TOWN of NIAGARA — Justin Lee Marple once planned to go to law school, then work as an attorney.

“People had always said I could do anything I wanted to do,” recently recalled the former history major, “but when I started asking, ‘What is it that God wants me to do?’ is when I was put on the trajectory that’s brought me here.

“He could have had me serve him as a lawyer, but apparently he had other plans.”

Apparently so, as now the Rev. Marple, 30, serves as the new pastor of Niagara Presbyterian Church, with the distinction of being the youngest minister in the 62-church Presbytery of Western New York.

He may have taken a path to a Niagara County church, but it wasn’t a direct one. New York is no less than the ninth state he has lived in during his three decades.

However, he remembered that his parents took him to church several times a week while he was growing up.

“They served the church in many ways,” Marple said.

Yet, he said, “During college I neglected to meet together for worship with fellow Christians for about the first year, except for breaks when I went home.”

He graduated summa cum laude in 2002 from Gettysburg College, with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science. He even did a stint as a political intern in Washington, D. C.

“When God brought me to my senses, he led me to worship at Gettysburg Presbyterian Church and to come under the influence of ministries like the Gettysburg College Christian Fellowship,” said the pastor.

Prior to coming to the area, Marple was pastor of two Kentucky churches simultaneously for four years: Peter Creek and Shepard Memorial. He also served as a chaplain for nursing-home patients at the Presbyterian Homes and Services of Kentucky.

Some of those patients may have viewed the clergyman as a hero of faith, but Marple’s own “heroes of faith from church history” include intellectual St. Augustine, whose ideas affected reformer Martin Luther — another one of the role models of this young man of the cloth.

Seeing himself as a lifelong student, Marple calls Jesus “the perfect elder and deacon.”

Marple — who additionally earned a 2005 graduate degree in pastoral ministry from Philadelphia’s Westminster Theological Seminary — also said, “My story’s only important insofar as it fits into God’s story.”

In Gettysburg, he was doing more than spending time in church.

Growing up, Marple was an Eagle Scout. While at school, his Boy Scout troop worked for the National Park Service. His senior seminar thesis concerned the response of Virginians from Lynchburg and the Shenandoah Valley to the battle of Gettysburg. His political science thesis focused on the First Amendment. One of his hobbies is genealogy.

Now he’s on to the battle for souls.

With Easter Sunday just weeks away, Marple revealed: “In worship, I preach the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and his giving of the Spirit on Pentecost. I teach God’s people to observe all that Christ has commanded out of thanksgiving for their salvation. I also have a passion for teaching about Scripture.

“The Bible is fascinating, and I want others to see this. In particular, I want to expose people to the Hebrew scriptures — the Old Testament. My approach is what scholars call ‘literary-canonical.’ My focus is on the text of scripture. I look at the structure of the individual books and how that fits the structure of the Hebrew scriptures. This helps us to more deeply understand God’s story.”

Marple, who is married and has two children, tells his congregants that he feels fortunate to be their pastor.

“I’m lucky to be married,” he added, “and to have the children that we do. I’m lucky to have more than enough food to put on the table.”

The public is invited to join Marple when he addresses the multidenominational “Lenten Luncheon” series at noon March 18 in First Presbyterian Church of Niagara Falls. A full lunch, at $6, includes dessert and beverage.

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