Mission

Our mission at High Meadow Retreat is to encourage and assist people in Christian ministry to be resilient, motivated and equipped in their work.
We offer tailored counselling and coaching in a place of outstanding natural beauty to support Christian workers at all stages of their ministry. Away from the often-overwhelming pressures of life, the retreat offers space to slow down and rest as well as an opportunity to explore and work through past, present and future challenges.
Everyone who comes to High Meadow will have their own personal reasons for coming here. Whatever the circumstances that bring our guests to seek our support, our primary goals are:
- To help those who are struggling in ministry to find the healing and restoration needed to continue and thrive in their work.
- To help people who feel they might have to leave ministry due to the pressures they face to find the resilience they need to stay.
- To help married couples strengthen and deepen their relationship so that their marriage does not become a casualty of ministry.
- To prevent burnout, exhaustion and other mental health challenges for people in ministry.
- To help those at the end of their time in ministry to process all aspects of their experience and prepare for the next phase in their life.
What We Believe

As practising, committed Christians, we believe what has been held in common by Christians of all backgrounds through the centuries, as expressed in the classic creeds of the church such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.
Team

Mark Snelling
Counsellor/Psychotherapist
MA (Oxon), PGDip, MSc, MBACP (accred), ACC (accred)
Mark is a seasoned counsellor and psychotherapist, drawing on many years of international work and clinical practice. He responds to a broad range of emotional difficulties, including depression, anxiety, relationship problems and burnout, as well as more severe and enduring mental illnesses. He has specialist training and expertise in psychological trauma and has supported many people through the aftermath of overwhelming events, both in the UK and overseas. Alongside pastors, Christian workers and humanitarians, his clients include journalists, medics, diplomats and military veterans.
Prior to starting in private practice in 2016, he was a senior counsellor and lead trainer for InterHealth Worldwide, an international faith-based health charity supporting missions and humanitarian workers. Before that, he worked for many years as a delegate for both the British Red Cross Society and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), undertaking short- and longer-term missions in Africa, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific Region. He began his career in the early 1990s as a news agency correspondent in Hong Kong.
A psychodynamic therapist by training, he is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the Association for Christians in Counselling (ACC). He is also an accredited EMDR Europe trauma therapist and is fully trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples. He holds an MSc in Psychological Trauma from the University of Chester and took his undergraduate degree in Modern Languages from Oxford University. He grew up in Kenya, Germany and the UK.
Mark’s private practice
marksnelling.co.uk
Jennifer Snelling
Coach and trainer
BA, MSc
Jennifer brings a wealth of global professional and personal experience to her coaching and training practice which specialises in cross-cultural perspectives. She works with clients from a range of backgrounds from all over the world and offers workshops on cross-cultural communication and coaching skills for leaders.
She was raised in an American/British family serving in Christian ministry in Mexico and Spain. She left her home in Spain to gain a university degree in the USA, and then spent the first 10 years of her career as a Christian worker in four different countries (Kenya, Ethiopia, USA and UK). During this time, she initiated and led social outreach programmes to support people living with HIV, homeless people, immigrants, and at-risk youth.
In the second decade of her career, she worked for Tearfund, a large UK-based international relief and development organization, where she had the privilege of supporting local leaders across nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This included coaching and mentoring, as well as facilitating regular training events. These diverse experiences have given her first-hand insight into both field and organisational life in a variety of countries and cultures – all of which she brings to the coaching and training space.
She holds a Masters degree in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and a BA in Foreign Affairs and Religious Studies from the University of Virginia (USA). She first trained as a coach in 2015 through Creative Results Management and has continued ongoing training with various providers ever since.
Jennifer’s private practice
jennifersnelling.com