Hear Sarah speak at our 65th Anniversary Celebration & Symposium, “Envisioning the Future of the Interfaith Movement” on November 8 in New York City. Get tickets here.
Canon Sarah Snyder: Founder, Rose Castle Foundation
Sarah has over thirty years of experience working with communities and senior religious figures around the world to promote faith-based ways of finding peace and rebuilding relationships.
Canon Sarah Snyder is an internationally respected leader in interfaith reconciliation, with over thirty years of experience working with communities and senior religious figures across the globe to promote peace and rebuild relationships. A theologian trained at Cambridge University with a focus on Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, she is not only a skilled mediator but also a founding director of the Rose Castle Foundation—an international center of reconciliation based in Cumbria, UK. Through the Rose Castle Foundation, Canon Snyder has developed a global network that equips reconcilers to cross divides and transform conflict, offering innovative residential programmes for emerging leaders in an 800-year-old castle near the English-Scottish border.
Her career began as a documentary filmmaker for the BBC, where living among the Tuareg nomads of the Sahara Desert deepened her commitment to interfaith work and the power of hospitality. She has since held influential roles, including serving as Special Adviser for Reconciliation programmes and resources to the Archbishop of Canterbury and leading partnerships at Religions for Peace International, an organization affiliated with the United Nations. Canon Snyder has directed summer schools at the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, focusing on faith leaders from conflict zones, and worked extensively in contexts of violent conflict or post-conflict, helping faith communities transform themselves into agents of reconciliation.
Canon Snyder’s vision is grounded in Scriptural Reasoning, fostering understanding and dialogue among faith communities by engaging deeply with sacred texts. Her life’s work centers on equipping others to address misunderstanding and conflict, recognizing the essential role faith can play in peacebuilding. She is recognized not only for her leadership in programme development and mediation, but also for her dedication to supporting women’s roles in reconciliation and championing new generations of faith-based peacemakers.
Primary Sources & Speeches
- https://www.coalitionforglobalprosperity.com/sarah-snyder
- https://www.rosecastlefoundation.org/people
- https://www.rosecastlefoundation.org/story
- https://worship.calvin.edu/people/sarah-snyder
- https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/sarah-snyder
- https://uk.linkedin.com/in/canon-sarah-snyder-242a8893
- https://www.britishcouncil.org/future-leaders-connect/programme/speakers/canon-sarah-snyder
- https://johnian.joh.cam.ac.uk/authors/canon-sarah-snyder/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_yUiUaVO6g
- https://www.interfaith.cam.ac.uk/file/sarah-snyderjpg
- https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-canon-sarah-snyder-rose-castle-united-kingdom
- https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/about/organisation/honorary-fellows/2019/
- https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/bringing-peace-to-our-world/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W2Wy-mVcTo
- https://www.stjohndivine.org/spiritual-life/community-at-the-crossing/speaker-series
- https://worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com/category/news/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/DOb4QpfiNU_/
- https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ofbnp-council-final-report.pdf
- https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/archbishop-canterburys-new-advisor-reconciliation
- https://www.oikoumene.org/news/young-christians-jews-and-muslims-begin-a-peace-building-journey