This is the second interview with Alumni of United Theological College as they celebrate 50 years in 2025.
Rev. Jon Owen is the CEO of Sydney’s cherished Wayside Chapel, a charity and parish mission of the Uniting Church in Kings Cross. It has served Sydney’s homeless since 1964, providing food, shelter and vital welfare services.
For Owen, it’s a place where people can be seen, accepted and loved without judgement, true to the organisation’s creed – Love over Hate.
You get the impression that Owen is incredibly good at doing this, exuding an immediate warmth, candour and humour, that puts people at ease.
“If you come down to Wayside trying to be someone or something you’re not, people will spot it a mile off. People who come to Wayside are not problems to be solved, they are people to be met,”
“We follow a God here who is always calling to you. To your real self, not the projected ideal of who you think you should be. Wayside’s invitation is always to say, “when we say God’s people, we mean everyone.”
The son of Indian and Sri Lankan immigrants, Jon moved to Melbourne from Malaysia when he was 3 years old. His religious upbringing was a fusion of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.
Initially starting an electrical engineering and computer science degree at university he soon transitioned to social work to follow his strengthened call to Christianity and helping people on the margins.
“One of the reasons that led me on the path of service was after learning about a Catholic nun living in Cambodia, she used to barge into brothels with gangs of men and pull the girls out who were being trafficked for sex,” he muses with admiration of her boldness.
In his twenties, he and his wife, Lisa, took a vow of living on the poverty line while working in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Melbourne as a member of the Urban Neighbours of Hope mission.
They then took the same mission to Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west, where they opened their home to ex-prisoners, people dealing with addiction and those impacted by intergenerational poverty and disadvantage. Jon also helped plant a Uniting Church in the area, where he completed his period of discernment.
When asked about some of the ways he deals with people who have endured incredible pain, abuse and trauma, he reflected on the advice of a former colleague.
“He said Jon all you need to do is shut up and listen, you don’t need to talk. Listen to the whispers and the promises breathed into that neighbourhood, listen for her songlines, then pray that you can learn to sing along with them. I thought that was beautiful,”
“I remember one sister at Wayside who used to rub her crucifix when she heard something painful or was sharing in someone’s grief, and when I asked her why, she said she used to do it when her dad was raping her as a girl, and in those moments she felt that hand of Jesus holding hers, weeping with her and letting her know she wasn’t alone,”
“That’s when I feel closest to God, when I hear the pain of others,” Jon said.
In early 2022, Jon was ordained as a Reverend with the Uniting Church following the completion of his studies at United Theological College.
“I’m grateful for the order in which I did my study, having already had the practical experience. I don’t recommend anyone going straight into ministry out of high school, I think it’s worthwhile having some life under your belt first,”
“An Elder once told me that Aboriginal lore helped him better show up for his mob and guide them. That’s how I always viewed studying, I was thinking how this Church lore is going to help my people, my mob,”
“That’s always been the strength and the power of Wayside, is to come and be met and to be changed. So we can take that message out further and further. And to do that from the family of the Uniting Church, is a real honour and it’s a real privilege,” said Jon.
Jo Maloney is the Media and Public Affairs Consultant for the Uniting Church Synod of NSW and ACT
