From a young age, Paul Barnes had a desire to serve God as a preacher. After a lifetime of twists and turns, he found his place as the pastor of Bradley’s Chapel United Methodist Church in July 2023.

“When I was 17, I wanted to enter the priesthood,” Barnes said. “I grew up Catholic.”

While he was still a student at St. Aloysius High School, he attended a convocation about becoming a priest. But becoming a priest would eliminate something he knew he wanted: a family of his own. He abandoned the idea of becoming a priest.

“I felt a call to do something, so I ministered through music,” he said. “I played every Sunday at St. Paul’s for years.”

By this time, he had married his wife Sandra and embarked on a career in engineering, but the pull toward ministry remained.

Seeking a way to combine family and ministry, Barnes left the Catholic church and found a home at Crawford Street United Methodist Church. He had previously connected with Tim Coker at Crawford Street as a youth. At that time, Coker directed the youth ministry and taught Barnes music lessons.

Barnes recalled his surprise when then-pastor Don Williams invited him and his young family to partake in communion.

“It changed me,” he said. “Just worshipping as a family there. It brought us together, so we decided to stay at Crawford Street.”

His and Sandra’s children, Amanda, Matt and Corey, became involved in children’s and youth activities and Barnes joined the choir.

Williams encouraged Barnes’s interest in ministry, and Barnes attended Woods College, where he received a certificate as a minister. He was appointed to Pleasant Hill in Yazoo City while maintaining his job as an engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District.

But, Barnes said, things came to a screeching halt in 2010 as Sandra battled a third round of cancer. Barnes had retired from USACE due to his own health issues.

“I just fell apart,” he said. “I was mad at the world. But I never stopped going to church. If I couldn’t go (on Sunday), I watched Galloway (United Methodist Church of Jackson) on TV.”

A moment of clarity came several years later as Barnes sat in a deer stand one morning.  He said he had developed an addiction to gambling and drinking as a way to escape his troubles.

“I quit every vice that I thought I had,” he said.

Tom Potter, the current pastor at Crawford Street, reached out to Barnes.

“He didn’t know previously I’d been a preacher. He said, ‘you might look into some type of ministry.’ I told him I felt I was being called again.”

Shortly after that, the district superintendent in the Methodist Church asked Barnes to fill the position at Bradley’s Chapel. But Barnes hesitated. He had previously served the church in 2003, but found it to be too much combined with his full-time job at USACE.

Barnes said he told told the superintendent he didn’t believe he’d be welcomed back. But Bradley’s Chapel wanted him to come back. He met with church members and gave them an honest assessment of his past struggles with health, gambling and drinking.

“I said, ‘I’ve been an awful sinner. Can you accept that?’ and they said, ‘Absolutely!’ I started on July 7 (2023) and haven’t looked back. It has been a wonderful experience.

“I regret the years that I wasted my life,” Barnes said, referring to his struggles with addiction. “I failed.”

He said he took the extra step of requesting exclusion from casinos from the Mississippi Gaming Commission. They granted him five years. He also had himself excluded from Indian reservation-sponsored casinos.

“I learned that I had to just put it down and quit. And I did. And it’s been the greatest freedom.”

Barnes said he identifies strongly with the parable of the prodigal son.

“That story fit me perfectly. God uses people like me, who’ve been down in the pit. Now I’ve come back to the Father and I’m willing to do whatever He wants me to do. I’ve totally surrendered. It’s a good feeling.”

Barnes said he relishes the opportunity to help people, especially those struggling with addiction.

“I’ve always had a ‘head belief’ in God, but I never had a ‘heart belief’ in God, that love for God that I wanted, always wanted to have. My sermons were intellectual,” Barnes said.

He related that the many trials of his life, and overcoming them, have worked together to awaken a deep love for God. He is extremely happy in his role with Bradley’s Chapel, he said.

“Paul says in Ephesians (3:8-12), ‘my life’s work is to help people understand and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.’ That struck me. That’s my scripture that I stand on.”

Bradley’s Chapel is located 13815 Oak Ridge Road. Sunday services begin at 11 a.m. The church also offers Bible studies and activities for all members.