Janet Davies, who passed away at age 89, spent decades engaged in international development and religious advocacy work. From 1968 to 1986, she held positions with Christian Aid in Merseyside and the northwest, eventually serving as regional organizer. Based in Liverpool and working alongside Edward Patey, then dean of the city, Davies applied her communication and networking abilities to build cross-denominational alliances in support of Christian Aid Week activities. She contributed to establishing the Merseyside Churches Ecumenical Council, which supporters credit with helping to lay groundwork for the “Better Together” partnership between Bishop David Sheppard and Archbishop Derek Worlock.
Born and raised in Formby, Lancashire, Davies trained as a secretary before meeting Alan Davies, an occupational therapist, whom she married in 1968. Her work took her to multiple regions experiencing poverty and conflict. She undertook overseas assignments for Christian Aid that brought her to impoverished areas in India and South Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s, experiences she described as spiritually transformative. In 1985, she received public recognition when a concert featuring cellist Paul Tortelier raised funds for Christian Aid’s Ethiopian famine appeal at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
Davies later pursued theological education, obtaining a certificate in theology from Birmingham University in 1994. She became involved in Middle East advocacy following visits to Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories beginning in 1982. She contributed to an edited volume on Western Christian perspectives of the Holy Land published in 2000. From the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, she led programs addressing Middle East issues for USPG and the United Reformed Church. In retirement, she established Sabeel-Kairos UK, a charity focused on supporting the Palestinian Christian community.
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