From initial ideas to final resources
Joining the conversation
‘When I open my copy of the ROOTS material, I feel as though I am pulling up a chair to a table where a lively conversation is already taking place. The people there are an ecumenical gathering of the best and brightest, creative people busy engaging with the biblical texts out of love for Christian worship and the folk they serve.’
Revd Roberta Rominger, former General Secretary of the United Reformed Church
In many ways, this is exactly what happens when we write and produce ROOTS.
Writing the ROOTS resources is a collaboration between the ROOTS team and a team of contributors.
- The contributors are experienced practitioners – ordained and lay – working together to share their ideas with other practitioners.
- Up to 10 contributors contribute to the weekly resources for each magazine. This enables them to work to their own strengths and expertise.
Writers’ conferences
About 10 months before publication, we usually all meet together at a retreat house for an overnight meeting. During the pandemic we met on Zoom instead and some conferences may continue to be on Zoom. This meeting includes:
• the contributors for the issue, which always includes a Bible scholar
• Martin Adams, Adult & All Age Editor
• Pam Elliott, Children & Youth Editor
• Rosemary Nixon, ROOTS Managing Director.
Led by the Bible scholar and the ROOTS team, we study and discuss the Bible passages together. Then we draw up a brief for the resources across the age range.
As Rosemary says, ‘It’s an intensive, but creative and enjoyable sharing of ideas amongst practitioners from different traditions’.
From initial ideas to final resources
The editorial process knits together all the ideas from the writers’ conference, in order to:
- produce worship and learning resources that are cohesive across the whole Church, every week
- which are in line with our vision and values.
As well as the resources Editors, ROOTS draws on the skills of the Production Editor and the Website Editor. They work together with a freelance designer, illustrators and a proof reader in order to bring you the final resources.
Our contributors
ROOTS writers come from a wide range of churches and denominations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland:
• Baptist Churches
• The Church of England
• The Church of God of Prophecy
• The Church of Ireland
• The Church of Scotland
• The Methodist Church
• The Methodist Church in Ireland
• The Moravian Church
• The New Testament Church of God
• The Presbyterian Church in Ireland
• The Religious Society of Friends
• The Roman Catholic Church
• The United Reformed Church.