A visual guide to the main features of the ROOTS web site

Quick key:
1. The navigation bar; 2. Topical events; 3. The Sunday date; 4. Titles and descriptions of the content for the listed Sunday.

1. Use the navigation bar to move around the site to the areas you need. You can go to the content for a different Sunday either by using the dated links to go back and forth to the previous and following Sundays, or by typing the date you want into the Sunday search box and hitting Go to jump straight there. If you've been looking at an item of content for a particular Sunday, the back and forth links will be replaced with a link to the Sunday you were browsing, so that you can easily go back to see what else is available for that week. The navigation bar also has links to other areas of the site, such as the Forum, Features, and Seasonal items.

2. Listed here are links to items of Topical interest on the given Sunday. The links describe the topic, for example a news story from the week, or a special Sunday or red letter day that occurs within the week, such as Education Sunday or Christmas. When you follow the link you'll see a list of all the items available for that topic. The amount will vary considerably - in the case of something like Christian Aid week, for which Christian Aid provide a range of material, there will probably just be a link to the provider's web site; for Christmas, there is likely to be a range of original and reproduced material provided directly by ROOTS within the ROOTS site. The material provided on a weekly basis by one of our writers in response to stories from the news can be quickly identified as it is always titled with the date on which it was posted to the site. The topics and perspectives in the 'fast-response' material vary widely according to events that week and the writer's own personal response to them, but they will always include thought-provoking reflection and/or commentary, together with suggestions for prayer.

3. The Sunday date is given here, so that you can see at a glance for which week the listed material is intended. When you first log in, the site will automatically find the material for the coming Sunday for you and display the current Sunday date here. So if you're in a hurry to prepare for this week's service or children's group, there's no need to hunt around.

4. The content for the Sunday is listed here. The underlined titles act as links to the material, and just beneath each one is a short description intended to give you an idea of the content, tone and suitability of the material. Some material will be tied specifically to a suggestion in one of the two ROOTS magazines. Other items relate to the readings in a more general manner. If an item has been taken directly from one of the magazines, then (M) will appear at the end of the item title, so that you can quickly spot what's new. The items are organised into a number of sections: Lectionary, Think it through, Pray, Be creative, Music and other resources, Common Worship variations.