Who publishes ROOTS?

Rootsontheweb.com and the ROOTS Worship (ROOTS Adult & All Age from September 2008) and ROOTS Children and Young People magazines are published by ROOTS for Churches Limited.

Registered Office: Bastille Court, 2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND.
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7654 7254; Fax: +44 (0)20 7654 7222.
Email:
Registered Company No 4346069. VAT Reg No 783 7721 90.
Directors: T. Allain Chapman, S. Cutler, A. Davies, P. Fishpool, M. Hazell.

Which Churches have been involved in producing ROOTS?

ROOTS is supported by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, who represent twenty-seven church denominations. To find out more about them, go to www.ctbi.org.uk or look in the ROOTS Links section within the subscribers' area, for direct links to the Churches' own web sites. ROOTS has been funded by a number of Churches and church partners including the Methodist Church, the Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, the United Reformed Church, the Church Sunday Schools Union in Wales and Christian Education.

What is the Revised Common Lectionaryand who uses it?

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) is a three-year cycle of Bible readings used in many Protestant Churches in Britain and Ireland, including the Methodist and United Reformed Churches. The Church of England Common Worship lectionary follows the RCL throughout most of the year, with some minor differences. The RCL was developed by the Consultation on Common Texts, drawing on the Roman Catholic lectionary, and so Roman Catholic churches will also be able to use ROOTS as most of the readings from their lectionary will be the same. Further information is available from www.commontexts.org.

Does ROOTS work with the Church of England's Common Worship lectionary, which occasionally uses different readings from the RCL?

There are times when the Church of England Common Worship lectionary diverges from the RCL and uses different Bible readings. On these occasions, we provide full material on the web site to support these readings.

Will there be any material in Welsh?

We hope to be able to post Welsh translations of selected items on the web site at a future stage. The web site has already been programmed to allow for this. Once the Welsh translations become available, you will see a 'daffodil' button (illustrated) near the top of the English language content page, next to the printable page button. This will indicate that a Welsh translation of that item is available. As soon as start dates for this service are confirmed, we will post details on the web site.

Which hymn and song books do you refer to and why have these books been chosen?

For the Worship (Adult & All Age from September 2008) magazine, we have chosen a range of hymn and song books from the major denominations and have cross-referenced the main hymn selections so that you can see where they appear in each book. We have included a selection of songs and hymns from modern songbooks such as The Source and Songs for the new Millennium, together with those from traditional hymn books from different church denominations.

For Children and Young People, we have selected songs from some of the most popular children's song books, such as Junior Praise and Kidsource alongside other inspirational collections such as Big Blue Planet and Jump Up if You're Wearing Red. Email us with further song book suggestions if you have found something particularly helpful in your local church.

In the hymn and song lists, the books are indicated by acronyms as listed in the key to music sources.

Who has written the Bible notes used in ROOTS?

Each issue's Bible notes have been written by writers with considerable experience and a real passion for sharing the Bible, including Professor John Hull, David Goodbourn, Steve Croft and Myra Blyth.

Who has written the resource material in ROOTS?

For each issue a regional group of ROOTS writers meets together with the magazine editors for a residential conference to discuss the Bible readings, before developing the resource material. Both the Worship and Children and Young People writers meet together, so that the resource is developed as a whole and the material can link together well across the two magazines. All of the writers in our regional groups have considerable experience within relevant fields of leading worship, children's work and youth work.

The material on www.rootsontheweb.com is supplied by an even wider range of contributors, including those who have written for the ROOTS magazines, published authors, other experienced worship leaders and children's and young people's workers from the Churches, and a few brand new writers.

Can I write for ROOTS?

We would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to write for ROOTS. In particular, we are seeking contributors who can write drama sketches, monologues, reflections and short stories for children, to appear on the web site. You will need to be willing to write to commission, for a specified Bible reading. If you are interested, please contact and include your contact details and a sample of your work, which should be clearly based on a particular Bible reading (cite the reference).

What is the age range covered by the material in ROOTS Children and Young People?

The magazine offers a range of exciting material for use in children's groups with children aged 3-11 across four pages for each Sunday, together with a page per Sunday specifically for young people aged 11-14.

Is there any material for 14s-18s?

At present there is no material specifically aimed at 14-18s, although some of the material for young people or for adults could be adapted. We would be interested to know if you would like to receive material for this age range. Please email us with your comments.