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, 27th June 2026 - Ordinary Time (Petertide): The Feast of St Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria and Teacher of the Faith, 444 [Commemoration]; Ember Day

You who love instruction and are eager to listen, receive once again the sacred words: delight yourselves in the honey of wisdom, for it is written, “Good words are honeycombs and their sweetness is the healing of the soul.”

From St Cyril of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of St Luke

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, who hast broken the tyranny of sin and hast sent the Spirit of thy Son into our hearts, whereby we call thee Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to thy service, that the whole world may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; through 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

A Passage of Scripture from Today's Common Worship Morning Prayer:

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Luke 17:11-19, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

A Prayer for All in our Diocese who are to be Ordained into the Priesthood this Afternoon at Durham Cathedral:

(We pray especially for Helen Miller, who was previously an ordinand at St Oswald's and following her ordination, will continue to serve her curacy at St Nics.)

God our Father, Lord of all the world, who through thy blessed Son hast called us into the fellowship of thy universal Church: hear our prayer for all thy faithful people that in their vocation and ministry each may be an instrument of thy love, and grant to thy servant Helen and all in our Diocese who are to be ordained into the Priesthood the needful gifts of grace; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Common Worship

A Sonnet for Petertide:

St Peter

Impulsive master of misunderstanding

You comfort me with all your big mistakes;

Jumping the ship before you make the landing,

Placing the bet before you know the stakes.

I love the way you step out without knowing,

The way you sometimes speak before you think,

The way your broken faith is always growing,

The way he holds you even when you sink.

Born to a world that always tried to shame you,

Your shaky ego vulnerable to shame,

I love the way that Jesus chose to name you,

Before you knew how to deserve that name.

And in the end your Saviour let you prove

That each denial is undone by love.

From Sounding the Seasons by the Reverend Dr A Malcolm Guite, Canterbury Press Norwich 

A Prayer for All Affected by the Earthquake in Venuzuela:

When the earth trembles and homes fall to dust, hold our hearts, God.

When the aftershocks come and fear takes hold, hold our hearts, God.

When grief shakes families to the core, hold our hearts, God.

Send our hands and feet to help however we can.

Our sisters and brothers in Venezuela live this now.

God of love and mercy, may we match your love in the way we respond - now.

Amen.

Christian Aid 

A Prayer for Unity in Diversity:

Almighty God, through your Holy Spirit you created unity in the midst of diversity;
We acknowledge that human diversity is an expression of your manifold love for your creation;
We confess that in our brokenness as human beings we turn diversity into a source of alienation, injustice, oppression, and wounding.
Empower us to recognize and celebrate differences as your great gift to the human family.
Enable us to be the architects of understanding, of respect and love;
Through the Lord, the ground of all unity, we pray.

Amen.

Author Unknown 

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

June 2026 - Jarrow Deanery

A Prayer of St Oswald of Northumbria:

Let us kneel together, and pray the true, the ever living and almighty God to protect us in his mercy from the arrogant savagery of our enemies, for he knows that we fight in a just cause for the preservation of our nation.

Amen. 

Saints of the North 

(Prayed by King Oswald with his Army on the Battlefield on the Eve of the Battle of Heavenfield, AD634)