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.

Friday, 3rd April 2026 - Passiontide: Good Friday

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:25b-30, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed and given up into the hands of sinners and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 

Amen.

Common Worship

A Sonnet for Good Friday:

Crucifixion: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

See, as they strip the robe from off his back

And spread his arms and nail them to the cross,

The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,

And love is firmly fastened on to loss.

But here a pure change happens. On this tree

Loss becomes gain, death opens into birth.

Here wounding heals and fastening makes free,

Earth breathes in heaven, heaven roots in earth.

And here we see the length, the breadth, the height,

Where love and hatred meet and love stays true,

Where sin meets grace and darkness turns to light,

We see what love can bear and be and do.

And here our Saviour calls us to his side,

His love is free, his arms are open wide.

Malcolm Guite

A Prayer for the Persecuted Church:

Lord Jesus, today we think of all those who, like you, have been handed over to their enemies. We think of Christian girls forced into marriage against their will; of wives or husbands betrayed to the authorities by their spouses; of children handed over by their parents. We think of churches who meet in secret, and who often cannot be sure who they can trust, or whether they have spies in their midst. Lord, may they remain strong in their faith; may they have wisdom in knowing what to share, and courage not to give into fear. And may those who betray them see in their lives your forgiveness and hope. 

Amen.

Open Doors UK & Ireland

A Sonnet for Passiontide and Holy Week:

Crucifying

By miracles exceeding power of man,

He faith in some, envy in some begat,

For, what weake spirits admire, ambitious hate:

In both affections many to him ran,

But Oh! the worst are most, they will and can,

Alas, and do, unto the immaculate,

Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a Fate,

Measuring selfe-life's infinity to a span,

Nay to an inch. Loe, where condemned he

Bears his own cross, with pain, yet by and by

When it bears him, he must bear more and die;

Now thou art lifted up, draw me to thee,

And at thy death giving such liberal dole,

Moist, with one drop of thy blood, my dry soule. 

John Donne 

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

April 2026 - Chester-le-Street and Houghton Deanery

The Prayer of King 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)