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.

Tuesday, 19th May 2026 - Ascensiontide: The Feast of St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury and Restorer of Monastic Life, 988 [Lesser Festival]

Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia. 

Gospel Acclamation, Ascension to Pentecost - Common Worship 

A Passage of Scripture from Today's Common Worship Morning Prayer:

The Parable of the Sower Explained

‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

Luke 8:11-15, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, who didst raise up Dunstan to be a true shepherd of the flock, a restorer of monastic life and a faithful counsellor to kings: grant, we beseech thee, to all pastors the like gifts of thy Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ and of all his people; 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 Prayer for all who are Affected by the Current Outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):

God of all hope,

we cry to you for all who wrestle with Ebola.

Grant we pray,

Your healing to the sick,

Your peace to the fearful,

Your welcome to the dying and

Your comfort to those living with loss.

And, merciful Father,

bless those many loving hands

That bravely offer care and hope.

God of healing, whose Son healed those who were brought to him,

Hear our prayer for the peoples of DR Congo suffering from the Ebola outbreak.

Inspire and enable your church to be a source of healing, comfort and hope to those affected,

and an agent for the education and equipping of communities to stop the spread of this disease.

For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

The Anglican Alliance

An Anglo-Saxon Hymn for the Feast of St Dunstan:

Ave Dunstane, Presulum

Hail Dunstan, star and shining adornment of bishops, true light of the English nation and leader preceding it on its path to God.

You are the greatest hope of your people, and also an innermost sweetness, breathing the honey-sweet fragrance of life-giving balms.

In you, Father, we trust, we to whom nothing is more pleasing than you are. To you we stretch out our hands, to you we pour out our prayers.

Your sheep, holy shepherd, are oppressed by troubles on all sides. See how we Christians are being slaughtered by the swords of the pagan nation!

Offer, O priest, the sacrifice to Christ of most welcome prayers, so that by them he may be appeased and release us from the iron fetters of our transgressions.

Through them may heathen peoples and harmful diseases depart from the lands of the English and the sons of the church.

Through you may the Father, our only hope, through you may the Son, our only peace, and the Spirit, our only light, be with us forever. Amen.

Translation; Original from Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ed. Inge B. Milfull (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 317-8

A Prayer for Ascensiontide:

We praise you and we bless you, our risen Lord Jesus, King of glory, for in your ascension you are crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. As we worship you on your heavenly throne, prepare our hearts for the coming of your Spirit. To you, Lord Jesus, who will come back in the same way you went up into heaven, be honour and glory, now and for ever.

Amen.

Seventeenth Station (XVII), The Ascension - Stations of the Resurrection (The Way of Light, Via Lucis), Common Worship 

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

May 2026 - Gateshead and Gateshead West Deaneries

The Prayer of St Oswald of Northumbria:

Let us together implore the living and true and almighty God in his mercy to defend us against the pride and fierceness of our enemy; for that God knows our cause is just, and that we fight for the salvation of our nation.

Amen. 

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