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.

Friday, 20th March 2026 - Lenten Season: The Lesser Festival of St Cuthbert - Patron of the Diocese, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 687

For if we wilfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy ‘on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know the one who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:26-31, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, who didst call thy servant Cuthbert from following the flock to follow thy Son and to be a shepherd of thy people: in thy mercy, grant that we may so follow his example that we may bring those who are lost home to thy fold; 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 Sonnet for St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne:

Cuddy

“Cuthbertus” says the dark stone up in Durham
Where I have come on pilgrimage to pray.
But not this great cathedral, nor the solemn
Weight of Norman masonry we lay
Upon your bones could hold your soul in prison.
Free as the cuddy ducks they named for you,
Loosed by the Lord who died to pay your ransom,
You roam the North just as you used to do;
Always on foot and walking with the poor,
Breaking the bread of angels in your cave,
A sanctuary, a sign, an open door,
You follow Christ through keening wind and wave,
To be and bear with him where all is borne;
The heart of heaven, in your Inner Farne.

The Reverend Doctor A Malcolm Guite 

A Prayer for Peace Throughout the World in Times of War:

Let There be Peace

O God, who dwells beyond all our names for you, we pray for the will to be at peace with one another.

We remember this day those who find themselves thrust into war; We pray for light in the darkness, and hope amid despair. We pray for peace in ourselves; help us to breathe in peace, help us to breathe out love; help us know and accept ourselves as your beloved. We pray for peace in our families; help us to speak the truth to one another in love; help us to respect and value one another. 

Let there be peace in our communities; help us to create a peace born of justice and equity; help us to honour and serve the common good.

Let there be peace in our nation; sustain our hope; grant us wisdom; empower us with courage.

Let there be peace in our world. Help us to love the earth as our mother; help us to see other nations as our neighbours; help us to wage peace.

Let there be peace, O God, for those in need; for those who are frightened, for those who have been displaced, for those who are ill, for those who need work. Let there be peace, O God, for all of us who are tempted to give in to fear and despair. 

Let there be peace in our time; And let it begin with us.

Amen. 

From a Litany for Peace by the Very Reverend Canon Kay Sylvester - Rector of St Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Monthly Deanery Intention - March 2026:

Lanchester Deanery

A Prayer for Lententide:

Hanging as a vine upon the Wood,
O Christ our Saviour,
Thou hast made the ends of the earth
to drink from the wine of incorruption.
Therefore do I cry aloud:
I am darkened always by the hateful drunkenness of sin;
Give me to drink from the sweet wine of true compunction,
and grant me now the strength, O Saviour,
to fast from sensual pleasures,
for Thou art good and lovest mankind.

Amen.

St Joseph of Thessalonica, The Lenten Triodion - The Eastern Orthodox Church 

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