[2] George Edward Councell was born in Detroit and baptized in St. John's Episcopal Church in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1949.
[4] Before his election, Councell spent eight years serving as the rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois.
From 1986 to 1995 Councell served as canon to the ordinary in the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts following eight years as vicar at St. George's Church in Riverside, California.
Councell graduated from the University of California at Riverside Phi Beta Kappa with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in 1971.
From January 2014 until his death, Councell served as resident Chaplain of Doane Academy, an Episcopal college preparatory school in Burlington, New Jersey.