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, 4th November 2026 - Oasis at 9:00am and Midweek Said Holy Communion (BCP) at 10:00am

All are very welcome.

***Please note that we are currently experiencing an issue with our heating system in church, so please wrap up warmly when visiting us. Hot water bottles are available for use by those attending any of our services, or if you'd like to bring your own, we can fill them for you, either in the Institute before Parish Eucharist or in the vestry prior to Evensong, Oasis and Midweek Holy Communion. Blankets are also available. We apologize for any inconvenience that this issue may cause.*** 

Monday, 2nd November 2026 - Ordinary Time; Allhallowtide: The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (The Feast of All Souls)

'The believer's pilgrimage of faith is lived out with the mutual support of all the people of God. In Christ all the faithful, both living and departed, are bound together in a communion of prayer.' 

The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Comission 

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion; et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet.

Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.

(Requiem Aeternam)

Grant them rest eternal, Lord our God, we pray to thee: and light perpetual shine on them forever. Thou, Lord, art worshipped in Sion: thy praises shall ever be sung in all Jerusalem. O hear us: O Lord, hear thy faithful servants' prayer; to thee shall all mortal flesh return.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

(Rest Eternal)

The Collect of the Day:

Everlasting God, our maker and redeemer, grant us with all the faithful departed, the sure benefits of thy Son's saving passion and glorious resurrection, that, in the last day, when thou dost gather up all things in Christ, we may with them enjoy the fullness of thy promises; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen. 

Common Worship

An Additional Collect for the Feast of All Souls:

O Eternal Lord God, who holdest all souls in life; We beseech thee to shed forth upon thy whole Church in Paradise and on earth the bright beams of thy light and heavenly comfort; and grant that we, following the good example of those who have loved and served thee here and are now at rest, may with them at length enter into the fulness of thine unending joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

The 1928 Proposed Book of Common Prayer

The First Reading Appointed for the Eucharist on the Feast of All Souls:

The Destiny of the Righteous

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever. Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.

Wisdom 3:1-9, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

A Poem for the Feast of All Souls:

All Souls

They are chanting now the service of All the Dead
And the village folk outside in the burying ground
Listen - except those who strive with their dead,
Reaching out in anguish, yet unable quite to touch them:
Those villagers isolated at the grave
Where the candles burn in the daylight, and the painted wreaths
Are propped on end, there, where the mystery starts.

The naked candles burn on every grave.
On your grave, in England, the weeds grow.

But I am your naked candle burning,
And that is not your grave, in England,
The world is your grave.
And my naked body standing on your grave
Upright towards heaven is burning off to you
Its flame of life, now and always, till the end.

It is my offering to you; every day is All Souls' Day.

I forget you, have forgotten you.
I am busy only at my burning,
I am busy only at my life.
But my feet are on your grave, planted.
And when I lift my face, it is a flame that goes up
To the other world, where you are now.
But I am not concerned with you.
I have forgotten you.

I am a naked candle burning on your grave.

D H Lawrence, 1885–1930

The Post Communion:

O God of love, grant that the death and resurrection of Christ, which we have celebrated in this sacrament may bring us, with all the faithful departed, into the peace of thine eternal home; through Jesus Christ, our rock and our salvation, to whom be glory for time and eternity.

Amen.

Common Worship

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

November 2026: Stockton Deanery

A Prayer for Renewal and Growth in our Benefice:

Almighty God, through whose servants the Blessed Virgin Mary, Oswald and Helena many heard and received the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ; grant to us the courage and the grace to follow their example, in declaring the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. And so, by the work of your Holy Spirit, may many in our benefice come to faith, baptism and confirmation, and take their place among your people, worshipping, witnessing and serving, to the glory of your holy name; through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Right Reverend Rick Simpson - Bishop of Durham, ad.

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)