On the Second Sunday of Epiphany, we are joined at St Oswald's by our friends in Christ from Durham City Methodists (Elvet Methodist Church and North Road Methodist Church) for a special United Covenant Service & Holy Communion, marking the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU) 2026, followed by refreshments in the Institute across the road. All are very welcome to come and join us.

Preacher:
The Reverend John Squares, Methodist Superintendent Minister for Durham and Deerness Valley Circuit

Special readings will be used at this service. The Gospel Reading for this Sunday is John 1:29-42.

The theme for this year's WPCU is 'There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling', from Ephesians 4:4.

And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

(John 1:32-34, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition)

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new: transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

(Common Worship, the Church of England)

The Post Communion:

God of glory, you nourish us with your Word who is the bread of life: fill us with your Holy Spirit that through us the light of your glory may shine in all the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

(Common Worship, the Church of England)

The Covenant Prayer:

I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

(The Covenant Service, the Methodist Worship Book 2022, The Methodist Church in Great Britain)

Prayer Intentions for the Day from the Durham Diocesan (Church of England) Monthly Prayer Cycle:

Our Archdeacons -
Rick Simpson (Auckland), Katherine Bagnall (Sunderland), and Libby Wilkinson (Durham)

Anglican Communion -
Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo: The Most Reverend Georges Titre Ande

Durham Diocese (Church of England) Deanery Prayer Intention for January 2026 -
Easington Deanery

Today's Bible Verse for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; Day 1 - Our Calling:

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called

(Ephesians 4:1, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition)

Today's Prayer for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; Day 1 - Our Calling:

God of light,
you have called us out of darkness into your light.
May our response to your call lead us to actively seek reconciliation
and share your light in the world.

Amen.

Preserve me from my calling's snare,
and hide my simple heart above,
above the thorns of choking care,
the gilded baits of worldly love.

(Forth in Thy Name O Lord I Go, Charles Wesley * 1707–1788, Common Praise - A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, #430, Verse 3)

***Please click on 'More Info' below for further details of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.***

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A prayerful and reflective service from the Book of Common Prayer. Roughly every other Sunday in term time, a full choral evensong is held.

All are very welcome.

Sunday, 11th January 2026 - Epiphanytide: The First Sunday after the Epiphany

And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

(Joshua 3:7-8, King James Version)

The Collect of the Day:

O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people which call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

***Please see the Parish Eucharist page for today's prayer intentions from the Diocesan Monthly Prayer Cycle.***

Baptize us with your Spirit, Lord,
your cross on us be signed,
that likewise in God’s service, we
may perfect freedom find.

(Christ, When for Us You Were Baptized, F. Bland Tucker 1895–1984, Common Praise - A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, #92, Verse 4)

***Unless otherwise stated, all hymns are from Common Praise - A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern. Further musical information for January 2026 to be announced.***

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A soup lunch organised by Durham Churches Together to mark this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU).

Speaker:
The Reverend John Squares, Methodist Superintendent Minister for Durham and Deerness Valley Circuit

All are very welcome.

A prayerful, reflective service from the Book of Common Prayer, held in the chancel.

Tea, coffee and chat afterwards in the vestry.

All are very welcome.

Wednesday, 14th January 2026 - Epiphanytide

Holy Communion

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

(Matthew 21:42-end, King James Version)

The Collect of the Day:

O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people which call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Post Communion:

O Lord and heavenly Father, we thy humble servants entirely desire thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion. And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee, that all we, who are partakers of this holy Communion, may be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly benediction. And although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service; not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.

Amen.

Prayer Intentions for the Day from the Diocesan Monthly Prayer Cycle:

New Seaham Christ Church: PiC; The Reverend Anita Burke, Readers: Mrs Elizabeth Armes, Mrs Carol Maddison

Victims of clerical sexual abuse

Anglican Communion -
Diocese of Central Solomons (Melanesia) The Right Reverend Stephen Koete

Deanery Prayer Intention for January 2026 -
Easington Deanery

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The worshipping heart of parish life; a service from Common Worship including Holy Communion with refreshments afterwards in the Institute across the road.

All are very welcome.

Sunday, 18th January 2026 - Epiphany Season: The Second Sunday of Epiphany; The Beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU), 2026

United Covenant Service & Holy Communion with Durham City Methodists

***Unless otherwise stated, all hymns are from Common Praise - A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern. Further musical information for January 2026 to be announced.***

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Pop in for tea, coffee and a chat. All are very welcome.