NATCHEZ &045;&045; Changes too numerous to list will give a different flavor to an upcoming old-fashioned camp meeting, but the spirit will be much the same, organizers say.

The Rev. Diane Woodall, pastor of Washington United Methodist Church, is leading her congregation in commemorating the 200 years that have passed since the first Methodist camp meeting in Mississippi was held in Washington in 1804.

The Dec. 12-14 meeting will draw people from afar; that is one way the 2004 event will be similar to the olden days, Woodall said. &uot;We don’t have cabins or tents, but we will have people from out of town.&uot;

The camp meeting traditionally has been a way to bring people of an area together to have services but also to have day-to-day fellowship, including eating meals together.

One big difference between the 1804 era and today is the presence of women as ministers, Woodall said. In fact, &uot;in the early 1800s, pastors were required to be single. Two were dismissed because they were married.&uot;

From within the Mississippi Methodist Conference, special speakers at the upcoming camp meeting will include the Rev. Hope Morgan Ward, bishop of the conference; the Rev. Cecil Williamson, conference evangelist, the Rev. Phillip Heidelburg, Brookhaven District superintendent; and the Rev. Kelly Pope, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Brandon.

Washington, now a small village on the outskirts of Natchez, was a bustling place during the time of the camp meeting in 1804. The Methodist church there was founded in 1799 by Tobias Gibson.

Today, one of Gibson’s lateral descendants, Curtis Gibson of Natchez, is an active member of the Washington church.

&uot;Three of the charter members of the church are related to me,&uot; Gibson said. &uot;But I didn’t even grow up Methodist. I started out as a Catholic, then raised my children in the Episcopal church. Then due to a change in marriage started going to Washington Methodist Church.&uot;

The historical connection to the church pleases him but is not what drives him. Now after studying and attending classes, he is a certified Methodist lay minister.

Like his pastor, Gibson is excited about the camp meeting. &uot;I think people will be very interested in what we’re doing,&uot; he said. &uot;We’ll have special music, and people from other churches will be coming to be with us.&uot;

At the first camp meeting, in December 1804, the well-known Methodist circuit rider Lorenzo Dow announced he would publish &uot;the latest authentic news from hell, and after a crowd gathered in a rush, he preached an effective sermon from Luke 16:23, ‘In Hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,’&uot; writes the Rev. J.B. Cain, minister at Washington from 1915 to 1920, in his book &uot;Cradle of Mississippi Methodism.&uot;

The object of the first camp meeting was to &uot;aget people converted from sin to holiness and to receive them into the fellowship of Christ here on earth,&uot; Woodall said. People came from as far north as Port Gibson and from communities such as Kingston, Church Hill and Pine Ridge.

Washington Church is the oldest Methodist congregation in three states, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, Woodall said. The church building dates to 1828, making it the second oldest after the 1824

Woodville church building.

The congregation numbers about 75, with about 35 of those actively participating. &uot;The biggest challenge is getting new members,&uot; Woodall said. &uot;But we’ve gotten eight new members in the past three years. And we want people to know that this church is alive and well.&uot;

Leading up to the big event, Woodall has been referring to things that were said during the 1804 camp meeting, working those things into her sermons each Sunday. &uot;I want us to remember where we were so we know where we want to go.&uot;

She has asked the speakers at the three-day camp meeting to preach in the old-fashioned revival style. &uot;And we’ll have lots of the old-time kinds of singing,&uot; she said.

Everyone in the community is invited to come and take part. The service times are 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Dec. 12; 6 p.m. on Dec. 13, when the bishop will speak; and 6 p.m. on Dec. 14.

The church sits on a small hill on the east side of U.S. 61 in Washington, a few miles north of Natchez.