Jon Owen is a modern-day saint. He also happens to look like an Indian version of George Clooney, with killer looks and also a killer sense of humour.

"I'm Indian, we can't fight. We're not even naughty. When we break into your house, we'll probably reconfigure your wi-fi to make it work properly," he laughs.

Jon has never broken into anyone's house. In fact, for the last two decades he has opened his home to anyone needing help.

With his wife Lisa, they chose to live on the poverty line while working among disadvantaged communities in Melbourne and Western Sydney.

It is this creed of selfless service that has seen him chosen as the new pastor and chief executive of Sydney's iconic Wayside Chapel.

Whether it's a meal, shower, rehabilitation or just a friendly chat, visitors come to Wayside for their own reasons. ( Supplied: Wayside Chapel )

Talk about stepping up. From running a small ministry out of his living room, he is now in charge of over 100 staff members and nearly 700 volunteers, and responsible for raising an operating budget of $10 million a year.

As well, he ministers to thousands of visitors who treat Wayside as a home away from home — that is, if they have a home to go to.

A place where love trumps hate

The Wayside Chapel is run out of a cluster of buildings down a Kings Cross side street. ( Supplied: Wayside Chapel )

The visitors are waiting outside the Wayside Chapel in the morning as the blinds go up.

It's a cluster of buildings down a side street in Kings Cross and the sun is just reaching the front courtyard.

Some of the visitors have slept rough on the street and need a shower and clean clothes.

Others want a cheap breakfast or to play chess in the cafe.

People who are isolated and lonely come for company or to join in one of the many activities.

A man with homemade tattoos tells Jon his sad life story. Jon lets him talk. Sometimes that's all a person needs.

"That connectivity he has and the real compassion he shows for people generally is the key attribute that will make him a success in the role," says Ian Martin, Wayside's chairman.

Wayside Chapel is a haven for the city's vulnerable and homeless. ( Supplied: Wayside Chapel )

Search for Wayside successor

When Graham Long announced he was stepping down as Pastor and CEO of Wayside late in 2017, many felt he was irreplaceable.

An irreverent Reverend, a maverick and a teller of bawdy jokes, Graham fashioned the Wayside into a true community.

Instead of acting as an intensive care unit for the disadvantaged, Graham created a place of no "us and them".

Celebrities rub shoulders with the mentally ill.

Malcolm Turnbull at the Wayside during Christmas 2017. ( AAP: Dean Lewins )

Children going to playgroup in the hall walk past ice addicts, and prime ministers serve meals to the homeless.

Everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

"It's not really right to call it a welfare agency, we don't see it that way. We're a place where community is created and where barriers are knocked down. We don't want to be an intensive care unit for people who fail," says Graham.

But after 14 years in the job, Graham felt it was time for generational change and a fresh energy for this enormous role.

"I think we were all thinking, 'How can he ever be replaced? Who are they going to find?'" remembers Wayside ambassador Indira Naidoo.

"They're very big shoes to fill, aren't they?" adds another ambassador, actress Claudia Karvan.

Graham had the man for the job

As it turns out, Graham had already pegged his successor.

A few years into his tenure at Wayside, a young man turned up from Melbourne wanting to know where in Sydney he could do the most good.

Jon Owen and his wife Lisa set up a community centre in their Bidwell home living room. ( Supplied )

Graham drove Jon Owen out to the Mt Druitt area and Jon, wife Lisa and their two young daughters set up a community centre from their living room in the suburb of Bidwell.

They ran youth groups, cooking classes and men's forums, and helped out in the community whenever there was a need.

"Our mission [was] to create community and make our household a safe place for kids, a safe place for women, and a place of peace for men," says Jon.

"I think we had 13 people in a three-bedroom house at one stage."

Graham invited Jon into the Wayside as an assistant pastor to see whether he could sink or swim.

Despite being mistaken for a drug dealer on his first day in the job, Jon swam.

Rebel with a cause

In June this year, Jon Owen was inducted into his new role of pastor and chief executive of the Wayside.

The choir sang and the crowd cheered. None more so than his parents Rani and Zyx Owen. For them it has been a long journey with their wayward son.

They brought him as a baby from Malaysia and raised him and his sisters in Melbourne hoping for the educational opportunities that would create successful lives.

"I actually secretly wanted him to become a doctor. A lawyer would've done fine," remembers mum Rani.

Jon was six months away from completing his computer science and engineering degree when he dropped out to do community work.

"We're not disappointed now, given where this has taken him, and his passion. And we're very proud of him for what he's pursued over the past 20-odd years," says Jon's father Zyx.

Jon Owen's mother secretly wanted him to become a doctor or lawyer. ( Supplied )

'A pimple on the bum of Wayside'

Graham Long sits in the sun talking to the visitors. Some he has seen through jail terms, drug addictions and difficult recoveries.

"I've had more goodbye concerts than Jon Farnham," he jokes to an old mate as he gets up to leave.

His title now is Pastor Emeritus but Graham calls himself just "a pimple on the bum of Wayside".

The weight of keeping this vital service alive is on someone else's shoulders but Graham will still be around to support his younger successor.

"We all flourish best when we're necessary, significant, not central," he says.

"I really believe that with all my heart. But now I have to demonstrate it."

He walks up Hughes Street, resting easy in the knowledge his life's work is in good hands.

Graham Long and Jon Owen outside Wayside Chapel ( Supplied: Wayside Chapel )

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