Vicar Carmine Pernini

I was born and raised Roman Catholic. I attended Roman Catholic school from 2nd grade through high school. At the end of high school I did not feel that the Roman Catholic tradition was for me and distanced myself from the church. During high school I fell in love with music of all kinds and started to perform locally in a band. My band was ‘signed’ to Atlantic Records during my senior year of high school and we recorded an album that was released internationally. As a result of this once in a lifetime opportunity, I put off going to college in order to tour around the U.S. and Canada to support the record that was recorded. After releasing another album and subsequent tour I decided that I should attend college.

At Monmouth University I studied Jazz Performance where I was exposed to a wide variety of musical traditions. I minored in Music Business. It was during this time that I reached out to various Christian denominations and found the Lutheran Church. It was preaching which brought me back to the church. I fell so in love with the Lutheran Church that I considered attending seminary and applied to the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia. I opted not to attend at this time. As a result I applied to conservatories and was accepted to the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. I studied classical music and solo double bass for two years at the Hartt School. I felt my call strongly at this time pulling me to seminary. As a result I sat in on courses at the Yale Divinity School for two years.

After attending the Hartt School I sought steadier financial employment. I was licensed to be a financial advisor and used my business minor from undergrad. I worked at Ameriprise Financial for two years as a personal financial advisor. I was quickly promoted to a ‘financial coach’ position where I trained new advisors and received the ‘Fast Start’ award in my first year for my achievements. Here I acquired a variety of people skills and learned to manage client portfolios. After getting into the industry I transitioned over to JPMorgan Chase for steadier hours and increased pay. At JPMorgan Chase I was privileged to work with a team for a new Chase branch that opened in downtown New Haven, CT. I worked on marketing for the new branch as well as client acquisition.

Through working with my clients and their encouragements I felt my call rekindled and decided to apply to the Lutheran Seminary for the second time and attend. After my first year at seminary I did CPE at the Reading Hospital in Reading, PA. There I worked the Palliative Care and Trauma Units. I have received the Hoh award at LTSP as well as been on the Dean’s list several times and now I have completed the academic work for the Master of Divinity degree.

I met my wife, Kathryn Irwin, at the Lutheran Theological seminary. Kathryn is also a seminarian pursuing ordination in the ELCA. Kathryn and I are expecting our first child sometime in late December!

Through the myriad experiences I have had, and the ups and downs that have accompanied them, I have felt God’s call. I have experienced God’s grace in my life in innumerable ways. God was present throughout my elementary and high school education, in the music I created and the faces of those who listened on tour, in the halls of the conservatory and my studies at Yale Divinity School, in the encouraging words of the clients of those whom I did financial planning, in the smiles and tears of the patients of Reading Hospital where I did CPE, in the community at the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, and in the love of my wife Kathryn Irwin. What I learned through these experiences I will carry with me to serve God’s people. God is present. Jesus Christ’s saving work on the cross has manifest God’s grace in the last place I would expect to see it, in a saint/sinner such as myself. It is to this that I give thanks to God every day.