[6] Returning to England, he tried unsuccessfully to establish himself in business, and then became a voluntary worker in the Dockland Settlements in London.
[8] He entered Pembroke College, Oxford, with a view to ordination, and helped in the slum parish of St Ebbe's.
[9] He did not proceed to a degree, but met the Rev (later Canon) Henry Edward Hyde, who persuaded him to go to Western Australia in 1925.
[10] Bell trained for ordination at St John's Theological College, Perth, and was ordained deacon in 1926 and priest in 1928.
[12] During his curacy, Bell was also chaplain of Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont, (1927-1928), where the headmaster was Lionel Parry, who had been his college principal at St John's.
[28][29][30] During one of these broadcasts, in 1939, he prayed for the Pope (Pius XII), which, in the sectarian spirit of the day, caused immense controversy.
[31] Bell was a pacifist during the Second World War, and in 1940 he claimed that his views caused him to be censored during his radio broadcasts.
[39][40] Soon after his appointment as Dean, the church trustees proposed to demolish the Old Deanery, which had ceased to be used as a residence following the resignation of Bell's predecessor, the Very Rev Geoffrey Berwick.