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: 

Sunday, 1st November 2026 - Sung Parish Eucharist on the Feast of All Saints at 11:00am (Common Worship), and All Souls Memorial Choral Evensong on the Eve of Commemoration of the Faithful Departed at 6:00pm (BCP)

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. We apologize for any inconvenience that this issue may cause.*** 

Thursday, 29th October 2026 - Ordinary Time: The Feast of James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, Martyr in Uganda, 1885 [Lesser Festival]

The Collect of the Day:

Most merciful God, who strengthened your Church by the steadfast courage of your martyr James Hannington: grant that we also, thankfully remembering his victory of faith, may overcome what is evil and glorify your holy name; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 

Amen.

Common Worship 

The Epistle Appointed for the Principal Service on the Feast of James Hannington (in Exciting Holiness):

But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. 

1 Peter 3:14-18, 22, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

The Post Communion:

Eternal God, who gave us this holy meal in which we have celebrated the glory of the cross and the victory of your martyr James Hannington: by our communion with Christ in his saving death and resurrection, give us with all your saints the courage to conquer evil and so to share the fruit of the tree of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Common Worship

A Collect following the Announcement of His Majesty the King's Approval of the Nomination of the Reverend Dr Jitesh Krisnakant Patel, MA, MPhys, PhD, to the Suffragan See of Jarrow, in our Diocese (on Friday, 23rd October 2026):

Almighty God, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst give to thy holy Apostles many excellent gifts, and didst charge them to feed thy flock: Give grace, we beseech thee, to all Bishops, the Pastors of thy Church, that they may diligently preach thy Word, and duly administer the godly discipline thereof; and grant to the people, that they may obediently follow the same; that all may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Collect for the Form of Ordaining or Consecrating of an Archbishop or Bishop, The Book of Common Prayer (1662)

We congratulate Jitesh, and keep he and his family in our prayers at this time.

A Prayer for Black History Month (October 2026):

Loving God, 

You have created all things and by your will they have their being.

We rage at a system that teaches and treats black people as if they are not made in the image of God and created equal.

We seek redress for the years of torment and trauma of being othered.

We repent of a system that still demands black people justify their place in every space.

We pray for your liberating kingdom and kin-dom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

The light of the Lord has come, the glory of the Lord is rising.

Lord, shine and arise within us, as we rise, we rise.

Amen.

The Right Reverend Dr Rosemarie Mallett - Bishop of Croydon (Diocese of Southwark), Rage & Hope: 75 Prayers for a Better World (Christian Aid), ed. Chine McDonald and Wendy Lloyd, SPCK Publishing, 2021

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

October 2026: Darlington Deanery

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)