HAY RIVER - Dean Steel, a Pentecostal pastor in Hay River, doesn't recommend joining the clergy without a calling from God.

"It's not an ordinary job," he said, adding it's not a vocation in the ordinary sense.

Dean Steel is pastor of the Hay River Pentecostal Church. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Steel explained being a member of the clergy is a varied profession, ranging from sharing the last few seconds of a person's life to celebrating when two people marry.

"In over 30 years, I think I've seen just about everything, but I still get surprised," the 50-year-old said.

Steel noted a pastor deals with the spiritual side of life.

"I get to bring Jesus into situations," he said. "I know Jesus is the only person who can restore people's lives."

Steel, who is originally from Alberta, has worked in Hay River for about a year and a half. From 1985-1990, he served in Yellowknife.

Professional satisfaction comes from doing God's work, he said. "I get to see the Lord transform lives. There's absolutely nothing like it."

Steel said a member of the clergy works much more than just on Sunday.

"There's a lot that goes on our plate," Steel said.

There is counselling people, visiting the sick, crisis intervention, weddings and funerals, just to name a few.

Many of those responsibilities are stressful, even a joyous occasion such as a marriage, he said "Weddings are very stressful, hugely stressful."

Steel is also responsible for the daily care of his own congregation, which numbers about 100.

If that was not enough, the pastor is vice-chair of the Hay River Community Youth Centre and president of the Hay River Ministerial Society.

Steel also spreads the word of God on radio.

He has a program on Hay River community radio station CKHR. The two-hour program on Sunday evenings features Christian music and preaching.

Since 1990, he has produced short daily radio messages called "Real Living." They are broadcast on four or five stations in central Alberta.

"It's just a simple, two-minute blurb on the family," he explained, adding it offers commonsense advice from a Christian perspective. "I raised four kids, so I figure I know something about it."

Steel said from the time he was 13 he wanted to be a radio announcer, and even studied television, stage and radio arts at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

"But God had different ideas."