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WASHINGTON, D.C. ? The Revs. Hal Henderson, Mary Brown Oliver, James Smith and Obie Wright were inducted into the Preachers Hall of Fame at Simpson-Hamline UMC May 22. The late Revs. Harold Johnson and Levi Miller were inducted posthumously.

This is the third year the church has held the special ceremony to honor and preserve the legacy of retired and deceased United Methodist preachers whose careers have affected Simpson-Hamline. The honorees are selected through a church board of members selected for that purpose.

The living honorees provide bio information, a photo and other memorabilia that is displayed in a Preachers Hall of Fame room, according to John Green, church administrator.

Some of the inductees participated in an institute held May 7, to pass along their wisdom to upcoming ministerial candidates.

Pastoral counselor reaches thousands

MARTINSBURG, W. Va. ? 'Though the Rev. Warren Watts doesn't have a traditional church congregation to lead each Sunday, his counseling work has reached thousands of people,' a front page story in The Journal reported.

Watts is the director, supervisor and counselor of the Tri-County Pastoral Counseling Service in Martinsburg, located in Calvary UMC. He is a special consultant to the school system where he reaches out to at-risk children.

He has appeared in court 1,230 times testifying in family cases, divorces, custody conflicts and child and youth sexual assault cases.

In 33 years of counseling, Watts has provided counseling to 38,000 people, 7,000 of whom were children and youth. He started the counseling service in June 1972. June marks his 44th year in ministry.

The Mountain State Counseling Alliance with over 2,000 members presented him the 'Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Counseling.'