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, 25th August 2026 - Ordinary Time: The Feast of St Æbbe of Coldingham, 683, Abbess, Founder of the Monastery at Ebchester (Co Durham) and the Double Monastery at Coldingham (Berwickshire), Sister of St Oswald of Northumbria, Friend of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve: pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of 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

Verses from the Second Reading Appointed for Today's Morning Prayer:

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

(Acts 9:10-19a, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition) 

A Poem for the Feast of St Æbbe of Coldingham:

St Æbbe's Calling to Redeem the Land

Colud’s Fort, an abandoned soldiers’ clifftop haunt, gifted apology for our brother’s murder. We monks and nuns built our wooden church inside the stone, as black and grey white-rumped wheatears nest in empty rabbit burrows. We weave mantles of praise, eclipse a spirit of fearfulness.

Once a far-sighted look-out for un-friends. King Oswiu’s gift, we keep vigil now with gulls, pray Opus Dei, eight set hours. Fulmars build grass and mud nests on sheer cliff faces. Rock rose thrives in salt sea air, holds fast, fulfils her nature. Deep gullies, offshore stacks mark the war of sea and land.

Thousands of sea birds scream. We sit at wooden benches, embroider sea campion on linen with moss green silk, white wool from our own flocks. Sing psalms with flocks of twittering linnets, streaky-brown meadow pipits. ‘I take refuge. How then can you say to me: Flee like a bird to your mountain.” Psalm eleven, verse one.

Our church stands where swords once glinted. Sunbright streams through high-placed windows, picks out gold on silk and linen. Oswald’s treasured gift of hangings. My brother, the true king who shared his food, silver plate with ceorls; patron of gold flecked textile workers. These women now rank as artisans. Oswald. Requiem aeternam, salve rex gloriae.

Outside the sea-candle glints on North Sea water, gestures to home of distant ancestors.

We stand in darkling church lit by candles. Bishop Cuthbert stands at the open door and waits, haloed in streaming sunbright. The peace-candle refracts, reflects, and the space bursts with light. Land once drenched in melting battle icicles is now soaked in prayer.

Smell of beeswax from bronzed hanging bowls, a single beam sparkles, as the day-candle moves, shines on different windows, casts shadow then light. Our own illuminated manuscript Deo gratias, a focus for prayer. The space echoes with chanted plainsong in the sacred tongue. Plumes of smoky incense defuse the light, as Cuthbert swings the thurible, appears from the created haze, moves down the nave. Deo gratias.

Barbara Usher 

(Published in Thin Places & Sacred Spaces, Ed. Sarah Law, 2024, Amethyst Press)

A Prayer for All Communities Affected by the Floods, Droughts and Wildfires Currently Occuring Across the World:

Almighty God, 

As floods, droughts, and wildfires wreck lives, homes, and livelihoods, our hearts break as we recognise the injustice at the heart of the climate crisis – it’s the communities who have done the least to cause it who are most affected. 

We pray that as these communities act to recover from climate disasters, and look to adapt to the changing conditions, you will provide protection for them as you did for Noah and his family. 

We pray that polluting corporations and nations will listen to the calls of affected communities and change their ways, so all your people may live a full life in peace, love, and prosperity. 

Amen.

Christian Aid

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

August 2026 - Auckland Deanery

A Prayer of St Oswald

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. 

The Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People 

(Prayed by King Oswald of Northumbria and his army on the battlefield on the eve of the Battle of Heavenfield)