A FOREST Hill church community is in shock after a teenager was stabbed on its doorstep yesterday.

The 17-year-old boy was attacked outside St George’s Church in Vancouver Road – while a volunteer watched on helplessly.

Churchgoers helped the injured boy inside the lobby before emergency services arrived and he was flown to hospital where his condition is now said to be stable.

The vicar of the busy church – which had a packed nursery running at the time – believes the young man was trying to seek sanctuary in the sacred building before his attackers found him.

Reverend Canon John Ackland says the community are “saddened” and “full of heartache” following the incident.

He said: “People are very shocked and saddened by what happened.

“The sense of it happening at a church ... We think he was trying to run into the church – seeking safety. We don’t know who he was.

“There is a real sense of sorrow and heartache – we are praying for him in our church.

“It was a very disturbing event, [especially] for the lady that was holding him at the time.

“They were attacking him and she couldn’t stop it.”

The church had to close its doors in order to clean up the blood, but reopened on Sunday after the area was re-blessed.

The vicar, who rushed back from a pilgrimage to Walsingham on hearing the news, says there has been a powerful communal response.

He said: “It is refreshing that people were not angry or outraged – but a response of heartache.”

“It was a very strong community response.”

Police and ambulance crews attended the scene. There have been no arrests and enquiries are ongoing.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: “Police were called shortly before 2.30pm to reports of a man stabbed in Vancouver Road.

“Officers attended and found a 17-year-old male suffering from a stab wound. He was taken to a south London hospital where his condition is said to be stable.”