Interview with Reverend Carpinelli
In addition, Reverend Carpinelli’s daughter is one of my best friends, and I was guided by her to take on this project. Reverend Carpinelli shared with me that his daughter has been involved with the church since she was a toddler. She has been taught the lessons and the way of the church, but his hope is that the essence of faith and caring for each other is what is what she gains and holds on to as a guide for her life. The way to see that in the church is that we recognize we are not perfect and make mistakes and do bad things, but God still cares for us anyway and wants us to be able to be good caring and loving people for everyone.
On a similar note, Reverend Carpinelli has had several important ties to the St. Thomas. It was where he was married and where his daughter was baptized. He also shared that at St. Thomas he grew as a teacher, and the church sponsored him for a Diaconate.
Reverend Carpinelli discussed that St. Thomas has had many changes over the years, and one example of this growth and inclusion is having two female rectors, The Rev. Muriel Huber and then The Rev. Idalia Craig. This church has become more diversified when Glassboro began to change. Reverend Carpinelli shared that the church still tends toward older ages but does have a younger Rector with a family now and is trying to help the church to grow further and expand in diversity.
Lastly, Reverend Carpinelli shared with me that the actual St. Thomas was “one of the disciples of Jesus, mostly known for the story of how after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the other disciples when he was not in the room and said that he did not believe. He said that he would not believe until he put his hands in the place where the nails were and in the wound on his side. Then a week later Jesus appeared again as Thomas was there and Jesus asked him to touch the wounds in his hand and side, and Thomas said, “my Lord and my God”. It is later said in the tradition that Thomas became a missionary to India.” For Reverend Carpinelli, St. Thomas shows him that in faith it is ok to be uncertain, to ask questions, and to recognize that people did not have all the answers. St. Thomas also shows him that even when people are uncertain, God does not turn away from us, even when our faith is lacking. God came to remind people that He is there and cares about us even when we are not sure about Him.
