Finding God In St Kilda
After theological training in pristine Switzerland, Tim Costello's first ministry was in St Kilda - a waterfront suburb of Melbourne as famous for its sex and drugs and "no-hopers" as for its ethnic mix and cosmopolitan cultures. 'Streets of Hope' is his warm and personal story of this formative time: the encounters and characters, the challenges to his skills as a lawyer, to his convictions as a churchman, to ideas and values - about family, sex and spirituality, caring and charity, the law and the powerless, the need for community in an age of insecurity. In 1993 he was elected the mayor of St Kilda, and became prominent for his role in defending local democracy.
Since then, Tim Costello has evolved into a street-wise public-interest activist on a national front. With the support of his family, he works across a wide range of issues with this same passion and hope - including helping homeless youths, leading the campaign against state-supported gambling, advising bankers on ethics, and shaping history at the 1998 Constitutional Convention. In his writing and public speaking the Reverend Tim Costello seeks a vision for national morality - a republic with a conscience - and shows the power the church can have as champion of the common good.
