We are a Church of England parish with a strong tradition of music in worship, where all are very welcome. As an ancient Church in the centre of Durham, St Oswald's is a reservoir of peace for all who enter it.

The Sunday Eucharist is at 11:00am, and we have a play and books corner by the font for any younger worshipper who feels a parent or carer would enjoy it there. Evensong is at 6:00pm on Sundays, either in the chancel, or roughly every other week during term time when the usual hymns expand to a full choral setting, in the body of the church. Midweek Holy Communion is at 10:00am on Wednesdays, and the church is usually open from 9:30am till round about 5:00pm (or dusk, if earlier) on weekdays.

Saturday, 22nd August 2026 - Ordinary Time

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve: pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Common Worship

Verses from the First Reading Appointed for Today's Evening Prayer:

The voice of the Lord cries to the city
(it is sound wisdom to fear your name):
Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!
Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
Can I tolerate wicked scales
and a bag of dishonest weights?
Your wealthy are full of violence;
your inhabitants speak lies,
with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
Therefore I have begun to strike you down,
making you desolate because of your sins.
You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not save,
and what you save, I will hand over to the sword.
You shall sow, but not reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
For you have kept the statutes of Omri
and all the works of the house of Ahab,
and you have followed their counsels.
Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of hissing;
so you shall bear the scorn of my people.

(Micah 6:9-16, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition) 

A Prayer for All Communities Affected by the Floods, Droughts and Wildfires Currently Occuring Across the World:

Almighty God, 

As floods, droughts, and wildfires wreck lives, homes, and livelihoods, our hearts break as we recognise the injustice at the heart of the climate crisis – it’s the communities who have done the least to cause it who are most affected. 

We pray that as these communities act to recover from climate disasters, and look to adapt to the changing conditions, you will provide protection for them as you did for Noah and his family. 

We pray that polluting corporations and nations will listen to the calls of affected communities and change their ways, so all your people may live a full life in peace, love, and prosperity. 

Amen.

Christian Aid

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

August 2026 - Auckland Deanery

A Prayer of St Oswald:

(Prayed by King Oswald of Northumbria and his army on the battlefield on the eve of the Battle of Heavenfield)

Let us all kneel, and together beseech the true and living God Almighty in his mercy to defend us from the proud and cruel enemy; for he knows that we have undertaken a just war for the safety of our nation.

Amen. 

The Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People