FR. BENEDICT J. GROESCHEL, CFR

FR. BENEDICT J. GROESCHEL, CFR, is a Roman Catholic priest, a retreat master, author, psychologist, activist, and host of the television talk show Sunday Night Live with Father Benedict Groeschel, which is broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network. He is the director of the Office for Spiritual Development for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York as well as co-director of Trinity Retreat and the executive director of The St. Francis House. He is a professor of pastoral psychology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and an adjunct professor at the Institute for Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia. He is one of the founders of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of Renewal, two religious orders.
Fr. Groeschel remains as the founding Chairman of the Good Counsel Board of Directors.

CHRISTOPHER R. BELL

Christopher R. Bell received the inspiration to create Good Counsel while working and living at Covenant House in Times Square, a ministry for homeless youth. Joining the Covenant House Community in 1979, where members prayed three hours a day and worked full-time for $12 a week. Christopher Bell encountered the dire need for homeless pregnant women. His spiritual advisor, Father Groeschel, challenged Christopher Bell to act on his conviction that something needed to be done. Together they founded Good Counsel in 1985.

Christopher Bell is the husband of the former Joan Andrews and a father of seven children, six of whom are adopted. He's spoken extensively about this ministry to the media, to business groups, at churches and abroad. Christopher Bell studied Scripture in Rome and has a post-master's degree in family counseling, from Iona College, an MA in Religious Education and Counseling from St. Joseph's Seminary, and a B.S. from the University of Bridgeport in Journalism-Communications and International Relations.

Board Info