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.

Saturday, 11th July 2026 - Ordinary Time: The Feast of St Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino and Father of Western Monasticism, C550 [Lesser Festival]; The 140th Durham Miners' Gala (Durham Day)

The Collect of the Day:

O eternal God, who made Benedict a wise master in the school of thy service, and a guide to many called into the common life to follow the rule of Christ: grant that we may put thy love above all things, and seek with joy the way of thy commandments; 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 

A Reading for Durham Day:

‘Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold to be refined.
Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
Miners put an end to darkness,
and search out to the farthest bound
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation;
they are forgotten by travellers,
they sway suspended, remote from people.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread;
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and its dust contains gold.'

Job 28:1-6, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

A Prayer for Durham Day:

The Durham Miners' Memorial Prayer

He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn. They are forgotten of the foot that passeth by. 

Remember before God the Durham miners who have given their lives in the pits of this county, and those who work in darkness and danger today. 

Amen.

From the Miners' Memorial in Durham Cathedral, Author Unknown

We pray especially for all of the miners who lost their lives at Elvet Colliery, Shincliffe Colliery, Coxhoe Colliery and East Hetton Colliery (Kelloe).

A Sonnet for the Feast of St Benedict:

Benedict

You sought to start a simple school of prayer,
A modest, gentle, moderate attempt,
With nothing made too harsh or hard to bear,
No treating or retreating with contempt,
A little rule, a small obedience
That sets aside, and tills the chosen ground,
Fruitful humility, chosen innocence,
A binding by which freedom might be found

You call us all to live, and see good days,
Centre in Christ and enter in his peace,
To seek his Way amidst our many ways,
Find blessedness in blessing, peace in praise,
To clear and keep for Love a sacred space
That we might be beginners in God’s grace.

From The Singing Bowl by the Reverend Dr A Malcolm Guite, Canterbury Press Norwich

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

July 2026 - Wearmouth Deanery

A Prayer of St Oswald of Northumbria:

Let us kneel together, and pray the true, the ever living and almighty God to protect us in his mercy from the arrogant savagery of our enemies, for he knows that we fight in a just cause for the preservation of our nation.

Amen. 

Saints of the North 

(Prayed by King Oswald with his Army on the Battlefield on the Eve of the Battle of Heavenfield, AD634)