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.

Sunday, 20th September 2026 - Ordinary Time (Creationtide): The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity; The Eve of the Feast of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

The Collect of the Day:

O almighty God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an apostle and evangelist: grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Common Worship 

The Second Reading Appointed for Evening Prayer on the Eve of the Feast of St Matthew:

‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Matthew 6:19-34, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

September 2026: Durham Dales Deanery

A Prayer of St Oswald of Northumbria:

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. 

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

A Reading for Creationtide 2026 - Living Water:

Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes.

On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’

Ezekiel 47:9, 12, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

A Prayer for Creationtide 2026 Inspired by St Hildegard of Bingen:

A Prayer for Living Water

God of living water,
source of all life,
you breathe your Spirit into creation
and the earth becomes green with life.
You make the rivers flow,
the seeds germinate,
the trees bear fruit,
and the earth renew itself.
As Hildegard saw,
your life-giving power is within all that lives.
Where there is dryness, bring water.
Where there is barrenness, bring new life.
Where there is sickness, bring healing.
Where there is despair, bring hope.
We pray for the waters of our world:
for rivers polluted and seas rising,
for communities without safe water,
for creatures whose habitats are disappearing,
and for all who suffer because creation is wounded.
And we pray for the Holy Land.
Let your living water flow
where there is war and violence,
where homes have been destroyed,
where families have been divided,
where children live with fear
and where hope has been crushed.
Protect the children of Palestine and Israel.
Hold those who grieve.
Heal those who are wounded in body and spirit.
Give courage to those who work for peace.
Turn our hearts away from violence
and towards the flourishing of life.
May your Spirit make us green again –
alive with compassion,
alive with courage,
alive with justice,
alive with peace.
God of all creation,
make us part of the river of your healing. 

Amen.

Pilgrim Uniting Church, Adelaide (the Uniting Church in Australia)