Our Story

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Beginning in 2013, Martin and Valori participated in the Diocesan Dreaming team in the Diocese of Western NC, commissioned by the Rt. Rev. G. Porter Taylor to “dream of new ways of being church.” The first fruits of this prayerful effort have been harvested and are part of what we offer.  

Our partnership represents decades of experience and the powerful dynamic of rector and CEO, ordained and lay, female and male.
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We are facilitators, not consultants, therefore, we do not bring predetermined answers. Instead, honoring and valuing the diversity in God’s church and in the world, we bring ideas, tools, experience, and the ability to facilitate in such a way that the answers already present in your congregation, diocese, staff, group, or committee are given the space and a means to be revealed.

Martin Darby

       Martin retired in 2006 as CEO of the US operation of Coates Inks, a global printing ink manufacturer, to become President and Executive Director of the Institute for Servant Leadership, a non-profit founded by Bennett Sims, retired Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta. After merging the Institute with the Servant Leadership School in Greensboro, NC in late 2010, he founded MRD Group, a leadership consultancy which works with church groups on leadership development; stewardship as ministry; and on re-imagining church. In addition, he is a facilitator for The Gathering of Leaders, a periodic conference for clergy committed to “the renewal of the dioceses and congregations of the Episcopal Church through transformational leaders dedicated to the missionary call of Christ and growing the Church in spiritual depth and in numbers as it effectively serves all sorts and conditions of people through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.”
         As CEO of Coates, he was dedicated to the introduction, implementation and practice of servant leadership in the workplace and has studied how that practice manifests itself in terms of the cultural transformation within the organization, at the customer interface and how the practice positively impacts traditional business metrics.
         After joining the Institute, he focused on transforming the vision into a program-oriented organization and supported the development of a number of initiatives to serve the church.
        He was born, raised and educated in England.  After graduating from the University of Aston (Birmingham), he joined the Coates group in the UK and moved to the US in 1980.   Martin lives in Greer, SC

The Rev. Dr. Valori Mulvey Sherer

        Valori is an Episcopal priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Western North Carolina. She spent ten years in parish ministry and is currently serving as Interim Rector at Calvary Episcopal Church in Columbia, MO, in addition to her work as a church marketing and communications consultant, spiritual director, and conference/retreat planner.  Valori serves the Diocese of Missouri on the Pastoral Response Team, the Diocesan Companion Committee, and as a Spiritual Director.
          Certified in interim ministry through the Clergy Leadership Institute and as a trainer for the Community Resiliency Model of the Trauma Resource Institute, Valori is also a trained clergy coach. Valori served the Diocese of WNC on the Continuing Education Committee and on the Executive Council. She is also a founding co-director, then board member, for Play if Forward Scholarship, a non-profit music education agency born in Atlanta, GA, now a program of Integral Steps in CO.
         Prior to her tenure as a parish priest, Valori enjoyed a successful career in the nonprofit world as Executive Director of several victim advocacy agencies, specializing in nonprofit start-up, troubleshooting, board development, and training. Prior to that, she worked in marketing and public relations in the medical/mental health industry while maintaining a freelance general marketing business.
          Valori is a graduate of Rutgers University and attended The School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN where she received her Masters of Divinity in 2005 and her Doctor of Ministry in 2010. Valori married Steve Sherer in 1988. They have three grown children and currently reside in Columbia, MO.