Janet Davies, who has died at age 89, devoted much of her career to international development work, ecumenical collaboration among Christian denominations, and social justice advocacy.
From 1968 to 1986, Davies worked with Christian Aid in the Merseyside and north-west regions of England, eventually serving as regional organiser. Operating from Liverpool with support from Edward Patey, then dean of the city, she employed her communication and networking abilities to build grassroots partnerships across different Christian denominations. Her efforts contributed to the development of Christian Aid Week and helped establish the Merseyside Churches Ecumenical Council, which supported the later “Better Together” partnership between Bishop David Sheppard and Archbishop Derek Worlock.
Born in Formby, Lancashire, Davies initially trained as a secretary before meeting Alan Davies, an occupational therapist, at the Southport Gramophone Society in 1968. They married, and he supported her Christian Aid work until his death from cancer 11 years later. Through her overseas assignments, Davies witnessed conditions in places including Kolkata in 1975 and South Africa during the apartheid era in the late 1970s and early 1980s, experiences that shaped her spiritual perspective.
Davies pursued further education later in life, earning a certificate in theology from Birmingham University in 1994. She documented observations from visits to Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian Territories in a contribution to “They Came and They Saw: Western Christian Experiences of the Holy Land” published in 2000. She became active in Middle East peace advocacy, leading programmes for USPG and the United Reformed Church during the 1980s and 1990s, and later established Sabeel-Kairos UK in retirement to support the Palestinian Christian community.
Davies is survived by her brother and nine nieces and nephews. Her older brother Chris predeceased her.
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