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After 52 years in print, the national magazine of the United Reformed Church (URC) has changed its name from 'Reform'. Loyal readers were fed up of people assuming they were reading the magazine of Nigel Farage’s party, Reform UK. The new name of the magazine is Reformed. The title is intended to be recognisable as the same magazine, and to reflect the name of the United Reformed Church, while no longer sounding like the name of a political party. In a poll, 86% of readers said they wanted to change the name. A reader in Surrey said, ‘Much as I enjoy reading Reform, I make sure I hide the magazine when visitors come round, for obvious reasons.’ The confusion works both ways. Several people bought subscriptions to Reform, thinking it was Nigel Farage’s magazine. They cancelled when they realised it was ‘some religious thing’, as one of them put it. Editor of Reformed, Stephen Tomkins, said, ‘We’d talked about changing the name for a few years as Reform UK became more prominent. But at first, we took the view, “It was our name first!” ‘Then readers started telling us the name was causing confusion and consternation in local churches. ‘The URC is not attached to any political party and does not want the name of its magazine to suggest that it is. The URC’s General Assembly has taken positions on public issues that are at odds with Reform UK policy, e.g. on migration and asylum, but Reform UK is not the only UK party for whom this is true.’ --- [NB corrected email below] --- Images: 1. First edition of Reformed under its new name; 2. Sample double-page spread. 3. Dr Stephen Tomkins, Editor of Reformed Magazine For further enquiries, phone Laurence Wareing, Communications Officer, on 07342 883954; or email laurence.wareing@urc.org.uk
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