NATCHEZ &8212; A call to the ministry is difficult to describe, said Aaron Wesley. He felt it years ago but tried to ignore it.

&8220;It&8217;s not something I wanted to pursue, to be honest. I ran from it for five and a half years, but it was there,&8221; he said.

A 25-year veteran of the Natchez Fire Department, Wesley, a captain and the fire marshal, spreads his pastoral care wherever he goes, including on the job with his co-workers.

Fire Chief Paul Johnson has observed Wesley&8217;s work and on Tuesday asked Natchez aldermen to name Wesley chaplain of the department, a title but not a paid position. Aldermen agreed.

&8220;I have seen how he helps the members of the fire department. And he was very helpful to me when I was ill,&8221; Johnson said.

Wesley, an ordained minister, has worked through the Baptist Association and with local ministers Earnest Ford and Kenneth Stanton, among others.

&8220;They have been teaching me for the last five years. I have been with some good pastors,&8221; Wesley said.

He now serves as associate minister at Egypt Baptist Church and as youth minister at China Grove Baptist Church.

His schedule is full, as he also goes to the city jail to minister to inmates every Sunday morning. &8220;We have a service, reading Scripture, having prayer and bringing them the Word.&8221;

On two Saturdays every month, he visits nursing homes to minister there.

&8220;I&8217;m also a baseball coach in the T.M. Jennings League. And my wife and I have a business,&8221; he said. He and his wife, Gloria, own TLC Child Care Center.

His heart is at the fire department, he said. When he was in sixth grade and someone asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said fireman.

After completing studies at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, he was preparing to enter the Air Force. A friend told him there was an opening at the fire department.

He applied and won the job. He was 20 years old then, and since that time has worked with six or seven fire chiefs.

Becoming a captain and the fire marshal were affirmations of the years he has put into the department and the kind of job he has done, Wesley said.

He gives credit to Johnson, who &8220;sets a good example for all of us. He carries himself very well and is very professional.&8221;

Wesley also tries to set a good example. That is one way to minister to his co-workers. &8220;I&8217;ve tried to live a positive life, be hard working and not complaining,&8221; he said.

&8220;I tell the men not to gossip but to go to one another to talk, don&8217;t talk behind each other&8217;s back. Know who you are.&8221;

He reminds them as often as he can that they are made in the image of God, Wesley said.

&8220;And I give God all the credit for what I am, and they know that,&8221; he said.