Pastor Vern Kinard is a native of Newberry, South Carolina. During high school he moved to Lexington, SC and graduated from Lexington High School in Lexington, SC in 2009.
In 2013, he received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Newberry College. During his senior year of college and in the time before beginning seminary, Pastor Vern taught as a substitute teacher in the Newberry County School district. One of his favorite experiences from teaching was the half year experience he had teaching in the kindergarten setting.
Pastor Vern began seminary through Lenoir-Rhyne University at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) in Columbia, SC in the summer of 2014. He received his Masters of Divinity from LTSS in 2018. Pastor Vern was ordained June 15th, 2018 at Grace Chapel on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University. Pastor Vern has served as Associate Pastor at St. Mark’s since December of 2020.
Pastor Vern is married to Mandy Kinard. Mandy is a graduate from Lenoir-Rhyne University and is a certified occupational therapist in a pediatric OT setting. Pastor Vern & Mandy live in Mooresville and have a son (Grayson).
Pastor Vern has previously served in the North Carolina Synod through an internship in Hickory, NC (both with Bethlehem Lutheran Church & campus ministry at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Go Bears!). He has also served on the synod campus ministry board. Currently, he serves on the NC Synod Evangelism Team and serves occasionally as a spiritual director for the Western North Carolina Via De Cristo movement.
Pastor Vern is an avid sports fan and loves being outdoors. As a fun way to give back to the community, Pastor Vern volunteers at Mooresville High School, where he is the “voice” of Blue Devil baseball. In addition, he is a musician (trombone), enjoys cooking, traveling, and playing golf in his free time. Pastor Vern never meets a stranger and welcomes you to come and see what God is up to through the community of St. Mark’s!
