Judy Matheny, West Virginia

Missionary Code #982969-3

Dr. Judy Matheny is a deaconess and Church and Community Worker assigned to the United Methodist Ministries in southern West Virginia. As a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries, she works with low income families struggling for the basic necessities of life – food, water, shelter, electricity, heat, etc. "My experience is that by helping people in their time of need, they experience God's love in a way that enables them to keep hope alive." Dr. Matheny continues, "I am thankful for this opportunity to be in ministry in this part of rural Appalachia and to have the privilege of sharing God’s love."

Prior to this assignment, Dr. Matheny served in eastern Kentucky with the Appalachian Ministries Educational Resource Center (AMERC). A consortium of 37 seminaries representing 17 denominations, AMERC provides specialized training for seminary students concerned about ministry in Appalachia and other missional localities.

Before going to Kentucky, Dr. Matheny served as an associate for research and resources at Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville, North Carolina, and was editor of one of the center’s publications, the Hinton Hearld. She also conducted research in church related matters and in 1985 completed 'A National Study of Cooperative Parish Ministries as Units of Mission' for the General Board of Global Ministries.

In 1995 Dr. Matheny did a second study, A Directory of Cooperative Parish Ministries in The United Methodist Church for the National Cooperative Parish Ministry Leadership Team. Then in 2002 she completed a third study, 'Together in Ministry: A Resource Directory of Cooperative Parish Ministries in The United Methodist Church'.

Dr. Matheny has been a church and community worker since 1970 when she first went to Hinton Center as an intern. She later spent five years at the Upper Sand Mountain Parish in North Alabama and then three years on special assignment and study leave before returning to Hinton in 1979.

Dr. Matheny earned a B.A. degree in religion at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia; a Master’s of Religious Education at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.; and a Ph.D. in sociology of religion at Emory University in Atlanta. Her home conference is the Virginia Annual Conference.