Augustine United Church

We are an active, inclusive Christian community based in the heart of Edinburgh city centre. At AUC we celebrate the Christian Story, welcome and affirm people of all races, genders, sexualities, ages, faiths and abilities and work to promote justice and wellbeing locally and globally. We come together to worship and to make a difference.

We are a congregation of the United Reformed Church. We are an Aligned Organization with the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) and work in partnership with MCC to offer our joint LGBTQI+ ministry called ‘Our Tribe’. We share in an ecumenical covenant with Greyfriars Kirk and St Columba’s-by-the-Castle SEC.

Sunday Worship

Our Sunday Worship takes place at 11 am every Sunday online and in-building and everyone is welcome to share in it. For more information about our services and how to access them online please go to the Sunday Worship page.

Transgender Day of Visibility – 31 March 2024

Transgender Day of Visibility takes place each year on 31st March, which this year was the same day as Easter Sunday. It seemed particularly fitting as Jesus was coming out of the tomb in resurrection.

Transgender Day of Visibility started in 2009, as an opportunity to celebrate our transgender siblings. This year we held an event, building on the successes of last year, to celebrate transgender joy, mark the first birthday of Resisting Transphobia in Edinburgh (RTiE), join with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, as well as listen to speakers from local transgender community and campaigning organisations.

RTiE is a community-based organisation which collaborates with progressive organisations, championing trans liberation, joy and a safer future for trans youth, aiming to foster unity within the transgender community and beyond. AUC provides meeting space for RTiE, who meet once a month in the building. Several members of AUC are regular attendees at their meetings. You can find out more about RTiE by visiting their website (https://rtie.org/).

We had a diverse cross-section of people attending with 70 attendees in total. For some people this was their first time in our building. This provided a safe space to mark our collective achievements and find energy to continue in the action towards transgender liberation.

Laurence Wareing played a selection of wonderful show tunes. Vic Valentine from Scottish Trans spoke about their work and the current climate of transphobia in Scotland and Edinburgh in particular. Kit from RTiE spoke about how RTiE came into being following an anti-trans rally in Glasgow in February 2023. A group of community activists came together in response to the counter-protest and who wanted to ensure people attending the counter-protest were able to keep themselves safe from the far-right elements at the rally. This was in the context of the murder of Brianna Ghey on 11th February 2023. The group began because of a talk at Lighthouse (lighthousebookshop.com), a radical book shop, about resisting transphobia.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence spoke about their work as a group of radical drag nuns, who have been LGBTQ community activists since 1979. We had spoken word poetry from Amy-Jo Philip and Lewis Reay, with work written for this Transgender Day of Visibility. There was a craft activity with stars and hearts which people could decorate as we wanted to. There were several local clergy present and Rev Lindsey Sanderson, the Moderator of the Scottish Synod of the URC attended. Refreshments were provided, with excellent cake from Ashley.

This was a wonderful event sharing solidarity with the transgender community in Edinburgh. Thanks to everyone who came, who made the event so accepting, to our speakers and everyone who took part and our volunteers who were busy in the background.

Photos from Last Year’s Event

Support the mission of AUC

AUC is a charity that depends on donations from our members and supporters. Regular or one-off donations can be made to support the ministry & mission of AUC online with PayPal or by Bank Transfer: 

Augustine United Church (Bank of Scotland) 

Sort Code: 80-02-24
Account No: 00139118 

If you’ve not already done so and you are a UK taxpayer, please fill in our Gift Aid Declaration so that Augustine United Church can claim an additional 25p for every £1 you donate. Alternatively, you can download our Standing Order & Gift Aid Form, if you prefer not to fill it out online.

AUC Virtual Tour

We present a short video tour of the building. Walk inside from George IV Bridge to our sanctuary and right down to the exit on Merchant Street. Discover how the building reflects our roots in the ‘Radical’ Scottish Reformation and our evolving values over almost 160 years. Click the image below to view the video on our Facebook Page:

Herstory

Experience our new herstory pilgrimage. Walk the streets around George IV Bridge. Reflect on the lives of some of the city’s most notable and inspiring women, and tell us about your experience.

Keep informed @ AUC

If you would like to be kept informed about what is going on at AUC you can:

• e-mail centre.manager@augustine.org.uk to be added to the mailing list for our weekly notices
• like our Facebook Page – more info here

Latest News

• Words of Wisdom31st March 2024
• ‘All reflecting God the Creator’31st March 2024
• Extremism – a redefinition?31st March 2024
• URC Youth tell good stories31st March 2024
• Fairtrade Refresher31st March 2024

What’s On

Click the image for the full AUC Calendar

Seeds – Latest Issue