama, UAB, local healthcare and treatment providers, the Alabama Department of Public Health (state and local level), DHR (state and local level), United Way, the drug courts, the sheriff’s office, and the county and city boards of education.

Prior to her call to ministry, Robin practiced law for fifteen years as a commercial litigator. She left the practice of law to create a company that advocated for long-term treatment for the disease of addiction, opening a clinic in Boise, Idaho. She has an accounting degree from Auburn University and earned her law degree at Tulane University. She attended seminary at the University of the South at Sewanee and graduated in 2015. She served her first two years of ordained ministry as Associate Rector at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Hoover, Alabama.

Robin is married to Scott Hinkle, an avid Alabama fan and a commercial real estate broker and developer. Her daughter, Sadie, is a mechanical engineer who lives in Dallas and works for L3Harris. Robin loves throwing pottery, traveling, her two King Charles Cavaliers - Abi and Moses - and her very large extended family, not necessarily in that order!

Ben Leal

Allison Bovard