March to April 2024 issue highlights from Tracey
Welcome to the March/April edition of Roots and my first as editor. I’m delighted to be joining the Roots team and producing resources to equip the local church. If you'd like to find out more about me, have a look at my bio.
In this issue, we continue to journey through Lent towards the momentous events of Holy Week and Easter. For the last three weeks of Lent, we move back and forth between the Old Testament and Gospel readings, reflecting on God’s wisdom for living. From Palm Sunday, we turn to Mark and ponder again what it means to worship a king who rides a donkey. What kind of people should we be as a result? Post-Easter, we, like the Early Church, grapple with what it means to journey with the resurrected Christ, and the implications for both our individual lives and communal living.
For more about the themes in this issue read: Scripture in context: Covenants and commandments by Ruth Dennigan. And to view a resource exploring questions around resurrection go to the latest in our Discovering God series: Resurrection: Did Jesus rise from the dead? Does it matter?
Living as a Christian community means being welcoming to all. Read Mark Arnold’s helpful article for top tips on how we can move towards being fully inclusive of the gifts brought by those with additional needs and disabilities.
If you’re planning worship and events for Holy Week, see A Holy Week journey: How to transform the world!, our flexible resource based on passages from Mark’s Gospel. The meditations have a climate crisis focus, and challenge us to follow Jesus in compassionate action for a fairer world. We also have a new Tenebrae resource: a very simple Good Friday evening meditation featuring music by John Tavener for adults or all ages.
We continue our Bread & Wine series – flexible resources for Communion to use throughout the Lent and Easter seasons, and Victoria Beech helps us to understand the ancient roots of Holy Communion.
Finally, we're delighted to have an article from Dr Gillian Warson, our music-in-worship advisor, explaining how she goes about choosing music for each week's resources.
As ever, we’d love to hear your feedback on the content of this issue.
With every blessing for Lent and Easter
Tracey Messenger,
Adult & All Age Editor
tracey.messenger@rootsforchurches.com