The Shoreline Consultancy is the vehicle through which, over the last twenty years, I have been offering a professional service, both in the UK and abroad, to support the development of Christian communities, churches, religious orders and faith-based organisations.
Key to the approach is the creation of interpersonal environments where graceful ‘conversation’ can take place. For in many situations the key question has become, ‘How can we talk together about what is important to us, particularly if we do not agree or find things difficult to articulate?’
The image of the shoreline is also resonant, evoking as it does the vibrant, constantly changing borderlands between the spiritual and the secular; the inward journey and its outward expression. Yet it remains, a place of peace and light – somewhere to go if you want to stop and reflect, to take stock and make choices.
– Mark Davis
OUR WORK
A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES AND FAITH-BASED ORGANISATIONS.
Supporting the development of Faith-based Organisations, Churches, Religious Orders & Christian Communities. Drawing on wisdom and experience already present, we suggest and support innovative responses to perennial problems so that, working in close partnership with our clients, we may build bridges of continuity between the past and the future.
Providing skilled assistance to groups and communities to successfully communicate, make decisions or resolve difficulties. Facilitating graceful conversation to encourage mutual understanding and draw out clarity and consensus. Training others to facilitate successfully is also within the portfolio of our ongoing work.
Interpreting and expressing key dimensions of faith-based groups, organisations and communities so as to make them accessible to wider audiences. Creating attractive bespoke resources to promote and enable conversation around core values and concerns as well as easy to use web presences in word, image and connectivity.
Helping Churches and Christian Communities negotiate and manage change. Working with both diocesan representatives and local leadership teams to provide credible solutions which not only maintain present provision but also provide a sound basis for future growth. Encouraging and empowering local networks of commitment and responsibility.
WHO WE ARE
SHORELINE CONVERSATIONS HAS A HIGHLY EXPERIENCED TEAM OF PEOPLE COMMITTED TO THE SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT OF FAITH-BASED COMMUNITIES AND AGENCIES.
SUE BROWN
ACCOUNTING
Sue has worked with Mark for several years as Office Manager and Accountant. A trained facilitator she has also been directly involved in a number of pastoral projects including days of reflection and facilitator training. She is currently also working as a local Manager of Cruse Bereavement Care.
MARK DAVIS
FOUNDER DIRECTOR
Mark is an experienced faith-based consultant and facilitator who has been working in a wide variety of Church contexts both in the UK and abroad. A Roman Catholic with a life-long commitment to ecumenism, his particular current interest is in helping faith-based organisations explore and preserve the spiritual legacy of their foundation.
MARK HOWARD
PRODUCTION & DESIGN
With over thirty years experience working with a range of third sector organisations; including NGOs; charities; church and other faith-based mission and development education agencies; schools, colleges and community groups. Mark has developed a particular style and sensitivity appropriate to these contexts. He oversees our digital and print output.
CASE STUDIES
ACU
The La Salle Academy is that part of the Australian Catholic University which is devoted to the support and development of the identity and mission of the Catholic Schools of Australia. We at ‘The Shoreline Consultancy’ were invited to create a conversational resource rooted in the formal documents of the Roman Catholic Church about the nature of the Catholic school. The finished work, entitled ‘Voices and Visions’ was launched in 2019 and is now being used widely around Australia. It is designed to encourage reflection and conversation about its major themes.
CABRINI HEALTH, MELBOURNE
Cabrini Health is a Roman Catholic, not-for-profit Healthcare provider in Melbourne, Australia, inspired by the spirit and vision of St. Frances Cabrini. What began as a small private hospital in 1948 has developed into a much larger, multi-facetted undertaking with two major hospitals, palliative and eldercare centres, a rehabilitation service, and both a biomedical engineering and a linen service – staffed by over four thousand employees. Mark Davis has been helping Board Members, Executives and Senior Managers explore the on-going significance to the organisation of the spirituality and ‘charism’ of their founding religious order – the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
BAPTCARE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
Baptcare is a not-for-profit social care organisation based in Victoria and Tasmania. It emerged as an amalgamation of local initiatives undertaken independent Baptist churches over the last seventy years, becoming the primary focus of practical help for the vulnerable and marginalized by the Baptist tradition of Christianity in that part of Australia. Mark Davis has been assisting Mission Development at Baptcare by devising and delivering a conversational process for leaders in the organisation so that they can explore and embrace the on-going significance of the religious tradition from which it emerged.
NORTHAMPTON RC DIOCESE
Since 2007, Mark Davis has been assisting in the development and delivery of a strategic plan for the future of Northampton Roman Catholic Diocese. Under the leadership and vision of Bishop Peter Doyle, the ‘Walking Humbly’ process has provided a robust framework for the thoughtful development of the diocese in the light of changing contemporary circumstances. Part of our contribution has been the creation of resources and processes to encourage wider participation in and ownership of the mission of the diocese, through, for example, ‘The Micah Conversation’ and ‘Pathways of Formation’.
THE DISCALCED CARMELITES
Mark Davis has a long history of involvement with the Carmelite Orders as facilitator, consultant and trainer. In 2002 he was honoured to be invited to facilitate the Provincial Chapter of the Anglo-Irish Province of the Discalced Carmelite Friars – the first lay person in their long history. He was then engaged by the Province in a number of other capacities, in the UK, Ireland and Australia. This has seen him working not only with the friars but also Carmelite sisters and lay members of the Carmelite Secular Order.
COMMENDATIONS
PORTFOLIO
A FEW EXAMPLES OF OUR WORK
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION, SHORELINE CONVERSATIONS IS A THREE TO FIVE YEAR ECUMENICAL PROJECT IN SUPPORT OF INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS WHO WISH TO EXPLORE THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION TO LIFE FROM A BROADLY CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
The Shoreline Consultancy, 23 Grange Cross Lane, West Kirby, Wirral CH48 8BJ, UK