Peter Barnes-Davies
Worldwide Ministries
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202
PDavies@ctr.pcusa.org

Peter ended his term of service in December 2002. He is available to speak when his schedule permits. To invite him to speak in your church, see his current contact information on the Mission Speakers page.

Peter serves as missionary-in-residence in the PC(USA)’s Worldwide Ministries Division assigned to facilitate the two-year study process on how Presbyterians do mission in partnership. This process is mandated by General Assembly and is guided by Will Browne, Associate Director for Ecumenical Partnership. The final goal is to have a diverse collection of resources for individuals, congregations, regional governing bodies, mission personnel, and others--resources that will help the church understand more fully and engage more rightfully in this way of doing God's work in the world.

Peter also serves as a consultant in the newly formed Ecumenical and Mission Partnerships staff team. This team includes Katharine Reeves, Bryan Reiff, Toni Roppel, and Teresa Rivera. Their focus is on helping congregations, presbyteries and other organizations establish and maintain international mission partnerships.

Letters from
Peter Barnes-Davies

• October 2002
• August 2002
• November 2001
• February 2001
• July 1999
• March 1999
• December 1998

Peter describes his ministry in this way: "By God’s grace, working together in the body of Christ, we seek to give clear and more practical definition to the term ‘partnership.’"

Previously, Peter served as a mission volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From January 1997 to May 1999 he worked as administrative assistant to the General Secretary of the Congolese Presbyterian Church (CPC, in French, la Communauté Presbyterienne au Congo). He lived and worked in the city of Kananga, province of West Kasai, where the CPC is headquartered. Though the fourth-largest city in Congo, Kananga is without a functioning telephone and postal service, so Peter’s administrative work relied heavily on radio-transmitted e-mail. "It was truly amazing," he writes, "how the combination of old and new technology (high-frequency radios and computers) brought a wonderful gift to Congolese church leaders—the gift of communication."

After returning to the United States in 1999, Peter served a one-year term as missionary-in-residence in WMD’s Central/West Africa Office. His primary assignment was to facilitate the all-Africa PC(USA) mission personnel retreat in 2000, for which he coordinated logistics. Over 100 participants from 14 African nations went to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, for that event. In addition, Peter has been grateful for the many opportunities he has had since returning to the United States to share his mission stories.

Peter was married to Rebecca Barnes on June 30, 2001. Rebecca serves in the PC(USA)’s National Ministries Division, in the Office of Environmental Justice.

Peter is a member of Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church in Louisville. He has a bachelor’s degree (1991) from Yale University in religious studies and a master ’s of social work (1995) from Hunter College.

B irthday: October 27