EASLEY — Bill G. George was honored for 20 years of service as head of Baptist Easley’s Pastoral Counseling Center during a hospital-wide retirement celebration last Friday.
George was not only the clinical manager of Baptist Easley’s Pastoral Counseling Center, he was also the person credited with establishing the center in 1990. Over the last 20 years, the center’s services have grown to include satellite centers in Simpsonville, Seneca, Laurens, Pendleton, Greer and Duncan.
“It is with a deep sense of appreciation and an equally potent sense of thankfulness that I have had the opportunity to partner with Baptist Easley Hospital and Palmetto Health for more than 20 years in giving birth to, and in nurturing into young adulthood, this fragile treasure of ministry that we call Baptist Easley’s Pastoral Counseling Service,” said George.
After earning his B.A. from Mercer University in Macon, Ga., in 1968, George went on to earn master of Divinity (1972) and doctor of Ministry (1976) degrees in pastoral counseling from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ken.
He performed his clinical training at Norton’s Psychiatric Hospital in Louisville, followed by a year of residency in Clinical Pastoral Education at William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute in Columbia, a Pastoral Counseling internship at Trenholm Road United Methodist Church Pastoral Counseling Service, and supervisory training in clinical pastoral education with the SC Department of Mental Health.
At Converse College, George completed 24 hours of post doctoral graduate studies in the marriage and family therapy program. He is a fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, a licensed marriage and family therapist and an ordained Baptist minister.
Specializing in the ministry of pastoral counseling and clinical chaplaincy since 1972, George has strived to provide people in need with quality counseling and education designed to heal the mind, body and spirit. Through the Baptist Easley Pastoral Counseling Center, George has ministered and provided services to community needs through partnerships with local church congregations, businesses and community entities.
“I am personally indebted to, and Pastoral Counseling Service is also very indebted to, a wonderfully gifted 20-year line of committed colleagues in this specialized ministry,” said George. “All of them have caught, and lived out, this vision of ministry in creative and meaningfully unique ways. All have made personal and professional sacrifices in order to sustain our ability to remain true to the vision.”