Pastor returns to Hoover to lead new congregation at former Discovery Church

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People

An existing church building in Hoover will soon have new life in it as Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood plans to start a new campus this summer at the former Discovery United Methodist Church.

The Rev. Jack Hinnen, who is currently serving as a pastor in Florida, is looking forward to being the lead pastor at the Trinity Hoover campus, as he formerly lived in Hoover many years ago.

“I am really excited about the opportunity,” the 45-year-old Hinnen said. “I have a history in Hoover where I used to live for a little over five years when I served at Riverchase United Methodist Church. It feels like I am coming home in a way.”

Brian Erickson, senior pastor at Trinity Homewood, said the decision to hire Hinnen as senior pastor for the Trinity Hoover campus was a fairly easy one because Hinnen has a deep love of people.

“Jack is easily the most outgoing, people-oriented pastor I know,” Erickson said.

Discovery United Methodist Church was started in Hoover in 1993 on 15 acres near Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, but the church shut down in April of last year, and now Trinity in Homewood is taking over the campus.

Hinnen, who has been senior pastor at Gadsden Street United Methodist Church in Pensacola for five years, will officially begin his new job in Hoover on July 1.

“We hope to have worship in the new campus toward mid-August,” Hinnen said. “We are really looking forward to it.”

Erickson said one of the strengths to Hinnen serving as the new head pastor in Hoover is that he never meets a stranger.

“He is always far more interested in hearing about you than talking about himself,” Erickson said. “I also think he is uniquely suited for Hoover because they have such a marvelous tapestry of different ages and backgrounds and cultures in that area, and bringing people together is something Jack is both gifted for and passionate about.”

Erickson said this is the 100th year of Trinity being a church in Homewood after it was a failed church plant on Birmingham’s Southside.

“There is something particularly poignant about celebrating the centennial of our rebirth by sowing something new in Hoover,” Erickson said. “We want to be a good neighbor, first and foremost, so that even the folks that never darken the door of our church are grateful we are here. We want to partner with Hoover schools and establish nonprofits to serve and support the community. We also want to see people find friendships and hope in a season where those two things are hard to come by, and in a city full of great churches, one of the callings we feel really led to is to create churches where Christ is enough to overcome political, racial and ideological divisions.”

Hinnen said a primary reason he said yes to the job was because it’s a part of ministry he particularly enjoys: starting something new.

“There is kind of a risk involved with doing something new that when you are in ministry you don’t always get to participate in,” Hinnen said. “We have an amazing campus with the former Discovery Church, which has been a part of the community for a long time, and we get to start something new and fresh and grow in a really great community.”

The church also has plans to hire a youth minister, a children’s pastor, a music minister and other needed positions.

Hinnen, a native of Dadeville, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Auburn University in 2003. He received a master’s of divinity degree from Emory University in 2006.

He served as associate pastor at Riverchase United Methodist church from 2006 until 2011, when he became campus chaplain at Birmingham-Southern College.

Hinnen was also instrumental in helping merge Trinity and Oakmont United Methodist to form Trinity’s West Homewood campus.

“I have been in the ministry for a very long time, and my years in Hoover were very formative for me,” Hinnen said. “I am still wet behind the ears, but I am excited about the opportunities ahead of me and having the opportunity to give back to the community that helped raise me in a professional sense.”

Longtime friend Philip Gibson said Hinnen makes a point of making a personal connection with people very early on.

“I started attending Trinity West, which is where I met Jack, and it was about two days after I visited that Jack reached out to see if I wanted to go have coffee,” Gibson said. “He is just very unassuming and has no agenda with people.”

Gibson, who lives in Bluff Park, said Hinnen is a great fit for the Hoover campus because his ministry is largely about making personal connections and meeting people.

“Jack loves people and figuring out what kinds of things he can do for those he meets,” Gibson said. “I think one of the more redeeming qualities of Jack is he meets you where you are as a person.”

Adam Smith, who serves as director of Riverchase Day School in Hoover, has known Hinnen since elementary school in Dadeville.

“I am thrilled that Jack will be working so close to where I am now,” Smith said. “It will be great to have him and his family back around here.”

Smith said when Hinnen served as associate pastor at Riverchase United Methodist, he had a big impact on the families there.

“Jack had a unique way of making connections with the older members in the church as well as the younger members,” Smith said. “People around here still talk about him even though he has been gone about 10-15 years.”

Smith said Hinnen is sincere when he speaks to people and wants to genuinely learn about them from the time he first says hello.

“I don’t think I have met someone who truly wants to know about you as a person in the way that Jack does about people,” Smith said. “He really does not like to focus on himself, but he invests in the lives of those he is around, which is what makes him really cut out for ministry.”

Hinnen’s wife, Cheryl, also serves as a United Methodist clergyperson. They have two children, Macy and Desmond, and are moving from Florida to Alabama this summer.

“I can’t wait to see how the Holy Spirit will move at Trinity Hoover and look forward to meeting who the Lord calls to this church,” Hinnen said.

The new Trinity Hoover campus is at 5487 Stadium Trace Parkway.