He was born in Rochester, New York on May 6, 1943,[1] the son of Charles B. Persell Jr., Suffragan Bishop of Albany and Dorothy Lurenz.

[2] Persell graduated from Hobart College in 1965 and the Episcopal Divinity School in 1969.

In 1982 he became rector of St Ann and Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York.

He also served as President of the St Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts, Inc., Brooklyn from 1983 till 1991.

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