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.

Upcoming Services: 

Sunday, 18th October 2026 - The Feast of St Luke the Evangelist; Church Action on Poverty Sunday: Sung Parish Eucharist (Common Worship) at 11:00am, and Said Evensong with Hymns (Book of Common Prayer) at 6:00pm

All are very welcome.

Saturday, 17th October 2026 - Ordinary Time: The Feast of St Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Martyr, c.107 [Lesser Festival]

The Collect of the Day:

Feed us, O Lord, with the living bread and make us drink deep of the cup of salvation that, following the teaching of thy bishop Ignatius, and rejoicing in the faith with which he embraced the death of a martyr, we may be nourished for that eternal life which he ever desired; 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 

The Gospel Reading:

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’

John 6:52-58, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

The Post Communion:

O eternal God, who hast given us this holy meal in which we have celebrated the glory of the cross and the victory of thy martyr Ignatius: by our communion with Christ in his saving death and resurrection, grant us with all thy saints the courage to overcome evil and so to partake of the fruit of the tree of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Common Worship

Loving God, 

You have created all things and by your will they have their being.

We rage at a system that teaches and treats black people as if they are not made in the image of God and created equal.

We seek redress for the years of torment and trauma of being othered.

We repent of a system that still demands black people justify their place in every space.

We pray for your liberating kingdom and kin-dom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

The light of the Lord has come, the glory of the Lord is rising.

Lord, shine and arise within us, as we rise, we rise.

Amen.

The Right Reverend Dr Rosemarie Mallett - Bishop of Croydon (Diocese of Southwark) in Rage & Hope: 75 Prayers for a Better World (Christian Aid), ed. Chine McDonald and Wendy Lloyd, SPCK Publishing, 2021

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

October 2026: Darlington 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)