Twenty-five years ago, Dan Wynn arrived to assume an associate pastor position at First Baptist Church. It was a memorable day in December.

&8220;I did not get to work a full day,&8221; he recalled with amusement. &8220;The office closed for all of us to go to the Christmas parade.&8221;

That was a new experience and a good way to jump right into the thick of things in Natchez, he said. &8220;I got a full dose of it. I met a lot of people standing on the street.&8221;

These many years later, Wynn continues his work at First Baptist. And he is as surprised as anyone to have remained for so many years.

Dr. Bill Hurt, senior minister at First Baptist, said church members and staff are happy to have the opportunity to celebrate Wynn&8217;s 25 years with a special service at the church today.

&8220;Twenty-five years in ministry in one church is almost unheard of, especially in this day and time,&8221; Hurt said.

In recent decades, two others have had long terms at First Baptist. As senior minister, Odean Puckett remained for 25 years; Ken Miller, music minister, served for 22.

&8220;That says this congregation loves, respects and follows their ministers and has an appreciation for the work they do,&8221; Hurt said.

Wynn said the years have provided many opportunities for him to serve.

&8220;I never dreamed we&8217;d stay here this long,&8221; he said. &8220;But I know God put us here not only to be a part of this church but to be a part of the community.&8221;

Strong ties have grown between Wynn and Adams County Christian School, where he now is known as the &8220;Voice of the Rebels,&8221; working as a volunteer game announcer for the school&8217;s football and basketball games.

ACCS headmaster and varsity girls basketball coach John R. Gray said the time Wynn has given to the school has been invaluable.

&8220;We just appreciate so much his leadership and dedication to Adams Christian and the athletic program,&8221; Gray said.

&8220;He has given numerous hours to help our young people in their faith as well in their athletics.&8221;

Soon after Wynn began announcing, a newcomer came to First Baptist vacation Bible school. &8220;I spoke to her, asked her if she went to church anywhere. She said no,&8221; Wynn said. &8220;I told her &8216;welcome home.&8217;

&8220;She told me, &8216;You just don&8217;t know what it means to have someone say that to me. And it was a voice I knew.&8217;&8221;

The newcomer recognized the voice from ballgames, Wynn said. &8220;I have had a lot of fun with that.&8221;

As minister of education and administration, Wynn has a full plate of activities and duties. In the early 1990s, he wondered whether he should pursue only one of those areas.

&8220;I debated one or the other. I&8217;m a certified church business administration fellow. I went to a convention in San Antonio about 1991 and came away knowing what to do,&8221; he said. &8220;God had made it clear to me that he had called me to work with people.&8221;

He would stay the course, continuing in the two roles. And both have been a blessing for him, he said. He has worked with fine senior ministers and many fine church members.

Looking back, Wynn remembers a very different ministry from the one existing today. &8220;When I came to Natchez 25 years ago, we were in the oil boom; the tire plant was running; everything seemingly was at a peak,&8221; he said.

&8220;We would open the church doors and people would push us aside to get in. Today, it&8217;s a very different economy. Very few new people coming to town who are churched people. Now we&8217;re sending people out to find the unchurched.&8221;

When he arrived, the family life building had been constructed at the present site of the church, 150 D&8217;Evereux Drive. Soon after his arrival, the fund opened for the building of the sanctuary.

&8220;I have fond memories of this building, from the conception to the design, the construction and seeing it paid for. I chaired two financial campaigns to pay for the building.&8221;

In fewer than 10 years, the church had paid for the sanctuary and today is virtually debt free.

&8220;Because we are basically out of debt, we&8217;ve been able to focus on doing mission work,&8221; Wynn said. &8220;We send a group to Bolivia annually. And we have sent groups to Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky and New York City.&8221;

On the home front, the church continues to put effort into programs for children of all ages, particularly the Wednesday night programs and vacation Bible school, which about 300 children attend each year.

And mission work in Natchez includes the annual partnership with World Changers, a group that has helped the congregation to &8220;realize how much we can participate in mission work right here in Natchez.&8221;

One of Wynn&8217;s greatest recent challenges was to organize the Red Cross shelter at First Baptist after numerous evacuees from Hurricane Katrina began arriving in Natchez.

&8220;As soon as we got our power back on, we opened. In a matter of 15 minutes, we were receiving people,&8221; Wynn said. &8220;It was like an airplane in flight without a pilot. Here came a family of 41 with these forms I&8217;d never seen.&8221;

Great as the challenge was, Wynn knew how to get it done &8212; he enlisted the best people he could find. At First Baptist, that is easy, he said.

Wynn spent his childhood in Arkansas and Missouri, the eighth of nine children. As early as high school, God began preparing him for the work he would pursue, he said.

He was president of his high school student body in both junior and senior years. He attended a community college for two years and then transferred to Union University.

&8220;I graduated one week from Union, married the next week and entered seminary the week after that,&8221; he said.

He attended Southwestern Baptist Church Seminary and while there, as he had done in college, he served various churches and taught choirs.

Now 57, he has done church work since he was 20 years old, he said.

He and his wife, Bobbye Wynn, longtime music teacher at West Primary School, have two children.

Life has been good to them in Natchez, Dan Wynn said. &8220;It has been a blessed experience and interesting for both of us,&8221; he said. And the church and community have been good to them.

&8220;I continue to look at the future of the church and enjoy working along side the pastor to help when I can,&8221; he said. &8220;It has been a real joy to work with the ministers and the great people here.&8221;