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.

Thursday, 3rd September 2026 - Ordinary Time (Creationtide): The Feast of St Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher of the Faith, 604 [Lesser Festival]

'There is more joy in heaven over a converted sinner than over a righteous person standing firm. A leader in battle has more love for a soldier who returns after fleeing, and who valiantly pursues the enemy, than for one who never turned back, but who never acted valiantly either. A farmer has greater love for land which bears fruitfully, after he has cleared it of thorns, than for land which never had thorns but which never yielded a fruitful harvest.'

St Gregory the Great

The Collect of the Day:

O merciful Father, who didst choose thy bishop Gregory to be a servant of the servants of God: grant that, like him, we may ever desire to serve thee by proclaiming thy gospel to the nations, and may ever rejoice to sing thy praises; 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 Gospel Reading:

So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Mark 10:42-45, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

(Liturgical context from Exciting Holiness: Collects & Readings for the Festivals & Lesser Festivals of the Calendar of the Church of England authorised for use from Advent Sunday, 1997, Canterbury Press Norwich)

The Post Communion:

O God of truth, whose Wisdom prepared her table and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine of the kingdom: help us to lay aside all folly and to walk all our days in the way of discernment, that we may come with thy servant Gregory to the eternal heavenly feast; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Common Worship 

A Prayer for the New School Year:

Heavenly Father,

At the start of a new school year, we give you thanks for the work of all schools (and particularly St Oswald's Primary and Nursery School in our own parish).

We pray for all children starting at new schools, and for those returning. Help them to explore what they can achieve, and give them confidence to play their part in shaping our world.

We pray for all those who work in schools. Care for them as they care for our children.

We pray for all governors of schools. Grant them wisdom and sound judgement, and help them to keep children's wellbeing at the heart of everything they do.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen. 

The Church of England

A Prayer for the Feast of St Gregory the Great:

O Lord, you received affronts without number from your blasphemers, yet each day you free captive souls from the grip of the ancient enemy.

You did not avert your face from the spittle of perfidy, yet you wash souls in saving waters.

You accepted your scourging without murmur, yet through your meditation you deliver us from endless chastisements.

You endured ill-treatment of all kinds, yet you want to give us a share in the choirs of angels in glory everlasting.

You did not refuse to be crowned with thorns, yet you save us from the wounds of sin.

In your thirst you accepted the bitterness of gall, yet you prepare yourself to fill us with eternal delights.

You kept silence under the derisive homage rendered you by your executioners, yet you petition the Father for us although you are his equal in divinity.

You came to taste death, yet you were the life and had come to bring it to the dead.

Amen.

The Prayer of St Gregory the Great

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)

A Reading for Creationtide 2026 - Living Water:

Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes.

On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’

Ezekiel 47:9, 12, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition