Content Disclaimer: This post includes references to mental health issues, including suicidal ideation. Some details are intense and may be difficult for some readers. If you need immediate support, contact local emergency services or a trusted crisis resource in your area.
If you’ve been to PCC’s Aylett Campus at all in the last year, you’ve probably been greeted by Alex Hurley-Robins. Alex is currently serving as one of Aylett’s Small Groups Coordinators. It’s a role that she takes very seriously. She exudes such passion for helping people connect with each other as they seek to grow in their faith. I had the pleasure of hearing Alex’s story of how she ended up at PCC, how she came to be baptized, and how she found her people. It’s a story that will inspire you, excite you, and challenge you.
I began my time together with Alex by asking her the question, “Who is Alex Hurley-Robins?” She listed her familial roles as wife and mom but also her primary role as a child of God. Alex didn’t grow up going to church. Before her first visit to PCC, Alex was a single mom and an electrician. She thoroughly enjoyed her career but shared that it meant 70-hour work weeks and didn’t allow her to spend a lot of time with her family. While working as an electrician, she met Clifton Robins. Alex shared that Clifton put a lot of things in perspective for her and made her realize that she needed to reevaluate her life and spend more time with her son. Alex and Clifton are now married and between the two of them they have 5 children.
One day, Alex heard her youngest child talking to herself in her room. When Alex asked who she was talking to, her daughter said she was talking to Jesus. To this day, Alex has no idea where her daughter heard about Jesus. Alex shared, “At that time, I was like, she either needs to go see a therapist or we need to go to church. Church is cheaper!” Before this interaction with her daughter, Alex and Clifton had received information in the mail about Passion Community Church and they decided it was time to check things out.
Alex’s first Sunday morning at PCC Aylett included being moved to tears by the music she heard. She was confused by her response and was genuinely concerned she might cry every time if she continued to come to church. She shared, “I didn’t understand it. I just knew that I wanted to come back again and again because that was the most incredible feeling I had ever felt.” Alex and her family continued to attend PCC and on September 29, 2024, Alex made the decision to be baptized. “I decided to get baptized on the day of [the baptism service] because when we were singing the song ‘I Speak Jesus’ I got so overwhelmed and I had this feeling just go through me that I needed to get baptized today and that I needed to proclaim just how much Jesus was my Lord and Savior,” she remembers. My own memory of this is pretty clear and it was beautiful to see a friend of Alex’s immediately run home to get a change of clothes for Alex to wear because she “just knew it was what was supposed to happen” that day. Nothing was going to get in the way of what was going to be such an important day of Alex’s life.
Following her baptism, Alex, who has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, fell into a depression where she began to feel abandoned by God. “I was really close to ending my life. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I just was done,” she explained. In March 2025, the PCC Women’s Conference, FOR YOU, was approaching and Alex decided that attending wouldn’t be a good idea and feared that the size of the crowd at the conference may cause her to experience a panic attack. Out of the blue, a friend she’d made at church (Pennylee) texted Alex and asked her to come with her to FOR YOU. Pennylee, determined that Alex needed to be at the conference, informed her that she would pick her up and that she’d found a place for them to spend Friday night, in between days of the conference. Alex, despite her apprehension, went with Pennylee to Powhatan for the conference.
During the conference, information about Women’s Alliance was shared and conference attenders were invited to think about starting a tribe at their home campus. Alex immediately felt that Women’s Alliance was something that she wanted to not only participate in but help lead. Not long after that the Iridium Tribe was launched. This tribe of women is a group that meets weekly at the Aylett Campus and participates in a 30-minute outdoor rugged workout and then has a 30-minute devotion around a fire. Alex stays in touch throughout the week with the members of her group and also connects with leaders of other Women’s Alliance tribes, all while communicating with and equipping small group leaders at the Aylett Campus. Alex has been studying the Bible several times a day in an effort to really understand what she is sharing with her tribe and ultimately lead them as well as she can. However, Alex confirmed that she is always extended grace when she doesn’t have the answers and that she has been able to learn a lot from the people she leads.
I asked Alex what felt like the turning point for her and what made her eliminate her plan to end her life. Alex’s decision came down to the support that she felt from the people around her and knowing that she’d found a circle that would not judge her or let her struggle alone. This is a commitment straight from the creed that Women’s Alliance recites at each meeting:
I am a steadfast woman with an uncommon desire to succeed.
I will keep myself honest, spiritually aligned, and morally straight.
I will lead and be led, and in the absence of leadership
I will take charge and lead by example
I am not too proud to ask for help.
I belong to a tribe and do not struggle alone.
My past failures do not define me.
When the world knocks me down, I will get back up every time.
Faithfulness to family and devotion to God is my destiny.
I will be vulnerable and finish strong.
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“Building your relationship with God is throughout the week and you need your community in order to do that. [It’s] so crucial because God never meant for us to do life alone. I can say that having the community of women in Women’s Alliance has made my life easier and harder at the same time, but so worth it.”
