Greetings!

The changing seasons bring changing rhythms at Holden Village. New students are settling in at the Holden School. Villagers picked apples at an orchard in the nearby Lake Chelan town of Stehekin that will soon be pressed into tangy cider and baked into countless creations in the Holden Kitchen.  

Earlier this week the Railroad Creek valley had its first dusting of snow amidst the autumn yellows of cottonwood, aspen, and larch trees. Though the snow melted later in the morning, it reminds us that soon the Village will be blanketed in snow – drastically transforming every aspect of Village life. 

To prepare, we are grateful to have two groups of Work Week volunteers helping to deep clean and winterize unheated spaces, stack firewood, make repairs, and move thousands of pounds of food into storage.  

We are also thankful for everyone who supported the Jubilee Auction, contributing over $79,000 to sustain Holden Village through changing seasons for years ahead. 

We are looking ahead with eager anticipation and preparation to welcome people for Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, New Year’s, and hosting college students for January Term. We would love to welcome you for reflection, simplicity, quiet stillness, and joyful celebration during these upcoming seasons! 

Faithfully,
Stacy Kitahata, Mark Bach, and Kathie Bach
Thanks for Supporting the Jubilee Auction
Thank you once again to everyone who supported the auction in one way or another – from donating items, to placing bids, to spreading the word about the event, to donating to the Fund-A-Need initiatives!

BREAKING NEWS: The Arts & Music Fund matching challenge has been met! Many people answered the call to donate to this important fund.
Thanks to you, we have more than $15,000 in gifts and a $15,000 matching gift - for a total of over $30,000 for the Arts & Music Fund!

Thanks to this outpouring of generosity, Holden Village can build a new kiln and support joyful music-making through instrument repair, maintenance, and purchases.

Here are some fun facts from the auction:

  • Over 326 auction participants 
  • 81 items and experiences bid on  
  • Bidders hale from 30 states and provinces 

Thank you for being a part of this new way to connect from afar and support Holden Village. The Jubilee Auction will be back next fall!
Visit this Fall and Winter
Enjoy the snowy peace and intentional presence of the Holden winter community!

Registration is now open for November 1, 2021 - January 2, 2022.

We especially have space available for Thanksgiving and early December. Join for familiar traditions and new practices, which may include:

  • Snowshoe prayer labyrinths
  • Thanksgiving Day flag football
  • Thanksgiving pies galore
  • Winter Solstice candlelit walk
  • Pondering the stillness of Advent
  • Ultimate sledding
  • And more!
Holden Village is full for guests from December 26th through January 1st.

However, if you’d like to be in the Village during that time, Holden could still use some volunteer elves to work their holiday hospitality magic in Housekeeping, the Kitchen, and as Mavericks! 
Holden at Home
Take part in a drawing meditation on symbols and the subconscious meanings we assign to them from from Village Potter, Kate Egolf.

We are surrounded by symbols that we can register the meaning of instantly. This drawing practice is adapted from a theory on problem finding. It can that help us deconstruct symbols, while also sharpening our own drawing skills.

"I hope in doing this drawing exercise, you are able to bring greater awareness into your own practice of looking."
Holden Voices
Listen to Hierald Osorto and Ben Masters talk about a counternarrative to political oppression in their podcast, "A Postcolonial Alleluia."

"Those vestiges of colonialism when empire was present in a particular context, when it left, those forms of knowledge still exist and they're still informing how you make decisions and how you move with one another and we can ask those questions of the Lutheran Church." - Hierald

"I think the questions we were asking around, who benefits from this kind of interpretation, and how does someone's history shape their story? Those are questions I want people to bring back to their communities." - Ben
Ben Masters and and Hierald Osorto served as members of Holden Village's Teaching Faculty this past summer. If you or someone you know would be interested in this opportunity, please see the information below!
Apply for Teaching Faculty
Deadline Extended Applications are now due
November 15th
Holden Village seeks candidates to serve as teaching faculty and guest musicians!

Summer 2022 marks our 60th anniversary of summer programming in the Village, in which we will explore the theme of Jubilee.

The program will include visual and performing arts, the sciences, theology, diversity, inclusion and racial justice, global and domestic topics, and more. Guest Musicians assist in leading worship and enlivening the community life through music.
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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, Callie Mabry, and Julia Hubbard