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, 17th September 2026 - Ordinary Time (Creationtide): The Feast of St Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 [Lesser Festival]

I am the fiery life of divine substance, I blaze above the beauty of the fields, I shine in the waters, I burn in sun, moon and stars. And I awaken to life with every wind of the air, as with invisible life that sustains everything. For the air lives in greenness and fecundity. The waters flow as though they are alive. The sun also lives in its own light, and when the moon has waned it is rekindled by the light of the sun and thus lives again; and the stars shine out in their own light as though they are alive.

St Hildegard of Bingen

The Collect of the Day:

Most glorious and holy God, whose servant Hildegard, strong in the faith, was caught up in the vision of thy heavenly courts: by the breath of thy Spirit open our eyes to glimpse thy glory and our lips to sing thy praises with all the angels; 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:

Jesus Rejoices

At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’

Luke 10:21-24, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

(Gospel Reading from Exciting Holiness: Hildegard of Bingen)

A Sonnet for the Feast of St Hildegard of Bingen:

Hildegard of Bingen

A feather on the breath of God at play,

You saw the play of God in all creation.

You drew eternal light into each day,

And every living breath was inspiration.

You made a play with every virtue playing,

Made music for each sister-soul to sing,

Listened for what each herb and stone was saying,

And heard the Word of God in everything.

Mother from mother earth and Magistra,

Your song revealed God’s hidden gift to us;

The verdant fire, his holy harbinger

The greening glory of viriditas.

‘Cherish this earth that keeps us all alive’

Either we hear you, or we don’t survive.

The Singing Bowl, Malcolm Guite, Canterbury Press Norwich, 2013

The Post Communion:

Merciful God, who gavest such grace to thy servant Hildegard that she served thee with singleness of heart and loved thee above all things: help us, whose communion with thee has been renewed in this sacrament, to forsake all that holdeth us back from following Christ and to grow into his likeness from glory to glory; 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)

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 

A Prayer for Creationtide 2026:

A Prayer for Living Water

God of living water,
source of all life,
you breathe your Spirit into creation
and the earth becomes green with life.
You make the rivers flow,
the seeds germinate,
the trees bear fruit,
and the earth renew itself.
As Hildegard saw,
your life-giving power is within all that lives.
Where there is dryness, bring water.
Where there is barrenness, bring new life.
Where there is sickness, bring healing.
Where there is despair, bring hope.
We pray for the waters of our world:
for rivers polluted and seas rising,
for communities without safe water,
for creatures whose habitats are disappearing,
and for all who suffer because creation is wounded.
And we pray for the Holy Land.
Let your living water flow
where there is war and violence,
where homes have been destroyed,
where families have been divided,
where children live with fear
and where hope has been crushed.
Protect the children of Palestine and Israel.
Hold those who grieve.
Heal those who are wounded in body and spirit.
Give courage to those who work for peace.
Turn our hearts away from violence
and towards the flourishing of life.
May your Spirit make us green again –
alive with compassion,
alive with courage,
alive with justice,
alive with peace.
God of all creation,
make us part of the river of your healing. 

Amen.

(Inspired by St Hildegard of Bingen) 

Pilgrim Uniting Church, Adelaide (The Uniting Church in Australia)