Does Chislehurst need a Modern Monk?
Meet Johannes Hartl, Father, author and Modern Monk based in Augsburg, Germany, who started a prayer meeting that has been running non-stop of 5,110 days!
Preamble:
Before you read a moment further, let me be honest. In one sense, this interview has absolutely nothing to do with Chislehurst. It is an interview with a man about his experience of prayer six hundred miles away in southern Germany. Why on earth would I allow it to be published here? The answer is because patterns of monastic, round-the-clock prayer have been all but lost in Chislehurst. Our high street has eight churches1on or near to it, with more in the surrounding areas. Yet which one is open for prayer 24/7? It may not be practical, but as this interview shows, it is certainly possible, and how can we as a community possibly feel the benefits of prayer unless we are committed to giving it a good try.
When did you become a Christian?
I was brought up Catholic. I always had a good relationship with the Christian faith, but it was not before I was a teenager that I really had a dramatic conversion experience.
What do you mean by dramatic?
Unexpectedly, I was hit by beauty and love, which changed my perspective on God because I didn’t know that God was beautiful.
Tell us about your Gebetsraum (prayer room).
This is a place where at 3 a.m. in the morning, 6 p.m. in the afternoon—wherever you come, you find a group of people praying and singing. And it’s mainly young people who do that. We started in 2007, and since 2011, we haven’t stopped praying, so it’s almost 14 years now. It’s nonstopping.
Who goes out in the middle of the night?
Well, we have four sections, four daily sections, and there is one night section—one night shift. We have assigned prayer slots to staff members and volunteers like watches. No, not everybody is supposed to stay for six hours, but it’s a group. It’s a team of people who are responsible for covering them for six hours, and they take turns as well.
What has the Lord said to you through the prayer room? About Germany, the nations?
Prayer is not everything, but everything is nothing without prayer. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus says to Mary and to Martha, “You are troubled about many things, but one thing is needed.” So the one thing that I keep on hearing when I pray is that this is the most important thing—to have your focus clear.
We in the West have really lost our orientation. We’re like an astronaut floating off in space without contact with something solid anymore. So we need to come back to putting God first, which is prayer.
On the panel (reference to ARC Conference 2025), you mentioned that in the West, we need to refind our spiritual roots. Can you tell us more about what specifically you mean by that?
After the downfall of the Roman Empire, there was a chaotic situation in Europe. It was small Christian communities—basically monks and monasteries—who started to build communities that were circling around prayer, studying, teaching, and agriculture.
So you’re talking about monasteries. Are you saying that’s what’s needed now? Would you see the prayer room in Augsburg as a monastery, not a prayer room?
I would say it’s like a modern expression of an old idea. I think we still need old-fashioned, normal monasteries, but still, we try to live the same principle with a fresh outlook.
When I read your book, I was struck by your willingness to mention abortion. We have prayer rooms in the UK, but most don’t want to touch these subjects. Tell us about the relationship between the prayer room and politics. What are the boundary lines for you?
It’s just a matter of fact that abortions don’t happen in our city, which is an interesting thing. So I don’t believe in the power of politics to change the world into a better place. I believe that God can change the human heart. So, of course, we pray for the public sphere, and of course, we pray for our city, but not with a mentality of infiltrating politics. But of course, we pray as Jesus taught us that His will be done, His kingdom come on earth, as it already is in heaven.
Tell us more about the prayer room. How big is it? How did you fund it?
We bought a large house. It used to be a fitness studio, and we added multiple other houses on, so now it’s a campus. We have guest facilities. We have a conference center. It’s all by donations. We have around 100 staff who worship at different churches- around 40% Catholic, 40% Protestant, and some Orthodox.
Do you have a family and do your children get involved in the prayer room?
Yes, I have four kids. one wife. You cannot force them, but actually they like the prayer room, yeah.
Historically, Augsburg is where Martin Luther first split with the Catholic Church. Do you think the prayer room is bringing healing?
So, I think it is a scandal that Christianity is not one, and prayer is the one thing that we can do together. There are things we cannot agree on because there are some theological issues, right? But we have to do together what we are able to. Therefore, if we pray together, we will start to actually love each other. So I think prayer is a vital contribution to the healing of the scandal of Christian disunity.
Where are you on Israel? Are you pro-Israel?
I will speak at the Israeli embassy in May at the celebration of 70 years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel, so I am very friendly with Israel.
What about the Catholics?
Since the Franciscans came in the Middle Ages, the Catholics have always been the strongest entity of Christianity during the last 800 years. But, of course, those were Arab Christians. Therefore, the Catholic Church has a big sympathy for the Arab side of the conflict, which is a valid point. The other point is the Jewish perspective, but I’d say the Catholic Church has always been a little stronger on the Palestinian side.
I myself lived in a monastery in Israel for a time, and my staff workers were Christian Arabs, so from that, I got a certain perspective. It’s a tragic situation for both, but especially at this point in time, it’s very important to stand on the side of Israel.
To find out more about Johannes and his prayer room visit:
https://johanneshartl.org/
Originally published in March 2025
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