GUILDERLAND — Garret Szantner, the new pastor at the Lynnwood Reformed Church, said he brings vitality and energy to the community.

At 25, he said he often gets surprised reactions when people meet him.

“They expect someone 40 years older, I think,” he said.

It is Szantner’s first role as a lead pastor after graduating from seminary school in Grand Rapids, Michigan in May.

He grew up in a suburb of Detroit and was raised in a Catholic family. He stopped attending church in high school and started attending again, on-and-off, during college, he said.

Szantner said becoming a pastor was not even on his radar until he was nearly finished with his undergraduate degree.

“I wanted to be a lawyer and work for an international justice agency,” he said.

During his senior year, however, he decided law school was not a good fit for him.

“I enjoyed reading the Bible and talking about it with a variety of people, so I thought, ‘Why not seminary?’” he said.

Szantner said his family reacted with a mixture of stupefaction and excitement.

“It really came out of nowhere,” he said.

He decided to study to be a Protestant leader, rather than continue in the Catholic faith, because, he said, “In this tradition there is evangelical spirituality mixed with a rich history; it’s very vibrant.”

Szantner said he loved studying scripture and theology in seminary school, and knew he had decided on the right path, but the clarity about becoming a pastor came from his internship at a church in Grand Rapids.

“I had a really good mentorship relationship that showed me being a pastor is a really neat thing because you get to lead people and also be involved in their lives,” he said.

He described the church as a community of individuals called to a purpose, and that purpose is to follow God and bring goodness into the world.

At Lynnwood Reformed Church, Szantner said he hopes to invoke an understanding that everyone makes mistakes, but the Gospel “renews us and shows us a way to move forward and live and love responsibly, as people created in love by God.”

He said it was overwhelming for him to pick up and move from the Midwest to the East Coast, but he has been welcomed into a community that is kind and generous.

“I have already been cared for in so many ways,” he said.

Szantner said he is enjoying the Guilderland area, because he can easily travel to be in a rural area or a city, or choose to stay in the suburbs.

“There are a variety of experiences and cultural backgrounds,” he said.

He said he hopes that people come to see Lynnwood and the church in general as a community for the world.

“The church isn’t a hiding place behind walls,” said Szantner. “It is actively engaged in life and seeing goodness come about.”