‘Speaking of Faith’

MADISON  Christopher Bell said he felt terrified when he opened the first location of Good Counsel Homes for homeless pregnant woman and single mothers with babies in a former convent in Hoboken in 1985. He jokes that, back then, a particular nightmare haunted him — “I would imagine having to change mountains of diapers — because at that time, I hadn’t changed many diapers.”

Bell’s strong trust in God — mixed with loads of courage — helped him overcome his considerable fears — that extended well beyond diapers — to take leap into uncharted territory: founding and then attempting to operate a non-profit maternity home. At the time, only 300 similar facilities existed in the U.S., making the 20-something Catholic and his partner in this ministry, the late Father Benedict Groeschel of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, look like trailblazers in this outreach. Bell told the story of Good Counsel Homes, which today operates homes in New Jersey, New York and Alabama, last week at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard here, as part of its ongoing “Speaking of Faith” conversation series.

“It seemed a struggle but God provided,” said the humble and soft-spoken Bell, a married father of seven children, 17 to 27 years old — six of whom are adopted. He was inspired to open the first location of Good Counsel Homes, after ministering to young homeless people at Covenant House in Times Square in New York City in 1979. “There, I met a woman, who was pregnant. Her boyfriend told her about a place where she could ‘go to get rid of it.’ She came in and asked, “Can you help me?’ Before, I didn’t think of women as homeless or abandoned. They could have been my sisters or classmates. I asked, ‘Why isn’t there a place for them?’ ” he said.

An enthusiastic audience listened as Bell engaged in a lively conversation with Father Paul Manning, St. Paul’s executive director and diocesan vicar for evangelization; they sat in chairs across from each other in between a small table in the front of one of St. Paul’s classrooms. That night, the priest asked the featured guest questions about his childhood, family life, faith life, Good Counsel and experiences of having met two saints: John Paul II and Teresa of Calcutta. After, Father Manning invited audience members to ask Bell these own questions.

“ ‘Speaking of Faith’ is series of unrehearsed conversations with people from all walks of life about their experiences of God and about how they integrate their life and faith,” Father Manning said.

Bell surprised some audience members by stating that he did not co-found Good Counsel — which celebrated the birth of its 1,000th baby last year — based on Catholic social teaching or the pro-life cause. Instead, inspiration came from his five years of ministering to pregnant homeless women in Times Square and from Scripture in Psalm 68: “God gave a lonely home to dwell in.”

“I asked God, ‘Really?’ Then I said, ‘OK.’ That was the seed,” said Bell, who noted that Father Groeschel, who died in 2014, offered his help, including with fund raising — an effort that led to the opening of the first Good Counsel location in the vacant convent o f St. Francis Parish, Hoboken. “I also realized that it was the ancient custom in Jewish Scripture to care for the widows and orphans,” he told the audience.

During the conversation, Father Manning told Bell, “You came to this conclusion because of your experiences with real people in need and reading the Scriptures. That is the root of Catholic social teaching.” Bell said that over time, he has read widely on Catholic social teaching and has become active in the pro-life movement.

Good Counsel runs homes and programs to help mothers and babies “live life to the fullest” and has sheltered more than 7,000 women since its founding. It also offers post-abortion healing and Day Star, a program for women, who suffer from drug-abuse and mental illness, among its many programs, Bell said.

Bell also spoke about the Catholic upbringing that inspired his faith and ministry to homeless pregnant women. His faith started early with “an experience of God that I couldn’t deny.” Later, he would stop into his home church, St. Boniface, in Elmont, N.Y., before heading to school. In college, he questioned authority, including the Pope and the Church, and stopped attending Mass, but soon returned.

“God isn’t as complicated as we make him because he is love,” Bell said.

Father Manning also asked Bell about having met St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta, whom he had met several times.

“She was the shortest woman I ever met and had gnarly feet — a testament to her being on her knees in prayer for hours a day and standing all day in service to the Lord and the poor,” said Bell. He met John Paul briefly during a small audience in 1998. “Later, I saw him speak with a man who was dying of cancer. He told the man, ‘Have courage.’ In his own life, John Paul had faced physical death and had contemplated death. He said that death is a door to heaven.”

After the question-and-answer session, Father Manning concluded the “Speaking of Faith” event by calling Bell “simple, loving and wise. Thank you for being here tonight.”

Afterward, Christina Reneo of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Mountain Lakes, said that she enjoyed attending Bell’s talk to “learn [about faith and life] from different perspectives that I can take into consideration [for her own life].”

“Many things that Chris said made sense, like that God has faith in us. We just need to keep moving along,” said Reneo, who also belongs to St. Paul’s Young Adults.

The “Speaking of Faith” series at St. Paul’s will continue with Deacon Brian Beyerl, M.D., chief of neurosurgery and vice chairman in the Department of Neuroscience at Morristown Memorial Medical Center at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 17.

[Information: (973) 377-1004 or visit www.insidethewalls.org.]