Minister to deacons says he has ‘best job in the world'

Tim Costello strengthened his faith in Cursillo movement before becoming a deacon

Published: May 18, 2015

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Aprille Hanson

Deacon Tim Costello, the new minister to deacons for the Diocese of Little Rock, studies literature related to spiritual guidance in his office. He was ordained to the permanent diaconate in November 2012.

Aprille Hanson

Deacon Tim Costello had a crisis of confidence before starting the diaconate process in 2010. After all, he was already working at Ace Hardware, studying for his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway while making sure to spend enough time with his wife Sandy. Besides being an extra activity on his plate, he just couldn’t imagine himself as a deacon. However, God would do what he had always done — put people in Costello’s life who would know just what to say to give him the strength to carry out God’s will.

“So there was a couple of parishioners who wanted me to do it, and I kept saying no and Sandy’s mom was wanting me to think about it and do it. I went to (then-pastor) Father (Robert) Dienert who said, ‘You know people can see things in you that you don’t see in yourself,’” Costello said. “The people God’s put in my life have just been real special. He always puts someone there wherever I go.”

Costello was ordained to the permanent diaconate in November 2012.

On April 27, he was named the new minister to deacons by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor to provide spiritual and educational opportunities for the diocese’s active and retired deacons. He replaces Deacon John Marschewski, who died Feb. 5 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Marschewski served in the position for 10 years.

“Right now I feel I’ve got the best job in the world. Sandy and I just feel so blessed. I feel like I’m a servant of the servants,” Costello said.

Costello, soft-spoken and humble, said he is in awe of the position — which is temporarily part-time while he takes classes and works as a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. It’s been a long, faith-filled journey to get to this point. The youngest of six sons, Costello grew up in Pine Bluff as a cradle Catholic.

After graduating in 1979 from Subiaco Academy, he became an assistant manager at Wal-Mart, where he met his wife Sandy through a coworker. They married in June 2, 1984. He has one daughter, Patricia Villines, 33, from a previous marriage.

Though he’s still determining what his niche will be as minister to deacons, he believes he can be a supportive ear when it comes to marriage.

“We are a husband and father first, then a deacon … Sandy and I pray every day. At the end of prayer, I always give Sandy a blessing,” Costello said. “Also, if one is asleep we put our hand on the other. Well, now that I have become a deacon, Sandy wakes me up to give her a blessing before she leaves. I do not mind at all.”

After a brief time in Houston, the couple moved back to North Little Rock (Marche) in 1987, where he met Dan and Lorene Bane, parishioners at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, thanks to a broken air conditioner.

“He came and fixed the air conditioner free of charge. Then from that point on, he kind of took me under his wing, it made a huge impression,” he said, pausing to wipe the tears from his eyes. Both have since died.

“He got me involved in Cursillo. That was definitely the starting point of a formation, getting to know Christ in a more personal way … we’d meet weekly for years and we would come together and we would talk about our close moments with Christ that previous week.”

Since 2012, he’s been enjoying the love and support from Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioners, even when he’s had some bumps along the way.

“At times I get tongue-tied with words. So I’m doing Stations of the Cross and the women lamented Jesus — well, I ‘laminated’ them,” he said with a laugh. “The people responded and jumped right in and helped me out.”

Though the new position is daunting, after everything that’s happened so far, Costello said he knows he has the support of the faith community and will continue to do what he loves — learning.

“Learning is life-long. If we ever stop learning, we’re not really fulfilling what God wants us to do. We just need to continue to grow toward him each and every day,” he said.