If you walk along Borough High Street on a Thursday evening, you will see the historic landmark of St George the Martyr church lit up by colourful uplighters. As you walk past, someone will offer you a candle and a simple invitation: come inside, light it, stay as long as you need.
Step across the threshold and something shifts. The noise of the rush hour is disrupted by a peaceful, sacred space, a thin place with the sense that heaven is touching earth. The Blessed Sacrament is placed on the altar and a small choir sings sacred music punctuated with periods of silence. It is beautiful. This is Holy Hour.
Launched in September 2025, Holy Hour is a fresh expression of worship rooted in the Church’s ancient traditions. It is open, accessible, and gently structured, people come and go throughout the hour, some staying briefly, others lingering. At its heart is a simple attempt to interrupt the rhythm of the Borough High Street commute with beauty, truth, and goodness, inviting those who pass our doors into an encounter with God, not through explanation or argument, but through attention, through space that gives more than people expect.
The vision began with a simple observation: the steps at the front of our church are a mission field. Thousands pass within a few feet of our doors each day. In time, a conversation with the Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields opened the possibility of collaboration, and Holy Hour began to take shape.
There is nothing new in the core of this. Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is a long-established devotion, and similar initiatives exist elsewhere. What feels distinctive here is the clarity of its assembly: tradition held with confidence, a direct and public invitation, careful communication, and a willingness to work in partnership.
We are beginning to see the impact.
One time, two teenagers came in, saying they see me from the bus offering candles each week, and one day, they decided to get off at the next stop and find out what it’s all about. Another time, we spoke to a man who, upon being offered a candle and being invited inside, said “I don’t think I deserve it.” He had come out of prison that week and we encouraged him to come inside and encounter God’s love shown in Jesus Christ. We are seeing more people begin to explore our other services, having first arrived at St George’s via Holy Hour.
Our mission is clear: invite people on our streets to have an encounter with God. Our experience shows that beauty reaches people before belief and understanding do. We believe beauty is a mode of encounter with God, just as truth and justice are.
What we’ve learned
Consistency
The consistency we offer is key: every week, same time, same place, same people. Those standing outside begin to recognise faces. Conversations follow.
Confidence
Confidence to invite; that the liturgy will hold us; that God is present and already at work. And confidence, when the moment comes, to offer words to what people are beginning to experience.
Craft
Careful attention to what is made. The shaping of space, light, music, and silence. Nothing elaborate, but nothing accidental. A coherence that allows people to step in and, without needing to understand, know that they have entered somewhere different.
Mthr Marieke
Fr Ben
From St George the Martyr in Borough
