Today the small vestry serves as an office for the Historic Chapels Trust and the church is available for hire for secular events.

The founder was Dietrich Beckman, a successful sugar boiler who put up half the money required to buy the site and erect the church.

The last major influx of Germans to the area was in the 1930s, when, during the Nazi period, the pastor, Julius Rieger, set up a relief centre for Jewish refugees at St George's.

The theologian and anti-Nazi activist Dietrich Bonhoeffer preached here for a brief period in 1935, following the destruction of his own St Paul's church nearby.

The Royal Arms were required to be erected in Anglican churches but were adopted by nonconformist congregations voluntarily, as a mark of loyalty.

The restoration was supervised by conservation architects Thomas Ford and Partners with structural engineers Alan Baxter Associates.

Gustav von Anton's collection of books was kept in the vestry and with later additions to the library, came into the care of the Historic Chapels Trust with the building.

In autumn 1995 an unsuccessful attempted theft prompted the transfer of the books to the British Library where they are catalogued as a special collection and available to students.

Books and microfiches available for baptisms 1763 - 1895 and other parish records for family history research are no longer held at the church but may be consulted at LB Tower Hamlets Central Library