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: 

Wednesday, 21st October 2026 - Oasis at 9:00am, and Midweek Said Holy Communion (1662 Book of Common Prayer) at 10:00am

All are very welcome.

Monday, 19th October 2026 - Ordinary Time: The Feast of Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India and Persia, 1812 [Lesser Festival]

'The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to him the more intensely missionary we become.'

Henry Martyn

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, who by thy Holy Spirit didst grant to Henry Martyn a longing to proclaim the gospel of Christ and skill to translate the Scriptures: by the same Spirit, give us grace to offer our gifts to thee wheresoever thou leadest, not counting the cost; 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 Appointed for the Feast of Henry Martyn:

Jesus said to the eleven, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.]]

Mark 16:15-end, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

A Poem for the Feast of Henry Martyn:

Epitaph on Henry Martyn

Here Martyn lies. In Manhood's early bloom
The Christian Hero finds a Pagan tomb.
Religion, sorrowing o'er her favourite son,
Points to the glorious trophies that he won.
Eternal trophies! not with carnage red,
Not stained with tears by hapless captives shed,
But trophies of the Cross! for that dear name,
Through every form of danger, death, and shame,
Onward he journeyed to a happier shore,
Where danger, death, and shame assault no more.

Thomas Babbington Macaulay

The Post Communion:

Holy Father, who didst gather us around the table of thy Son that we, with all thy household, might partake of this holy food: in that new world wherein the fullness of thy peace is revealed, gather people of every race and tongue to share with Henry Martyn and all thy saints in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Common Worship

A Prayer for Black History Month (October 2026):

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)