Don Hinkle | Allen Palmeri | Brian Koonce | Andree Ziehmer
| Murley Blakley
Don Hinkle
Don Hinkle, born Sept. 14, 1954, is the son of Cecelia and the late Tracy Hinkle. The oldest of three children, he is a 1972 graduate of Springfield High School, Springfield, Tenn., a small farming community 25 miles north of Nashville. A life-long Southern Baptist, he was saved and baptized at Grace Baptist Church, Springfield, in 1964.
Hinkle began his journalism career as a newsman for WDBL Radio in Springfield in 1975. 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 (the former Tactical Air Command). He won the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1981 as the top news writer in the Department of Defense for his reporting of President Ronald Reagan’s firing of striking FAA air traffic controllers. His newspaper, The Skywrighter, the largest circulation newspaper in the Air Force, also won the Thomas Jefferson Award that year as the top newspaper in the Department of Defense. He was awarded the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal and was honorably discharged in January 1988, returning to his native hometown.
Hinkle continued his journalism career, working for three major metropolitan daily newspapers. He has been a sports writer and copy editor for The Daily Press of Hampton/Newport News, Va., a business reporter for The Tennessean in Nashville, and a sports writer and general assignment reporter for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. Most recently he was first, a business reporter, and then named editor of The Daily Herald in Columbia, Tenn. He is the author of a book on the Civil War, Embattled Banner, published in 1997.
A 1988 graduate of Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Va., with a bachelor of art’s degree in English, Hinkle was called by God into the Gospel ministry in 1996. He enrolled at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., where he earned a master of art’s degree in Christian Education in May 1998. Ordained into the Gospel ministry in August 1998, he was accepted into the PhD. program at Southern a year later. He is presently writing his doctoral dissertation.
Hinkle has also studied at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a conservative “think tankâ?? in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the World (magazine) Journalism Institute in Charlotte, N.C.
He has worked as a news writer for Southern Seminary’s public relations department and has had articles published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He has been a national correspondent for Baptist Press, the official news service of the SBC, since 1998.
Hinkle was named editor of The Pathway at its creation by the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board. The Pathway began as a Web site-only publication that was launched in June 2002. Since that time The Pathway has been a monthly newsletter before becoming a biweekly tabloid in January 2003. The Web version has already won awards for its design and The Pathway has become a respected and rapidly growing conservative voice within Missouri Baptist and Southern Baptist life.
Hinkle is married to the former Bernadette Guest, a retired registered nurse and graduate of the University of Louisville. The Hinkles are members of Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City. They reside in Holts Summit.
Don Hinkle | Allen Palmeri | Brian Koonce | Andree Ziehmer
| Murley Blakley
Allen Palmeri
Allen M. Palmeri is the senior writer for The Pathway, the official newsjournal of the Missouri Baptist Convention, Jefferson City.
Palmeri was previously editor of Sharing the VICTORY, the magazine of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Kansas City, before coming on staff with the MBC in March of 2003.
Prior to being called into full-time writing ministry, Palmeri served as a media missionary. He worked on newspaper staffs in Battle Creek, Mich. (5 years), Biloxi, Miss. (4 years) and Cheyenne, Wyo. (2 years) as a sportswriter, sports copy editor, news copy editor and assistant news editor. He now co-writes an award-winning column for Sports Spectrum magazine.
Palmeri, who was born on an Air Force base in Albany, Ga., grew up in Michigan and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
Palmeri and his wife, Susan, have four children, Amy, Asa, David and Sophia.
Brian Koonce
Brian Koonce is a staff writer for The Pathway.
Before coming to The Pathway, Koonce wrote for various secular newspapers, including the El Reno (Okla.) Tribune, the Bartlesville (Okla.) Examiner-Enterprise and the Shawnee (Okla.) News-Star. He served as an intern and as a freelance writer with The Baptist Messenger, the newsjournal of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
Koonce earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Oklahoma Baptist University in 2005. While at OBU, he served every semester on the staff of the award-winning student newspaper, The Bison, and was editor his senior year. He also wrote for the OBU Office of Public Relations and the university’s magazine.
His hobbies include travel and photography, pleasures he occasionally gets to mix with business such as International Mission Board communication/photography projects in Panama, Russia and Malawi.
Don Hinkle | Allen Palmeri | Brian Koonce | Andree Ziehmer
| Murley Blakley
Andree Ziehmer
Andree Ziehmer and husband, Carl, live in California, MO. Their family includes three grown children, two granddaughters, and the family cocker spaniel. Tracing her Baptist roots back to Revolutionary War times and a great grandfather noted for his fiery sermons, Andree has a strong faith and commitment to Southern Baptist doctrine. She has served as accompanist in her church for over fifty years and currently is organist for the early morning worship at First Baptist Church, California, MO. She has an AA degree from State Fair Community College and over thirty years of professional experience in accounting and general business. Her hobbies include the grandchildren, reading, music, and cooking. Andree encourages everyone to live by the words of Psalms 118:24.
Don Hinkle | Allen Palmeri | Brian Koonce | Andree Ziehmer
| Murley Blakley
Murley Blakley
Murley Blakley began as layout and design coordinator for The Pathway in July 2003. She has worked in the graphic arts and printing industry for 35 years with experience in all phases of the industry.
She is a long-time member of Concord Baptist Church. She has taught a ladies Sunday school class for about 25 years and co-facilitates the DivorceCare program for women at Concord, as well as serving as a decision counselor. She volunteers as a lay counselor at the Women’s Ministry Center in Jefferson City.
She is the mother of three, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of five.
Don Hinkle | Allen Palmeri | Brian Koonce | Andree Ziehmer
| Murley Blakley
