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.

***A very warm welcome to all new and returning Durham University students! Please do join us this Sunday, 27th September 2026 at 11:00am for our Harvest Festival Sung Parish Eucharist, followed by tea, coffee, soft drinks and biscuits. We look forward to welcoming you in Church.***

God of peace, as young people and young adults begin higher education, university, or enter the world of work, may they know your presence with them in this time of change. Grant them courage, wisdom, and confidence and inspire those they encounter to have welcoming hearts.

Amen.

Diocese of Bath & Wells

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:7, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

Sunday, 27th September 2026 - Ordinary Time (Creationtide): Harvest Thanksgiving; The Seventeen Sunday after Trinity; Disability Awareness Sunday

The Collect of the Day:

O eternal God, who crownest the year with thy goodness and dost give us the fruits of the earth in their season: give us grace that we may use them to thy glory, for the relief of those in need and for our own well-being; 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 

The Epistle Appointed for Today's Principal Service:

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written,

‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures for ever.’

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:6-end, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

A Prayer for Disability Awareness Sunday 2026 - One Body, Many Parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-27):

Heavenly Father,

Thank you that in Christ we are one body with many parts.

Thank you that by your Spirit you have made us one, different yet united, unique yet belonging together.

Lord, on this Disability Awareness Sunday, forgive us for the times we have judged by appearances, or believed that some parts are more important than others.

Your word tells us that the parts that seem weaker are indispensable, and that every part is worthy of honour.

Thank you for the gifts, perspectives, creativity, and faith of disabled and neurodivergent members of your church.

Thank you that we are dependent on one another - that we are both in need and needed.

Help us to be a church where barriers are removed, where support is given freely, where differences are welcomed, and where every person can belong, serve, and flourish.

If one part suffers, teach us to suffer together. If one part is honoured, teach us to rejoice together.

Make us a community that reflects your heart - a body that thrives under Christ our head.

We are one body. We are all needed. We are all honoured.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Becki Harbour, Cambridge Vineyard Church

A Poem for Harvest Thanksgiving:

Lord in Thy Name Thy Servants Plead

Lord in Thy Name Thy servants plead,
And Thou hast sworn to hear;
Thine is the harvest, Thine the seed,
The fresh and fading year:

Our hope, when Autumn winds blew wild,
We trusted, Lord, with Thee;
And still, now Spring has on us smiled,
We wait on Thy decree.

The former and the latter rain,
The summer sun and air,
The green ear, and the golden grain,
All Thine, are ours by prayer.

Thine too by right, and ours by grace,
The wondrous growth unseen,
The hopes that soothe, the fears that brace,
The love that shines serene.

So grant the precious things brought forth
By sun and moon below,
That Thee in Thy new heaven and earth
We never may forego.

For the Rogation Days, John Keble 

The Post Communion:

Lord of the harvest, as with joy we have offered our thanksgiving for thy love shown in creation and have shared in the bread and the wine of the kingdom: so by thy grace plant within us a reverence for all that thou hast given us and make us generous and wise stewards of those good things which we enjoy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Common Worship

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

September 2026: Durham Dales 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)