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.

Thursday, 21st May 2026 - Ascensiontide: The Feast of St Helena of Constantinople, Mother of St Constantine the Great and Protector of the Holy Places, 330 [Commemoration]

With faith, let us seek the Cross of Christ, for in it is our salvation.

St Helena of Constantinople

Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia. 

Gospel Acclamation, Ascension to Pentecost - Common Worship 

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

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 

Luke 8:34-36, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

The Collect of the Day:

O God the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Common Worship

A Collect for the Feast of St Helena of Constantinople:

O loving God, we thank you for your servant the Empress Helena, who was fervent and devout in her commitment to the gospel and gave generously of her time and wealth to help spread the message of Christ: Give us grace to seek the cross in our own lives, and having found it, to bear it faithfully in true devotion to you; through the grace and power of the Holy Trinity. 

Amen.

The St Helena Breviary - Monastic Edition, The Order of St Helena (Monastic Community), The Episcopal Church

We pray especially on this Feast Day of St Helena for our friends who serve and worship across the benefice at St Helen's, Kelloe.

A Prayer for all who are Affected by the Current Outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):

God of all hope,

we cry to you for all who wrestle with Ebola.

Grant we pray,

Your healing to the sick,

Your peace to the fearful,

Your welcome to the dying and

Your comfort to those living with loss.

And, merciful Father,

bless those many loving hands

That bravely offer care and hope.

God of healing, whose Son healed those who were brought to him,

Hear our prayer for the peoples of DR Congo suffering from the Ebola outbreak.

Inspire and enable your church to be a source of healing, comfort and hope to those affected,

and an agent for the education and equipping of communities to stop the spread of this disease.

For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

The Anglican Alliance

A Prayer for Ascensiontide:

We praise you and we bless you, our risen Lord Jesus, King of glory, for in your ascension you are crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. As we worship you on your heavenly throne, prepare our hearts for the coming of your Spirit. To you, Lord Jesus, who will come back in the same way you went up into heaven, be honour and glory, now and for ever.

Amen.

Seventeenth Station (XVII), The Ascension - Stations of the Resurrection (The Way of Light, Via Lucis), Common Worship 

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

May 2026 - Gateshead and Gateshead West Deaneries

A Prayer of St Oswald of Northumbria:

Let us together implore the living and true and almighty God in his mercy to defend us against the pride and fierceness of our enemy; for that God knows our cause is just, and that we fight for the salvation of our nation.

Amen. 

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