Greetings!
This Advent, we find rejuvenation and inspiration in the darkness of winter. While it may be cold outside, it is warm in spirit and in community. Something wonderful is coming alive in our midst.
Together we decorate the Dining Hall with garlands and folded paper stars, rehearse holiday plays and music, stomp snow paths and labyrinths, and prepare to welcome guests for Christmas & New Year’s and college students for J-term.
We invite you to join us in embracing the wonder of darkness, finding warmth in reflection and anticipation, and let something new come to birth in you through these winter holidays.
Faithfully,
Stacy Kitahata, Mark Bach, and Kathie Bach
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Merry & Bright Winter Festivities |
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From rousing games of flag football in the annual Copper Bowl, to trotting (and leaping) in the Tatanka Trot, to stomping snow labyrinths, Villagers have found ways to keep warm and keep moving. Pie baking, cookie decorating, and Christmas tree adorning have kept spirits bright! |
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Anticipation.
Facing the unknowns of our current time and place, many of us grapple with this theme of the liturgical season of Advent. As winter settles over our mountain valley, we honor this Advent season by taking pause, reflecting, and reimagining the deepening darkness that surrounds us.
Those familiar with a Holden winter know that darkness can be a place of growth, softness, nurture, warmth, and comfort. The vast black night sky with only the sparkle of stars, the hushed intimacy of a candlelit worship service, and the gentle shadows of the Village swaddled in fog.
Waiting together, we pray you find growth, hope, and new life in the darkness.
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Holden celebrated the Feast of Saint Lucia on December 13th with a children's candlelit procession. Saint Lucia was an Italian saint martyred during the Diocletian Persecution for bringing provisions to Christians hiding in the catacombs. She is remembered by the wreath of candles she wore to light the way in the dark of the catacombs while her hands were full of provisions for the persecuted. It is thought that missionaries brought St. Lucia’s story North to the Vikings, and that the image of a girl bringing warmth, light, and food was welcome in the cold, dark winters of Northern Europe. Today, St. Lucia is one of the few saints celebrated in Lutheran Scandinavian traditions. |
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On December 16th, the Village celebrated a joyful and commemorative reenactment of the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus. When they were unable to find lodging in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary were forced to seek shelter in a stable, where the Christ Child was born. In our re-enactment, Villagers walked through the dark and cold night, knocking on doors and singing a song in Spanish asking for hospitality. Though turned away time and time again, a fun surprise awaited all travelers at the end! |
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Only a few weeks remain before the New Year! Join us this coming year by extending jubilee generosity that will allow us to welcome more people into the lifegiving community of Holden. Your gift helps provide thought-provoking programming and services as we work to create a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world. |
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Winter & Spring Registration |
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Registration is currently open for January 31 - April 22, 2023!
Bring your spirit of adventure, pack your sense of humor, and prepare for snow in all its glorious variations! Whether you want to frolic in a winter wonderland or witness the budding of new life, the Railroad Creek Valley is a serene area to experience the emerging changes of the season.
We welcome you to a cozy, relational, joyful, and quieter time in the Village.
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Join us for a weekend of rest, release, and healing as it relates to our summer 2023 theme, Encountering Eden.
February 3-6, 2023
This retreat provides opportunities to build new friendships, rejuvenate relationships, reconnect with yourself, and join other women in conversation and recreation.
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Look Forward to Summer 2023 |
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While Holden Village is currently covered in over three feet of snow, it's already time to start thinking ahead to summer and beyond.
The summer 2023 faculty are community organizers and poets, soil scientists and feminist theologians, printmakers and environmental chemists, pastors and gardeners, musicians and so much more. They are people reaching across divides through storytelling, play, music, and scholarship. Representing diverse perspectives and expertise across fields, this year’s faculty speak to faithful responses to immigration and the climate emergency, embodied practices honoring self and others, confronting mass incarceration, and interrogating our relationship with creation. Join us this summer to learn the basics of watercolor, practice creative writing, and engage body, mind, and spirit through discussing many of the most salient issues of our time.
Registration opens January 5, 2023 at 8am Pacific Time. for June 11, 2023 – September 3, 2023
Summer Cohort Season 2023: enjoy building community with everyone who arrives for the week on Sunday and stay for either three, five, or seven days. There are 12 weeks of summer cohorts to choose from: the first begins on June 11th, the final week begins on August 27th. All guest arrivals are on Sundays, a change from previous years.
Preview of the teaching faculty schedule will be announced Monday, January 2nd with more faculty names to come! Stay tuned, and we'll see you in the Village this summer!
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All individuals pictured have been fully vaccinated for COVD-19.
Reference herein to any specific commercial products or services does not necessarily constitute or imply its
endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Holden Village.
PHOTOS/VIDEOS: Anny Berntsen, Hannah Lauber, Berit Kirkegaard, Tristan Ipock, Jonah Jensen
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