LGBT+ safeguarding statement

The 2023 General Assembly of the United Reformed Church agreed to

a) affirm the human dignity of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people and assert their right, within and beyond the URC, to live without threat of violence and hatred.

b) recognise the church’s failure to challenge the norms on which transphobia is built and acknowledge that sometimes it has perpetuated these norms.

c) commit to furthering the church’s understanding of, and pastoral care for, transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people in the church, both locally and across the denomination. 

St Columba's endorses this statement enthusiastically and in full, as confirmed at our church meeting in November 2025.