The Wood Institute has plans to address economic and social problems in this area, according to the Rev. Ron Barham, director.
Barham, informed members of the Eupora Rotary Club about the ministry's proposed areas of service on Tuesday. It is located on the former Wood College campus at Mathiston, which discontinued its two-year degree granting operation in June 2003 after the private school lost its accreditation because of financial problems.
The Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church owns and maintains the property. A task force appointed to shape plans for how the organization will work on the Wood campus conducted a public meeting in January to seek input on ways that the denomination could serve Webster County and the surrounding area.
Official action was taken at the annual conference of the Mississippi United Methodist Conference in Biloxi this June. Delegates voted to create The Wood Institute, turning the campus into a resource center to undergird rural life in Mississippi, both spiritually and socially, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
Bishop Kenneth L. Carder appointed Barham as director of the institute. Barham and his wife, Carrol, came to Mathiston from Brookhaven, where he had served as superintendent of the UMC's Brookhaven District. He also pastors the Sturgis and Big Creek United Methodist churches in Sturgis.
During Tuesday's program, Barham pointed out that while most of Mississippi is rural, all of the social ills and needs concentrated in bigger cities such as illiteracy, low income and teen pregnancy exist here also but are more spread out.
"We think we have an opportunity at The Wood Institute to address these needs and improve the quality of life," he said.
The mission-based organization is developing four areas of service, Barham said, all of which are especially targeted at small-membership and rural churches:
Equipping local church leaders.
Growth and renewal for clergy.
Partnership with other service agencies in the community, governmental and private.
Educational training and retraining.
"Wood has a good name," said Barham. "We hope to offer some educational opportunities at Wood."
While these opportunities may not necessarily include for-credit courses, he did say the institute is available to work toward economic development and provide workforce training Barham is a participant in the Webster County Development Council's Vision to Action program. The Leadership82 program, of which Barham is also a participant, has monthly sessions on the campus. The volunteer program works to improve leadership sills of individuals from four counties.
He said the main request in this regard that he has heard is to provide training for nurses, noting the commuting distance to colleges that do provide this. He also mentioned the possibility of providing training for childcare providers, a dropout prevention program by sharing resources over surrounding counties, an adult literacy program and transportation to the campus for those involved in any of these programs.
Barham was asked about previous discussions with Holmes Community College to consider offering classes on the Wood campus. He said the current Holmes administration had not expressed an interest in doing so at this time but that he does plan to pursue this opportunity again in the future.
Plenty of other opportunities also exist, Barham said, adding that interested citizens continue to offer new ideas. He pointed out that the campus has 12 building in reasonably good shape and horse stables. The campus can accommodate family reunions and church groups, and Bennett Auditorium can seat up to 550 people.
A dormitory there was made available earlier this month to nearly 60 evacuees from Hurricane Ivan. Barham commended the numerous churches and organizations that provided food and comfort items for them.
Barham may be contacted at The Wood Institute, P.O. Box 289, Mathiston, MS 39752. Phone: 263-5352, ext. 125. Fax: 263-4964. E-mail address: rbarham@woodinstitute.org
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