by Heidi Wheeler
How do you answer the question, "Who is Tony Hinchliff?" He's the pastor of our thriving community of urban dwellers, yes. But he's also a sailor, dog-lover, bachelor in black. He's charming, he has Tony-sized ideas (think: big visionary brainstorms that are verbally cast amongst the church body like a one of his fly fishing lines to see what feedback he might reel in). He's got a curious accent that gives a hint of a past life in another part of the world and that sounds decidedly English when he breaks out into a "Hallow."
I was hoping to answer my own question for this particular newsletter issue given Tony's impending 50th birthday on October 3rd and arranged to interview him at a local gym café. He obliged my questioning serious and silly, and some of the following pieces of his story and responses reveal more than you may currently know about Pastor Tony.
Heidi Wheeler (HW): What do you do in your free time?
Tony Hinchliff (TH): "In the summer I like to sail. City Sail is a ministry I started with Trevor (of New City Kids). We take kids out into the NY Harbor, that's become pretty important. Walking around Hoboken with my dog, early in the morning, fly fishing, golf- though I haven't done that in a while. Once a week I take my dog out into the woods."
HW: Those are mostly solitary activities.
TH: "I'm on the cusp of being an introvert and an extrovert. I like people, especially in the church, but being outside, it's the time I feel closest to God. My ideal is serenity, not craziness."
A wandering soul from an early age, he spent most of his time meandering unattended through the forest that bordered his childhood home. "We grew up next to a forest... I just went wild. No thoughts by my parents about my safety... it was very comforting to me to be in the forest. When I was younger I thought that one day I would see a hobbit."
Though he initially planned on the typical university track, he got the traveling bug as a teenager after he took a Euro-Rail trip with a friend and at that point his education became experiential instead for the next several years. He found himself in a kibbutz, then traveled to America for what was to be a two-week trip and ended up becoming a 4-year stint of adventures. He spent time in San Francisco, hitch hiked to South America and taught English, lived in North Africa and West Berlin and then found himself in NYC. While cooking spaghetti in a Manhattan restaurant the handles broke off a pot of hot water and the boiling liquid landed on his foot, severely burning it and sending him to Beth-Isreal Hospital. There he charmed a nurse to bandage up his injured extremity before he promptly made an escape to get on a plane home to England where his potentially high medical bills would be covered. "It was a painful flight home."
At this point, at age 26, he realized he "needed to grow up" and ended up attending The University of Sussex in Brighton, UK where he was a Literature major. Books have been and still are extremely influential in his life.
HW: You have shelves upon shelves of books. Tell me about your favorite authors and your relationship to books.
TH: "Books have always been my friends. My parents never chose books for me. I read very eclectically very young. It's at the core of who I am. I am a literary person, words are important to me. I can't remember people's names until I see them written down. My books are a diary or history, every book I pick up, even if I can't remember the details, I remember the emotions and the period of life during which I read it. I would never have a Kindle, I like the physicality of books. As an author, Tolkien (he's the author of Lord of the Rings trilogy and more) is important to me. I like fairy tales because I want the happy ending. All fiction stories reflect the underlying reality of the universe... we delight in fairytales with happy endings. Deep down we know they reflect the truth of eternity with God."
HW: How did you become a Christian?
TH: "When I spent time studying abroad in Stony Brook, Long Island I became a Christian there at the age of 30. I applied to seminary 3 months after I became a Christian, not to be a pastor but to find out about this Christianity. I ended up at Princeton, there I was a rolling stone."
After seminary he ended up as an intern at Redeemer New York under Tim Keller and eventually became an associate pastor in charge of home fellowship groups. He had spent several years in ministry at Redeemer New York when a need arose for a full-time pastor at a Redeemer NYC church plant in Hoboken and Tony accepted the call. He is been a pastor at Redeemer Hoboken for 7 years now.
HW: Who are your role models?
TH: "In terms of being a pastor, Tim Keller has been important. A metaphor that I can relate to is that I understand myself to be the captain of a ship (in regards to the church). I recruit and train the crew so they work harmoniously together and make sure the boat's going the right direction and gets safely into port."
HW: Discuss your singleness and your role as a pastor.
TH: "Singleness as a pastor is unique in the PCA (Presbyterian Church Association). There may be no other single pastor in the PCA, but it works in the city. The NYC area has the highest rate of singleness in the country. A lot of other pastors don't understand how I can do it. The church is like having a family life, sometimes I don't understand how other pastors can go home and have their own families to take care of as well. I have time to recharge myself."
HW: Is there a particular passage of Scripture that is been pivotal?
TH: "I like the Psalms for prayer. I read that part of the Bible the most. I like Psalm 139 where it talks about how God knows us completely. I'm not sure of the reference, but another verse is the one that says that God can do whatever pleases him. I find that satisfying because He is good."
I looked it up, it's Psalm 115:3 "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever please him."
HW: How can the people of the church support you?
TH: "They are doing well. A pastor once said to me that the culture of the church compensates itself for the weakness of the pastor. Our people run the church, I don't actually have to administrate very much. My main role is to encourage people, to provide a framework for people to express themselves and to join in ministry. The church gives me space, I'm not hounded by the people of the church. The church has adapted itself to who I am."
HW: What is your vision for our church?
TH: "To help Christians and Christian families... and children...thrive in the city."
HW: What does thriving in the city look like?
TH: "It's really about loving life in the city rather than just tolerating it. People come to the city to put it on their resume, to be the best in their fields. But then they leave because they think real life begins in the suburbs. There's this American ideal that the suburbs represent. The city can be anti-family and space is at a premium. But cities are exciting, it's where professions are formed, where culture is. The role of the urban Christian is to figure out how to apply the Gospel in everyday circumstances."
Cara Brooks, someone that Tony pointed to as "thriving in the city" and the leader of the church's Family Ministry had this to say about Tony:
"He's a wise scholar, and a humble servant. One thing I love most about Tony is that he makes sure you know he is a real person. He shares life experiences from the pulpit to make himself transparent to his congregation, so we don't put him on a pedestal, but know him as a friend walking alongside us doing life together. What a gift."
HW: How are you approaching this coming birthday?
TH: "It's a time to look back at what has worked, what might be missing. The best thing in my life is being a pastor, my favorite day is Sunday. I have no desire to radically change my life. It feels like home to me. One thing I feel now, it's hard to put into words- is the need for Christianity to be true, the stakes are going up. At my age, you know you're in decline...you just feel like you're diminishing, at least physically. The promises of God, that you can trust Him, need to be true."
The best way to answer the question of "Who is Tony?" is probably to spend time with him. Those who have appreciate his realness, his passion for biblical teaching, his wisdom. If you haven't been already, maybe in the future you will find yourself invited to one of his "brainstorming dinner parties," as it seems that Tony thinks work is much better accomplished if it is disguised as a party and with food.
At the conclusion of the interview, I get the sense that the wanderlust of youth has been replaced with contentment, both in where he is at in his life and in his relationship with God. This is the longest amount of time Tony has ever spent in one place with no plans to leave. In the shadow of an enormous city, this country boy has found a home, purpose and community, and he hopes he can help others that find their way to the Hoboken area do the same thing.
