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.

Saturday, 25th April 2026 - Easter Season: The Feast of St Mark the Evangelist

Alleluia, Alleluia!

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Alleluia!

Romans 6:9-11, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition 

‘As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Mark 13:9-13, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, who hast enlightened thy holy Church through the inspired witness of thine evangelist Saint Mark: grant that we, being rooted and grounded in the truth of the gospel, may be faithful to its teaching both in word and deed; 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

A Prayer for St Mark's Day:

Lord Jesus Christ, guard our hearts from confusion and steady our spirits in uncertain times. Give us discernment to recognise truth, courage to bear witness, and strength to endure when the cost rises. Teach us to walk closely with you, that in every moment we may remain faithful. 

Amen.

The Most Reverend Jackson Ole Sapit, Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya; Adapted

A Sonnet for St Mark's Day:

Mark

A wingèd lion, swift, immediate

Mark is the gospel of the sudden shift

From first to last, from grand to intimate,

From strength to weakness, and from debt to gift,

From a wide deserts haunted emptiness

To a close city’s fervid atmosphere,

From a voice crying in the wilderness

To angels in an empty sepulcher.

And Christ makes the most sudden shift of all;

From swift action as a strong Messiah

Casting the very demons back to hell

To slow pain, and death as a pariah.

We see our Saviour’s life and death unmade

And flee his tomb dumbfounded and afraid.

Sounding the Seasons, the Reverend Dr A Malcolm Guite, Canterbury Press Norwich

And so may all whose minds are dark
Be led to truth by good Saint Mark,
And after this our earthly strife
Stand written in the Book of Life.

The Saint Who First Found Grace to Pen, Laurence Housman 1865–1959, The New English Hymnal, Canterbury Press Norwich, #163, v. 5

A Prayer for those in fear of Death, that they may find Faith through the Resurrection:

Jesus, Lord, don't let the fear of death overpower us.
And don't let the loss of our loved ones
cause us to doubt your power to "Easter" everybody.
Remind us, Lord,
that you have the last words over death.
You are risen!
You are not "among the dead".
Neither are we.
We shall live forever in your triumphant love.

Amen.

The Missionary Society of St Columban, US

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

April 2026 - Chester-le-Street and Houghton Deanery

The Prayer of St 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