September 25, 2000

Counselor to Texas ministers will retire
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___After personally counseling more than 1,600 ministers and their families in the last 12 and a half years, Glenn Booth will retire Dec. 31 as coordinator of the Ministers Counseling Service.
___Booth, 66, maintains that without question, the most gratifying aspect of the job has been receiving letters from ministers who wrote to tell about saved marriages and saved

GLENN BOOTH

ministries, thanks to the counseling ministry provided by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___"I see myself as a valley-walker walking through the valleys of disappointment, discouragement, doubt, depression and despair with one called and gifted of God for ministry," he said.
___But he is reluctant to take any credit for changed lives and relationships. Booth gives all the glory to God.
___"It's not what I did, but what God did through the counseling process," he said. "I see myself as a little 'c' counselor. The Holy Spirit is the capital 'C' Counselor."
___In addition to those whom he counseled, he also provided referrals for another 1,000 clients and led about 200 retreats and conferences. During his tenure, the Ministers Counseling Service has provided financial assistance for more than 600 ministers who were terminated by churches.
___While he's encountered some new problems, such as addiction to Internet pornography, most of the personal issues ministers are struggling with remain the same, Booth said. By far, most of the counseling has related to marital issues.
___One positive trend Booth has seen is that ministers and their families appear more willing to acknowledge their problems and more open to seek help than they did 12 years ago.
___"I believe they have found the Ministers Counseling Service to be a safe place to talk about their issues and their problems," he said.
___Booth came to the counseling service in 1988 from Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, where he served as associate pastor of counseling and family enrichment for more than six years.
___He previously had served as minister of family enrichment at First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls and associate pastor of Park Place Baptist Church in Houston. He was a chaplain at Memorial Hospital System of Houston and the Lufkin State School. He served as pastor of churches in Tenaha, Pollok and and Purves.
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